Internet Consumers Demand More High-Speed Connections

Associated Press
June 24, 2002

NEW YORK -- The heady days of the dot-com era may be gone, but the
popularity of high-speed Internet access and the online activities
associated with it is experiencing a growth spurt, recent surveys by the
Pew Internet and American Life Project show.

Roughly 24 million Americans, or 21% of all Web users, now have
high-speed connections at home, an increase of more than a quarter since
the start of the year, and quadruple the number of broadband users just
two years ago, according to a Pew survey released Monday.

"This places broadband adoption rates on par with the adoption of other
popular technologies, such as the personal computer and the compact disc
player, and faster than color TV and the VCR," Pew researchers said.

A separate Pew survey revealed some mildly encouraging signs for those
hoping that broadband will help resuscitate the industry by driving new
data traffic onto all the dormant fiber-optic cables put into the ground
during the boom.

Nearly six in ten broadband users have generated their own online content
such as a personal Web page, posted information to a Web site or shared
music and other types of files online, according to a survey of 507
adults with high-speed service conducted in January and February. About a
quarter of them perform such activities on a typical day.

Similarly, about 63% have downloaded games, video or pictures at least
once, and 50% have downloaded music files, Pew said. About 43% have
displayed or developed photos online.

Pew ( www.pewinternet.org) also found that the average Internet user with
high-speed home access does seven online tasks or activities per day
compared with about three a day among dial-up users.

"Broadband users spend more time online, do more things, and do them more
often than dial-up Internet users," the Pew report said.

Another key finding, Pew said, was that the extra time spent online due
to broadband comes at the expense of other activities such as watching
television and shopping. The survey found 37% of broadband users said
they had cut down on TV time; 31% said they had decreased time spent in
stores; and 18% said they had reduced their newspaper reading.

The dominant mode of high-speed access was still through cable TV modems
at 71%, followed by DSL telephone lines at 27%, while 2% were using
satellite or wireless broadband services.

As might be expected, high-speed connections also appear to be enabling
more work to be done at home, with about a third of the survey's
respondents saying they "telecommute" at one time or another.

Pew said the margin of error for its broadband user survey was plus or
minus four percentage points.

Copyright (c) 2002 Associated Press


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