Commentary

Broadband Is Getting Broader

Broadband Is Getting Broader

Ben Macklin, Senior Analyst for eMarketer, reports that the first wave of residential broadband users were, in general, classic early adopters -- white males, well educated and wealthy, with a great deal of internet experience. These broadband users were an attractive demographic segment for marketers, retailers, publishers and application service providers because they spent more time online that dial-up users, they viewed twice as many web pages, they downloaded and streamed more media, and they shopped and spent more money online than their dial-up counterparts.

As broadband users move beyond the early adopter phase, he says, one shouldn’t necessarily assume that the next wave of broadband users will behave in the same way. Widespread broadband adoption will be a fundamental driver of change, Macklin predicts, within the internet sector.

At the end of 2002, there were approximately 17 million broadband households in the US. This will rise to over 30 million by 2004. This is a household penetration rate in 2002 of 15.4%, rising to 27.5% in 2004.

Broadband HH in the US (millions)

  • 2000 6.2
  • 2001 11.2
  • 2002 16.8
  • 2003 23.3
  • 2004 30.5
source: eMarketer, 2002

While ‘broading= households’ is the most common metric used when examining the broadband market, it’s likely that one broadband connection in the home will service more than one user. eMarketer forecasts that by 2004, there will be 61 million residential broadband users in the US, up from 22.4 million in 2001.

US Broadband Users at Home (millions)

  • 2001 22.4
  • 2002 33.6
  • 2003 46.4
  • 2004 61.0
source: eMarketer, Jan 2003

Although there is a high degree of overlap, since many users enjoy broadband at home and at work, 41.4 million, or 88.7% of all broadband users have high-speed connections at their workplace.

Broadband Users in the US by Access Location in November, 2002 (millions)

  • Work 41.4
  • Home 33.8
  • University 3.8
  • Total Users (unduplicated) 46.7
Source: comScore Media Metrix, Nov, 2002

You can find out more here.

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