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Statistics
: Broadband

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See Subscriber Charts: Internet Subs by Physical Network

Broadband technologies are currently being deployed by the private sector throughout the United States. According to the latest FCC data on the deployment of high-speed Internet connections (released July 7, 2005), as of December 31, 2004, there were 37.9 million high peed lines connecting homes and businesses to the Internet in the United States, a growth rate of 17% during the second half of 2004. Of the 37.9 million high speed lines reported by the FCC, 35.3 million serve homes and small businesses. The FCC found at least one high speed subscriber in 95% of all zip codes in the United States. While the broadband adoption rate stands at approximately 35% of U.S. households, broadband availability is much higher. The FCC estimates that roughly 20 percent of consumers with access to advanced telecommunications capability actually subscribe. According to the FCC, possible reasons for the gap between broadband availability and subscribership include the lack of computers in some homes, price of broadband service, lack of content, and the availability of broadband at work.

According to the International Telecommunications Union, the U.S. ranks 16th worldwide in broadband penetration (subscriptions per 100 inhabitants as of December 2004). Similarly, data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found the U.S. ranking 12th among OECD nations in broadband access per 100 inhabitants as of December 2004.6 By contrast, in 2001 an OECD study found the U.S. ranking 4th in broadband subscribership per 100 inhabitants (after Korea, Sweden, and Canada).- Broadband Internet Regulation and Access: Background and Issues, CRS p. 5 Jan. 26, 2006 OpenCRS

  • Technology Administration, Department of Commerce, Understanding Broadband Demand, A Review of Critical Issues , page 6 (Sept 23, 2002)
    • Nationwide, new BB subs increased by 400% btw June 2000 and June 2002 to 24 m users (not HH) according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.
    • Consistent with these findings, NCTA reported 67% cable BB user growth btw august 2001 and August 2002.  For Q201 to Q202 Verizon reported 79% DSL user growth, SBC 67%, Qwest 37% (with 81% DSL revenue growth), BS 111% and Earthlink 74.6%.
    • Nielson NetRatings reported strong BB demand and subs growth in some of the biggest US cities btw April 2001 and May 2002 - up 71% in NYC, 88% in Lost Angeles, 48% in Boston, 153% in WDC and 21% in SF.
Income Have BB Want BB Not Online
< $35,000 4% 12% 70%
$35k - 50k 11% 20% 51%
$50k-$75K 14% 24% 40%
$75k-$100k 17% 30% 29%
Over $100k 28% 37% 15%
Mean $69,2000 $62,700 $41,700
Page 7

Global Broadband

Broadband Adoption By Service by Percentage

NB: Some surveys contrast all types of Internet access (including dial up), some only contrast DSL to Cable.

  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Cable










706


56.0

75.3





VT





15.3




DSL










706


16.8

14.9





VT





10.3




Dial Up










VT





71.0




Wireless










VT





0.4




Satellite










VT





0.8




Fiber










 










Other










706




9.8





VT





2.3




  • The 2007 Digital Economy Fact Book, Progress and Freedom Foundation p. 17 (Dec. 2007) ( PDF )
  • Vermont Telecommunications Plan, Sept 2004 p. 4-29 (Vermont Residents)
  • Cable represented 75.3% of advanced service lines, ADSL represented 14.9%, and other technologies represented 9.8% in December 2003. The relative position of cable and ADSL was 56% and 16.8% in June 2001. Cable represented 58% of high speed lines, with ADSL representing 34% as of year-end 2003. Pew Internet Project reported in April 2004 that 42% of broadband users at home connected via DSL, compared to 28% a year previously. [p.30] [p.29] FCC Fourth Sec. 706 Report (Sept. 2004)

Plan to Adopt Soon

Vermont Residents Likely to Upgrade to faster Internet connection in the next year: Yes 23% : No 67% Dont Know 10%. Vermont Residents without home Internet access likely to acquire it in the next year: Yes 23%: No 69% : Dont Know 7% : Refused 1%.Vermont Telecommunications Plan, Sept 2004 p. 4-27

Demographics

Broadband by Location

Broadband at Home

Refusniks

Percent of Non Users 2000 2001 2002
No Computer 37.7 25.5 28.5
No Interest 33.3 21.4 23
Dont Know How 18.9 6.9 15.4
Too Expensive 9.1 2.6 9.6
Fear of Tech 4.2 5.6 2.6
Privacy Security Concerns 2.9 1.6 0.8
Not Appropriate for Kids 1.9 0.8 1.4
Computer Not Good Enuf 1.4 1.2 3.4
Consumes too much time 0 1.6 3.6

Availability

  • FCC Fourth Sec. 706 Report (Sept. 2004)
    • As of December 2003, only 6.8% of zip codes reported no high-speed lines, compared to 22.2% of zip codes with no reported lines in June 2001. There also has been a steady growth in the percent of zip codes reporting four or more providers of high-speed lines, from 27.5% in June 2001 to 46.3% in December 2003. With respect to the lowest density zip codes (fewer than six persons per square mile), there were reported lines in 73% of zip codes in December 2003, compared to 37% in June of 2001. [p.30]
    • [p.30]
  • "In 2001 MSDW estimated that 90% of Americans will be able to sign up for either DSL or cable by the end of 2002, although other data has suggested that only 31% will have a competitive choice between these transmission platforms." Technology Administration, Department of Commerce, Understanding Broadband Depand, A Review of Critical Issues , page 5 (Sept 23, 2002)
  • Availability of Broadband Internet Access:Empirical Evidence TPRC Paper 1999
  • U.S. Broadband Growth Steady, ISP Planet 11/20/ 02 "cable modem and DSL together represented 88 percent of the household broadband access market in the U.S., up from 70 percent of broadband access in 2000"

