Report: Cable Trumps DSL, Broadband Jumps

In this month's Bandwidth Report, WebsiteOptimization.com compared cable and DSL broadband Internet access in the US and found that cable has 67% to 105% more users than DSL in the US, according to two recent surveys. Overall, broadband grew by .83% in June, with 36.7% of wired US users enjoying a high-speed connection.

According to Nielsen//NetRatings and Ipsos-Insight data, as of June 2003, most users in the US connect to the Internet using dial-up modems of 56Kbps or less. 51.4% use 56Kbps modems, 9% use 28/33.3Kbps, and 2.9% use 14.4Kbps modems. In total, 63.3% of home users in the US connect to the Internet at 56Kbps or less

Additionally, broadband penetration in US homes increased by .83% in May. As of June 2003 broadband penetration was at 36.7%, up from 35.87% in May. This is higher than the average increase in broadband of 72% per month from October 1999 to May 2003. Extrapolating the data provided by Nielsen//NetRatings, broadband share in the US should exceed 50% by June of 2004.

As of June of 2003, of those connected to the Internet, 69.8% of US users at work enjoy a high-speed connection, up slightly from 69.7% in May. 30.2% connect from work at 56Kbps or less.

Finally, Ipsos-Insight found in a May 2003 survey of 1,000 US adults that 40% had broadband while 59% had a dial-up connection. Of those with broadband, 25% had a cable connection while 15% had a DSL connection. Confirming this trend, Nielsen//NetRatings found that cable has over twice the penetration (14.6%) of DSL (7.1%) in the US as of June 2003.

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