Almost 12 million people in the US have access to broadband at home, however, many of those do not use the internet actively, according to a new study from Nielsen//NetRatings.
In the seven months between January and August 2005, Nielsen//NetRatings show the percentage of people in the US who have access to broadband reached 42%, up from 36%, an increase of over 17 million users.
However, out of the 12 million users with broadband access, the research showed that about 35 million people accessed the internet just once a month, with Nielsen claiming that the number of active broadband users in the US hit 86.1 million, up 34% year on year.
Elsewhere, narrowband continues to decline, down by 10%, resulting in 38.7% of active internet users using the technology, compared to 61.3% using broadband.
Commenting on the findings, Charles Buchwalter, vice president of client analytics at Nielsen//NetRatings said: “Although broadband penetration among internet users has long been on the rise, it was always amid speculation that the high cost of broadband would limit its widespread adoption.”
He added: “However, over the last year, carriers have responded to the growing demand for lower cost broadband, and all indications are that this trend will continue.”
In the UK, Continental Research has revealed that the number of homes with internet access has risen by 6% in the last year, with 1.5 million new homes coming online, increasing the total number of users in the UK to 14 million, or 56% of the population (see UK Internet Adoption Continues In Strength).
According to the latest figures from Point Topic, global broadband lines grew to a total of 176 million during the second quarter of 2005, a rise of 16% from 152 million lines at 31 December 2004, with the total number of lines added between the end of 2004 and Q2 2005 reaching 24.3 million (see Global Broadband Lines Hit 176 Million).
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