Price Per Bit

Value of Bits: Cost Per Megabyte of Various Services

Service Typical Monthly Bill Revenue Per MB
Cable
$40
$0.00012
Broadband Internet
$50
$0.025
Phone
$70
$0.08
Dial Up Internet
$20
$0.33
Cell Phone
$50
$3.50
SMS

$3000

Source: Andrew Odlyzko, Pricing and Architecture of the Internet: Historical Perspectives from Telecommunications and Transportation, p. 4 (TPRC 2004)

Download Speeds

    • Download time of a 2-begabyte file for various Internet Connections
      • Transfer time, 3 megabyte file, hours/seconds
        • 56 kbps - 7 min 15 sec
        • 128 kbps - 3 min 7 secs
        • 258 kbps - 1 min 33 secs
        • 512 kbps - 47 secs
        • 1.5 mbps - 16 secs
        • 2 mbps - 12 secs
        • 10 mbps - 2.4 secs
        • 100 mbps - 0.24 secs
      • File type and size
        • Movie 1.5 hours DVD quality - 4000 megabytes
        • Move 1.5 hour DivX - 650 megabytes
        • 3 minute music wav file - 35 meg
        • Digital photo 4 megapixels uncompressed - 11 meg
        • ITU Internet for a Mobile Generation Report Adobe - 4 Meg
        • 3 Minute Music File MP3 - 3 Meb
        • Digital Photo 4 megapixels JPEG 10:1 - 1 meb
      • Birth of Broadband, ITU Internet Report, (Sept 2003) Figure 1.2 page 2

Cable

  • MSO Market Share as of 2Q04, Kinetic Strategies (10/25/04)
MSO
CMS Subs
x1000
Comcast
6,000
TW Cable
3,548
Cox
2,246
Charter
1,711
Cablevision
1,179
Adelphia
1,164
Bright House
675
Mediacom
327
Insight
274
RCN
220
CableOne
152
Other
255
Total
17,752

 

Dial Up

  • US increases its lead in dial-up Internet service, Muni 4/27/2005
  • Broadband Passes Dial-up in U.S.” MSNBC.com, August 18, 2004. (" That [63 m Broadband subscribers] amounts to 51 percent of U.S. residential users, up from 49 percent in June and from 38 percent just a year earlier. Sixty-one million, or 49 percent of residential users, us narrowband hookups, down from 62 percent last July, Nielsen//NetRatings said. ")

DSL

Fiber

Satellite

  • Satellite Service Battles Lag, Wired 9/14/2004
  • FCC Fourth Sec. 706 Report (Sept. 2004)
    • Satellite and wireless accounted for approximately 1.3% of high-speed lines (Dec. 2003). None of the satellite-based Internet access services satisfy the definition of advanced services. [p.23]
    • Two major providers: Starband [20k subs] and DirectWay. [p.23]
    • Boeing recently launched Connexion, a realtime, high-speed in-flight Internet access service for passengers using satellite technology. [p.23]
    • On July 17, 2004 , WildBlue Communications announced the launch of its first Ka-band satellite payload aboard Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite. [p.23]
  • Business

  • "The most current study of BB availability to US businesses that we could find was from April 2001.  56% of small business, 85% of medium size businesses, and 87% of large businesses had access to broadband services if they wanted them." Technology Administration, Department of Commerce, Understanding Broadband Depand, A Review of Critical Issues , page 6 (Sept 23, 2002)

Wifi

Wifi Hotspots x1000

  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
U.S.    


 


Worldwide    

    Note: Estimates of the number of hotspots vary widely. Note also that the term "hotspot" may not be consistently defined.

  • Links
  • "Today, there are more than 3,701 hotspots in the United States in locations such as cafes, airports, public parks and hotels." Intel, Most Unwired Cities Survey (2003) (citing IDC, 2003)
  • WiFi hotspots top 45,000, Register Oct 22, 2003 (citing Pyramid Research "Around half of the world's hotspots are in Asia (24,300) while Europe (10,160) and the US (10,970) boast roughly the same number.")
  • FCC Fourth Sec. 706 Report (Sept. 2004)
    • “Wi-Fi hardware market achieving staggering growth in 2003,…expecting 22.7 million NIC [network interface card] and AP units rolled out in 2003, a 214% increase from 2002’s 7.2 million units shipments.” [p. 19]
    • According to industry, approximately 2,000 to 3,000 WISPs serving nation’s rural areas [p.31]
  • "Top 10" Wireless Internet Service Providers, Broadband Wireless Exchange's 2004 (January 2004)
  • Number of Wireless LAN Hot Spots in US:  2000: 2,000 - 2001: 5,000 - 2002: 11,000.  Vendors Pursue Gold at End of Rainbow, Network World at 14 July 22, 2002 (citing Cahners In-Stat/MDR)
  • 400,000 unl subs summer 2002 per Alvarion

Wireless

 

Cost Model

    Cable and DSL Internet Access Cost Structure - an example
    $ Per customer per month for model network build
    2002E xDSL Cable
    Total Costs $47 $40
    Transport/network 2 4
    ISP/Hosting 5 5
    Customer
    Acquisition
    15.5 14.0
    CPE 4.5 3
    Home Installation 5 6
    Customer
    Service/Billing
    11 7
    Maintenance 4 1

    Costs are for ILEC.  Excludes CLEC UNE costs.  Source: McKinsey adnd JFMS analysis 2001.

 

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