Home broadband use has passed home dialup use in the U.S. as broadband prices dropped in the past year, with 53 percent of home Internet users using broadband, according to new findings from Nielsen//NetRatings.
That measurement, Nielsen//NetRatings said, is up from 51 percent of home Net surfers using broadband as measured in August.
The media measurement and analysis firm also noted that San Diego, California is the nation's top high speed market, with a reported 69.6 percent of its local Internet market using broadband.
Phoenix, Arizona placed second at 68.4 percent, with Detroit (67.0), New York (66.8) and Sacramento, California (64.9) rounding out the top five areas where the Internet penetration is 65 percent or more broadband.
“Our data indicates that U.S. coastal cities, which tend to be more affluent communities with large professional workforces, are more connected via broadband while those located more inland are still connected via narrowband,” Nielsen//NetRatings Internet analyst Corey Jeffery said in a statement. “Over time we expect to see broadband penetration across cities balancing out as broadband costs becomes more affordable.”
The Pew Internet & American Life Project has reported that 69 percent of American broadbanders hit the Internet on typical days compared to 51 percent for dialup users, while broadbanders online spent about 107 minutes on average surfing, checking e-mail, and doing other tasks compared to 21 less average minutes for dialup users.
In fact, Pew says the old fashioned dinner table debate has changed thanks to broadband. Director Lee Rainie said families in a heated dinner debate are more likely to look it up online if they have broadband than to keep yelling at each other – or even take it to Internet chat rooms.
