Broadband Access Usage Outpaces Dial-Up Access

The report comes at a time when Internet companies are aggressively building high-speed access and services, banking on growth in broadband to offset slowing growth in dial-up Internet access.

High-speed connections allow for faster access to the Web and the ability to download data-laden services, such as digital music and interactive television.

The Internet research and measurement firm says high-speed Web surfers logged 1.9 billion hours--or 51 percent of the total 2.3 billion hours spent online during the month.

Total time spent online by high-speed Web surfers rose 64 percent from a year-earlier, while time spent online by dial-up surfers fell 3 percent, from 1.18 billion hours to 1.14 billion.

"Broadband usage has hit mainstream, with time spent online by broadband surfers surpassing the critical 50 percent benchmark," says Jarvis Mak, senior Internet media analyst at NetRatings.

Nearly 21.9 million surfers at home accessed the Internet via broadband connection in January, up 67 percent and accounted for 21 percent of the total online population at home. The at-work broadband population jumped 42 percent, to 25.5 million office workers for the same period, compared with 18 million the year-earlier.

Separately, Salomon Smith Barney analyst Clark Westmont said in a report released Monday that high-speed subscriber growth in the fourth quarter beat its expectations, primarily due to ADSL growth in Europe and Asia.

In a research note, Westmont said the recent bankruptcy of ExciteAtHome caused no visible effect upon cable modem subscriber additions in North America.

The race between ADSL, delivered via ordinary telephone lines, and cable modems is a little contrived at the moment, defined more by availability than superior service, Westmont says. In 2001, there were nearly 13 million cable modem subscribers compared to 16 million ADSL subscribers and 16.7 million digital set-top box subscribers.

In North America, Salomon says, cable modems continue to maintain the majority of the high-speed market with 62 percent of the 13.4 million North American high-speed connections.

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