Selected news stories about the Pew Internet Project and articles citing our data.
Study: Spread of broadband service slows
7/4/2007 | 
Coverage
Bob Keefe, Cox Washington Bureau, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, C1
'" Nearly half of all Americans now have high-speed Internet service at home, but the growth rate for broadband service is slowing sharply, and it's still uncommon among poor and rural residents, according to a new study.
About 47 percent of adult Americans surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet & American Life Project said they have high-speed Internet service at home, up from next to nothing at the start of the decade.
The rate of growth for broadband service adoption, however, was only 12 percent for the one-year period ending in March. That was down from 40 percent for the comparable period a year earlier and the lowest rate in at least five years.
John Horrigan, associate director for research at Pew, said broadband growth hasn't necessarily reached a plateau.
But, clearly, many people who can afford broadband service already have it. In the future, Horrigan said, Internet providers will have to try harder to convince those without broadband that it's worth the cost, typically $20 to $40 a month.
"I think we're at a point where many people in the upper socio-economic groups now have broadband," he said. "You'd expect to see growth continue, but it's going to be in fits and starts."
Horrigan said the sharp dip in growth during the past year isn't surprising given the rapid increase in broadband adoption rates in past years, when many cable and telecom companies offered deep discounts for new broadband subscribers. Also, "once you get near 50 percent of the market, sustaining growth gets more challenging," he added. "
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