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Internet Coaching Library > Site
Links > Internet Global Languages
United
States Internet Broadband Usage Reached 68% in
Feb/06
The latest estimates from
Nielsen/NetRatings released on March 14, 2006 indicate that the number of
active U.S. broadband users who access the network from home
increased 28 percent year-over-year, growing from 74.3 million in
February 2005 to 95.5 million in February 2006.
The broadband composition of the user base, the research firm
adds, has been moving up steadily, increasing at least 10
percentage points annually, now hitting what the firm calls
“an all-time high.” In recent years, the company
reported home broadband figures to be 33 percent in February
2003, 45 percent in February 2004, 55 percent in February 2005
and 68 percent in February 2006. This is occurring, however, as
overall Internet penetration in the United States has stabilized
during the past few years, reaching 74 percent in February
2006.
Nielsen/NetRatings also claims that the average PC time spent
per person on a monthly basis also is increasing as broadband
penetration rises. Its correlating estimates on this score were
25.5 hours in February 2003, nearly 28 hours in February 2004 and
in February 2005, and more than 30.5 hours in February 2006. It
attributes part of this hourly growth to broadband services
allowing easier online access to photo, music, audio or video
downloads (including video-streaming and video-sharing Web sites)
as well as more use of such applications as email and
financial-account management.
rk
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YEAR
|
U.S. Broadband
Composition (%)
|
PC Time Per
Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
Feb. - 2003
|
33
%
|
25:33:24
|
|
Feb. - 2004
|
45
%
|
27:52:29
|
|
Feb. - 2005
|
55
%
|
27:49:58
|
|
Feb. - 2006
|
68
%
|
30:35:54
|
Source: Nielsen NetRatings, March, 2006. Note: Broadband data is
based on individual, active Internet users 2 years and older.
"The correlated growth in average
PC time per person is the result of broadband users' greater
satisfaction with their online experience," says Jon Gibs, senior
director of media at Nielsen/NetRatings. "The 'always on' nature
of a broadband connection allows the Internet to become more
entrenched.”
The update also includes a series of ratings connected with Web
sites, Internet usage and online advertising. Leading video sites
for Web traffic, for instance, were MSN Video, YouTube, Google
Video, iFILM and Yahoo!’s video search. See the Nielsen NetRatings press
release.
About the Author:
Enrique De Argaez is the webmaster of the "Internet World Stats" website. Since
2000 he has been collecting Internet Usage Statistics, and
publishing the data for over 233 countries and regions of the
world for free use by the academia, the global business community
and the general public. For more information on Internet World
Usage, visit his site at: http://www.InternetWorldStats.com
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