Broadband in 70 percent of U.S. homes by 2012, says report

The next five years will see U.S. households drop dial-up for broadband, says a new report from JupiterResearch.

by Helen Leggatt

JupiterResearch’s new report, “U.S. Broadband Forecast, 2007 to 2012: LECs Maintain Advantage of Cable Operator in Quest for New Subscribers”, found that the use of DSL services may drop-off, but won’t be disappearing any time soon.

However, the rise in availability of high-speed services will draw nearly 36 million new broadband subscribers in the next five years. By 2012, says the report, around 70 percent of U.S. households will have broadband internet access, accounting for around 86 million homes. Reductions in access costs will enable lower socio-economic consumers to better access the internet and enable users to efficiently view and download video and audio content.

"Price reductions are responsible for driving take-rates for DSL services offered by the incumbent local exchange carriers, while higher broadband transmission rates and attractive bundles are driving consumer adoption of cable modem service," said Doug Williams, Analyst at JupiterResearch. "As broadband becomes more attractive to consumers from an economic perspective, current dial-up users will be more likely to migrate to broadband service, and consumers who are new to the online population will never take dial-up service in the first place."