Pew Internet Study: Broadband Adoption Trends
In a just released study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Author John B. Horrigan, Associate Director, Research found a flattening of broadband adoption among the poor, those with annual incomes of less then $20,000 in addition to African Americans who saw a rise of only 3% over the past year.
Interestingly, households with lower-middle incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 saw an increase in the adoption rate of 24%.
Some other findings of note:
Home broadband adoption grew by 17% from May 2007 to May 2008, slightly faster than the
growth rate of the year before.
Only 10% of Americans adults use dial up Internet connections at home to go online.
Broadband growth was strong among older and lower-middle income Americans, as well as rural Americans. However, One-quarter (27%) of adult Americans are not Internet users, and they tend to be older (the median age is 61) and have lower-incomes.
Monthly broadband bills are 4% lower in May 2008 than at the end of 2005, but monthly dial-up bills have risen.
Non-Internet users represent a large pool of potential broadband users, but many are just not
interested in getting online.
One-third (34%) of all Internet users have connected to the Internet using a WiFi connection at someplace other than home or work.
"The flat growth in home high-speed adoption for low-income Americans suggests that tightening household budgets may be affecting people's choice of connection speed at home," said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of Research at the Pew Internet & American Life project and author of the report. "Broadband is more costly on a monthly basis than dial-up, and some lower income Americans may be unwilling to take on another expense."
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Its Still The Economy Stupid!
With many Americans convinced we are already in a significant recession almost two-thirds of Americans surveyed in April 2008 say their households have cut back on spending in the last 12 months, according to the MarketTools May/June 2008 Insight Report on American Spending. The purchase of technology products has reportedly been cut back by 41% of consumers.
© 2008 MarketTools
What effects the recession will have on the deployment of new IPTV and ITV services, hardware and programming is unclear however, as equity capital markets contract and banks tighten lending policies the anecdotal evidence does not portend well in the near term.
As regards the flat growth of broadband adoption by low-income and African Americans, this is a troubling but complex issue. As Internet skills have become crucially important in business and education, perhaps the new administration in Washington should consider some assistance incentives for these groups to better afford broadband. After all if the One Laptop Per Child program is a laudable goal for developing countries, surely making sure Americans have equal access to broadband is equally important..
