• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, November 11, 2003

Broadband Internet and Household Income Go Hand-in-Hand

An upcoming Leichtman Research Group report, Broadband, Cable and DBS Across the US, based on information from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Media Business Corp. and others, found that Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut led the nation in residential penetration of high-speed Internet subscribers at the start 2003.

These leading broadband states each also rank among the top five states in per capita income, having an average per capita income 28% above the US average, and 58% above the four states (Kentucky, Montana, South Dakota and Mississippi) that are lowest in broadband penetration.

Residential Broadband

	Penetration*	Average Per Capita Income
Top four states	20.7%	$ 39,300
Bottom four states	4.9%	$ 24,900
US Overall	14.3%	$ 30,800

Sources: Federal Communications Commission, US Department of Commerce, and Leichtman Research Group, Inc.

Other findings include:

• While the nationwide market share for cable versus DSL was 64%, 73% of highspeed Internet connections in the top four states were via cable
• Only California, Georgia, Kentucky and Utah had more DSL subscribers than cable Internet subscribers
• At the beginning of 2003, three states had a residential penetration of high-speed Internet above 20% and 13 states had broadband penetration below 10%
• In the US as a whole, 2.8% of households added high-speed Internet service in the second half of 2002
• with Connecticut, Oregon and New Jersey leading the nation in incremental broadband growth
• The top four states in high-speed Internet penetration each rank among the bottom ten states in DBS penetration

"This data continues to display the strong relationship between the adoption of broadband Internet and household income," said Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, Inc. "With over 22 million broadband subscribers in the US today, attracting consumers from a broad economic base will play an important role in broadband's future growth."

You can find out more here.