June 2006 Bandwidth Report With Internet Broadband Statistics by Website Optimization

Website Optimization is announcing today that home broadband users grew by 40% from March 2005 to March 2006 in the US, twice the growth rate of the year before. As of March 2006, 42% of all Americans had a broadband connection at home, according to a recent study by Pew Internet (Horrigan 2006). 35% of all Internet users have posted content to the Internet, with the majority of new content posted by broadband users. DSL has passed cable in the US, and broadband penetration among active Internet users jumped 1.32 percentage points to 71.76% in May 2006.

Home Broadband Growth Doubles with 42% of all Americans on High-Speed Internet Connections

The number of Americans who have broadband at home jumped from 60 million in March 2005 to 84 million in March 2006, an increase of 40%. This is double the increase over last year of 20% from March 2004 to March 2005. At current growth rates WSO projects that broadband penetration among all Americans should break 50% by January 2007.

For the full “June 2006 Bandwidth Report” visit http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0606/

DSL overtakes Cable in the US

In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, DSL has overtaken cable in US broadband share. As of March 2006, DSL connections made up half (50%) of all home broadband connections while cable modems had a 41% share (see Figure 2). This is in stark contrast to cable's 67% share in March 2003. This trend of higher DSL subscribers versus cable mirrors European broadband trends. Fixed wireless is coming on strong with 8% of home users Wi-Fing onto broadband.

Home Connectivity in the US

US broadband penetration among active Internet users grew to 71.76% in May 2006. Narrowband users connecting at 56Kbps or less now comprise 28.24% of active Internet users, down 1.32 percentage points from 29.56% in April.

Broadband Growth Trends in the US

In May 2006, broadband penetration in US homes jumped 1.32 percentage points to 71.76% up from 70.44% in April. This increase of 1.32 points is above the average increase in broadband of 1.11 points per month over the last six months (see Figure 4). At current growth rates US broadband should break 80% among active Internet users by December 2007.

Work Connectivity

As of May 2006, 89.52% of US workers use broadband, down 0.15 percentage points from the 89.67% share in April. At work 10.48% connect at 56Kbps or less.

For the full “June 2006 Bandwidth Report” with graphs, statistics and trends visit http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0606/

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About The Bandwidth Report

The Bandwidth Report is a monthly roundup of connectivity trends in the US and elsewhere. Each month's bandwidth report offers the latest statistics in Internet connectivity and broadband trends, including:

Home Connectivity in the US
Broadband Growth in the US
Work Connectivity
Broadband Trends in the US, Canada, and other countries

About Website Optimization

Don't Make Me Wait! The new book titled "Speed Up Your Site – Web Site Optimization" by Andy King, and the companion web site are about designing "speedy" web sites with techniques that…

Cut file size and download times in half
Speed up site load time to satisfy customers
Engage users with fast response times and flow stimulus
Increase usability, boost profits, and slash bandwidth costs
Improve search engine rankings and web page conversions

Andy King is also the founder of WebReference.com and JavaScript.com, both award-winning developer sites from internet.com. Created in 1995 and subsequently acquired by Mecklermedia (now Jupitermedia) in 1997, WebReference has grown into one of the most popular developer sites on the Internet. While he was Managing Editor of WebReference.com and JavaScript.com, Andy became the "Usability Czar" at internet.com, where he optimized the speed and usability of their sites. In addition to his consulting work, he continues to write the monthly Bandwidth Report and the “Speed Tweak of the Week” for www.websiteoptimization.com.

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