High-Speed Internet Use on the Rise

High-Speed Internet Usage Continues to Rise

In a report taken from July 2005, almost 38 million U.S. residents subscribed to a high-speed Internet service in 2004. This information was taken from a report released by the Federal Communications Commission. The report also stated that over 99% of the U.S. population is now able to subscribe to a broadband service. These numbers for 2004 represent a 34% increase in the number of broadband subscribers for home, small and larger business accounts.

To help better understand this information, it’s important to know that this report divided broadband into two different groups. It refers to “high-speed lines” as lines that deliver broadband services at over 200 Kbps in at least one direction (meaning uploads and downloads). The report defines “advanced service lines” as lines that deliver services that exceed 200 Kbps for both upload and download streams.

The FCC collects data like this twice a year from broadband providers that have at least 250 broadband lines in a given state.

High-Speed Internet Usage – Increases in Every Category of Broadband

This report also indicated that there were increases in every category of high-speed Internet usage. For example, for high-speed lines, the second half of 2004 saw a 21% increase in ADSL subscribers, a 15% increase in cable subscribers and a 30% increase in satellite or wireless subscribers.

These numbers were higher for advanced service lines. In the second half of 2004, the number of ADSL subscribers increased by 51%, cable subscribers increased by 19%, and satellite or wireless subscribers increased by 14%.

High-Speed Internet Usage – Join the Bandwagon!

Explaining these increases is not difficult, and if you’ve ever used a broadband Internet connection, you’ll easily understand them as well. Broadband connections are much faster and more reliable than dial-up connections. They also enable customers to enjoy things like streaming audio and video files, music downloads, and instant messenger programs. Prices for broadband service have come down quite a bit since the faster services were first introduced, and customers can now bundle their high-speed Internet services with phone and television services to get more for their money.

If you’re trying to decide whether or not to jump into the world of broadband, go someplace where you can try it out. Most libraries now use high-speed Internet connections, and you’ll be amazed by how quickly you’re able to do things like check your e-mail and explore various Web pages. High-speed Internet services are here to stay, so check them out and see what you’ve been missing!