• by September 18, 2000

Many advertisers have been toying around with the idea of rich media ads for a while now, but most are cautious about pouring their money into rich ads mainly because the majority pf web users are still stuck in narrowband land. Even though most websites and ad networks today are happy to run your rich media ads, bandwidth is still an issue, but for how long?

According to eMarketer, at year-end 1999, broadband Internet access accounted for a mere 14.6% of all US subscribers, or 5.43 million users. "The inability of service providers to roll out broadband services quickly across the United States, coupled with higher access costs, has resulted in a very slow acceptance of these services," the company's new report, The Business of Broadband Report, states. However, eMarketer says, broadband deployment will soon start to accelerate. By 2003, broadband access will have grown nearly six-fold, to 32 million users.

According to the report, cable modem broadband access has taken an early lead over DSL, the other type of broadband that is currently widely available. Cable modem access will continue its lead for several years, but by 2003, DSL will finally overtake it. eMarketer predicts that together, DSL and Cable modem broadband access will account for roughly two-thirds of all broadband deployment.

Additionally, business usage is, and will be, driven by the fiber optic market, eMarketer says. In 1999, business broadband users numbered 3.49 million, but by 2003, that figure will reach 11.3 million as more small- and medium- sized businesses exploit cheaper broadband access methods such as DSL and wireless broadband. Importantly, eMarketer notes, although business usage of broadband will be substantial, it will clearly be dwarfed by residential subscribers.