• by February 25, 2005

By now, it comes as no surprise: broadband is booming and is really the only game in town when it comes to enjoying online multiplayer video games, your favorite newspapers, booking travel, and especially, engaging with advertising content. Broadband keeps us online 24/7. It keeps us, well, sticky.

In their latest analysis, our friends at eMarketer project that there will be nearly 70 million broadband households in the United States in 2008. In fact, eMarketer estimates that broadband households will grow at a compound annual rate of 19.4 percent between 2004 and 2008. Broadband penetration of all households is expected to grow from 23.1 percent in 2003 to 56.3 percent in 2008. In its report, "North America Broadband," the aggregator of online data projects that there will be 76.9 million broadband households throughout North America in 2008.

"The broadband market is no longer about only high-speed Internet access," comments Ben Macklin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report. "A new market is being created, including voice and video ...a market worth nearly 10 times the value of the Internet access business alone," Macklin says in a statement on the report.

Macklin points out that digital convergence strategies among communications companies have brought about the broadband boom. "Telecom companies are offering video services, cable companies are offering voice services, and the company that controls the broadband connection will largely control the future digital home," Macklin notes. "The current scrambling for position is a precursor to the real battle about to begin between cable and telecom companies as they encroach on each other's traditional territory. 'You want a piece of me? I'll take a piece of you!' could well be the catch phrase of this new era."

Next question: What happens in 2008, if the projections are accurate, and broadband reaches critical mass? What happens then? Will Wi-Max become the new holy grail?