Over Half Of US Homes To Have Broadband Internet By 2008

The main broadband systems are cable modem and DSL, but there are also satellite, fibre-to-the-home and fixed wireless systems, although these are far less widespread.

“Despite the slow economy, consumer demand for broadband was remarkably strong in 2002, when the US market grew by more than six million subscribers,” says James Penhune, a director of the Strategy Analytics Global Broadband Practice. “Over the next five years, high-speed access will become the norm for residential internet users as broadband becomes more widely available, more flexibly priced and a more powerful vehicle for new kinds of entertainment, content and services.”

Currently, only about 27% of all US internet homes use broadband connections. By 2008, the report estimates that the percentage will have risen to more than 70%. In the UK, Oftel estimates that around 10% of internet homes are using a broadband connection (see UK Broadband Revolution Gathers Pace).

Cable modem service will continue to be the most widely used form of broadband access in the US. SA predicts that 16.1 million homes will use cable modems by the end of 2003, while 7.9 million will use DSL connections. A further 1.3 million homes will get broadband through the other, less established technologies.