Broadband saw big jump since 2008, new Pew study reveals

Despite the difficult economy, the number of adult Americans with broadband connectivity at home increased nearly 15% between 2008 and 2009, according to data released today from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which has conducted an influential survey about broadband adoption for about 10 years.

Between May 2008 and April 2009, the percentage of American adults with broadband connectivity at home rose from 55% to 63%, said John Horrigan, associate research director for the Pew Internet and American Life Project, addressing attendees of a national broadband symposium organized by the Internet Innovation Alliance. That’s a particularly impressive growth rate, considering that the average monthly cost for broadband service rose from $34.50 to $39 during the same period.

“That’s not due to more people paying for premium service,” Horrigan said. “[There was an] increase in the bill both for respondents [using] premium and basic service.” The percentage of people who subscribe to a premium broadband service, defined as one that offers higher data rates, increased from 29% in 2008 to 34% in 2009, the survey found.

A portion of broadband connectivity growth came at the expense of dialup, which dropped from a penetration rate of 10% of adult Americans in 2008 to just 7% for 2009, researchers found.

Dialup users and adults without Internet connectivity most often said they did not have broadband because it was not relevant to them. Fifty percent of those respondents fell into that category, citing reasons such as “not interested” or “too busy.” Nineteen percent of non-broadband users pointed to price and 17% cited availability problems as their reasons for not being connected. The remaining 13% pointed to usability concerns such as the view that they were “too old” or that it was “a waste of time.”

Despite the overall upward trend, however, about 9% of respondents said they had canceled or cut back on their Internet service as a result of the economy.