US Jumps to 24th in Worldwide Broadband Penetration - US Broadband Penetration Grows to 83.4% Among Active Internet Users - August 2007 Bandwidth Report

Website Optimization is announcing today that reversing a previous trend, the US moved up from 25th to 24th in broadband penetration worldwide in the first quarter of 2007 (see Figure 1). Broadband penetration among active Internet users grew to 83.43% in US homes in June, up 0.2 percentage points from 83.23% in June 2007.

US Jumps to 24th in Broadband Penetration Worldwide

The US moved up one place in household broadband penetration to 24th worldwide in Q1 2007. Australia dropped to 25th place, a reversal of a previous trend. As of Q1 2007 52.72% of US households had a broadband connection while Australia was at 51.93%. South Korea still leads the pack at 89.38%, with Hong Kong at 87.14%, Monaco at 82.92%, Iceland at 75.76%, Singapore at 75.53%, the Netherlands 73.27%, Denmark at 72.99%, Macau at 72.27%, Isral at 72.07%, Norway at 71.35%. At current growth rates, Hong Kong should pass South Korea in broadband penetration by the summer of 2007.

Home Connectivity in the US

US broadband penetration grew to 83.43% among active Internet users in July 2007. Narrowband users connecting at 56Kbps or less now make up 16.57% of active Internet users, down 0.2 percentage points from 16.77% in June 2007 (see Figure 2). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0708/

Broadband Growth Trends in the US

In July 2007, broadband penetration in US homes grew 0.2 percentage points to 83.43% up from 83.28% in May. This increase of 0.2 points is below the average increase in broadband of 0.8 points per month over the last six months (see Figure 3). US broadband penetration uptake appears to be slowing down over the past few months. http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0708/

Work Connectivity
As of July 2007, 94.21% of US workers connected to the Internet with broadband, up 0.16 percentage points from the 94.05% share in June. At work 5.79% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 4). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0708/

Further Reading:

Nielsen//NetRatings
http://www.netratings.com/
Provided the US broadband penetration data for active Internet users for the Bandwidth Report.

Point Topic
http://www.point-topic.com/
Supplied the worldwide broadband penetration data for the Bandwidth Report.

For the full “August 2007 Bandwidth Report” visit http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0708/

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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.