• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 26, 2013

Seven in 10 American adults have a high-speed broadband connection at home as of May -- up from 66% a year ago, according to the latest survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Adding smartphone owners to home broadband users brings that figure up to 80%.

With more than half (56%) of U.S. adults now owning smartphones, the Pew report concluded that the devices may offer an alternate form of “home” Internet access. Specifically, one in 10 Americans who own a smartphone don’t have a high-speed broadband connection at home.

But the study says its unclear whether 3G or 4G smartphones qualify as “broadband” speed, or whether smartphones otherwise offer the same utility as a dedicated, fast home Internet access service. As a result, Pew doesn’t include them in its standard definition of what constitutes a “broadband user.”

The report also noted that including smartphones in the definition of home broadband access helps narrow the differences between some demographic groups, but actually widens it for others. Because blacks and Latinos are less likely to have access to home broadband than whites, for instance, factoring in their use of smartphones all but eliminates the broadband “gap.”

At the same time, including smartphones within the scope of broadband actually widens the differences in adoption rates by age, given that younger adults are much more likely to use smartphones than older ones.

“Smartphones may offer an additional avenue for Internet access that surpasses the dial-up experience in many ways, but those who rely on them for home Internet use may face limitations that are not shared by those with traditional broadband connections,” stated Aaron Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Internet Project and co-author of the report.

As in prior research, those most likely to have home broadband access tend to be college graduates under 50 earning at least $50,000 annually. Whites and people living in non-rural areas are also more likely to be in that group. Two in 10 Americans have neither home broadband Internet access or a smartphone, and 3% go online via a dial-up connection.

The findings were based on a survey conducted from April 17 to May 19 with a nationally representative sample of 2,252 U.S. adults ages 18 and over. 

"Man using Smartphone" photo from Shutterstock.