• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 17, 2004

San Diego Has The Fastest Web Users in the West

comScore Networks most recent analysis of the broadband markets revealed that San Diego has become the first metropolitan market in which a majority of Internet users connected to the Web through a broadband connection rather than a narrowband service.

At the national level, 36 percent of online users accessed the Web through a high-speed connection in the fourth quarter of 2003, up 2 points from 34 percent in the third quarter. Comcast provides access to approximately 19 percent of broadband users and 7 percent of all online users. SBC accounts for 11 percent of consumer broadband connections and 6 percent of total ISP subscriptions. AOL continues to supply Internet access (narrowband and broadband) to more Americans than any other provider, with a 28 percent share.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) Market Share U.S. Consumer ISP Subscriptions Q4 2003

		Market Share
	Total U.S.	100%
1	AOL (America Online)	28%
2	Comcast	7%
3	United Online	6%
4	Microsoft Corp.	6%
5	SBC	6%
6	Earthlink	5%
7	Road Runner	4%
8	BellSouth	3%
9	Verizon	3%
10	Cox Communications	2%
	All Other	30%

Source: comScore Networks

"In the past several months, we've seen the U.S. online population reach 150 million people and household broadband penetration cross the 33 percent threshold," said Russ Fradin, executive vice president of comScore Networks. "Now we've recorded another milestone, with broadband accounting for more than half of a major U.S. market's Internet connections."

Connection Type by Market Top 50 Local Markets Q4 2003

Top 10 Broadband Markets

	Broadband	Narrowband
San Diego	52%	48%
Boston	50%	50%
New York	49%	51%
Providence, RI	47%	53%
Kansas City	46%	54%
Detroit	45%	55%
Tampa-St. Pete	45%	55%
Orlando	44%	56%
San Fran-Oak-SJ	44%	56%
Los Angeles	44%	56%

Source: comScore Networks

Top 10 Narrowband Markets

	Narrowband	Broadband
Albuquerque-Santa Fe	76%	24%
Grand Rapids	70%	30%
Harrisburg, PA	70%	30%
Indianapolis	70%	30%
Sacramento-Stockton	69%	31%
Birmingham	68%	32%
Nashville	68%	32%
Louisville	67%	33%
Memphis	66%	34%
St. Louis	66%	34%

Source: comScore Networks

At a national level, 63 percent of broadband subscriptions are cable connections, while DSL subscriptions account for approximately 37 percent of the high-speed market.

"comScore's survey research reveals a substantial number of people on the verge of switching their ISP, indicating that a significant number of consumers are benefiting from intense competition among incumbent phone and cable providers, as well as newer market entrants," continued Mr. Fradin. "It's clear that increased promotional activity and lower prices introduced by these competitors are fueling the momentum of broadband growth, particularly in larger markets."

The release is available in PDF format.