Half Of US Internet Users Will Take Broadband By 2005, Says eMarketer
Almost half of all US internet connections will use a broadband service by 2005, up from around 39% this year, according to a report from eMarketer.
There will be 36.5 million broadband households in 2005, reaching 83.9 million users – 48.9% of all internet users, according to the forecasts. The remaining 51.1% will still use a dial-up, narrowband service. This contrasts with 2002’s figures one there were 47.8 million broadband users (31.3%) and 105.0 million dial-up users (68.7%).
| US Internet User Connection Forecasts | ||||
| 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | |
| Broadband | 47.8 | 62.9 | 73.9 | 83.9 |
| Dial-up | 105.0 | 99.1 | 94.1 | 87.5 |
| Source: eMarketer, November 2003 | ||||
The always-on connection, in combination with the extra bandwidth, opens up greater possibilities for live and multimedia content which internet users will be more willing to pay for, says eMarketer.
“If there is one thing that is universal about broadband users the world over, it is that they think outside the web, utilising such things as streaming media, games and peer-to-peer (P2P) and communications applications,” says the report.