U.S.: Pew Internet Broadband

COMMENTARY: BROADBAND

by Joanna Brenner, Lee Rainie

May 24, 2012

Highlights of the Pew Internet Project’s research related to broadband.

(Note: This page will be updated whenever new data is available.)

Our latest survey shows that 66% of Americans have broadband connections at home. The survey was completed on April 3, 2012. 

High-speed access to the internet at home has risen steadily in recent years, and the "always on" connection typically increases the frequency with which people use the internet.

In February 2001, when about half of adults were online, only 4% of American households had broadband access.

70% of whites and roughly half of African Americans (54%) and Hispanics (51%) have high-speed internet access at home, according to the data collected this spring.

In 2009 65% of whites and 46% of African-Americans were broadband users (a 19-point gap); In 2010 67% of whites and 56% of African-Americans were broadband users (an 11-point gap). Seehttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Home-Broadband-2010.aspx.

In contrast to the population as a whole, broadband adoption among African-Americans grew significantly between 2009 and 2010.

Men (66%) are just as likely as women (66%) to have home broadband.

Having broadband strongly affects how one uses the internet.  Back in 2002we found that dial-up users take part in an average of 3 online activities per day, while broadband users take part in 7.

In 2010, we found that one-third of broadband users subscribe to a premium service, and the average broadband subscriber pays $41.18 per month for service (see http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Home-Broadband-2010/Part-1/One-third-of-broadband-users-subscribe-to-a-premium-service.aspx)

Expanding affordable high-speed broadband service is generally seen as a low government priority.

• One in ten Americans (11%) say that it should be a “top priority” while three in ten (30%) feel that it is “important, but a lower priority”. One quarter each say that federal promotion of broadband expansion is “not too important” (27%) or “should not be done” (26%).

In a recent survey we found that roughly one in five American adults (18%) does not use the internet. Those least likely to have Internet access:

• Senior citizens
• Those who prefer to take our interviews in Spanish rather than English
• Adults with less than a high school education
• Those living in households earning less than $30,000 per year

Among adults who do not use the internet, almost half have told us that the main reason they don’t go online is because they don’t think the internet is relevant to them.