Tag Archives: broadband

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U.S. Internet Speed Among Slowest in the World

The Internet first became available to the world in the late 80s through dial-up connections — Think AOL and “You’ve Got Mail.” Initially, these dial-up connections were able to reach a maximum speed of 56 KB/s.

Fast Internet access does make is key to making full use of the Internet. Fast Internet access is found in many different parts of the world. The United States, which arguably has produced some of the biggest Internet companies, has some of the slower speeds in the developed world. It’s 11th in the list of countries with the fastest Internet speeds in the world. Hong Kong has one of the fastest connections, averaging over 50 Mbps, with America lagging behind with an average high of only 39 Mbps.

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Mobile Broadband Users to Hit One Billion in 2011

The mobile Internet is about to get bigger. According to a recent report from global telecom equipment provider Ericsson, the number of mobile broadband subscribers reached 500 million in 2010 and they expect that number to double in 2011, bringing the total to an even billion.

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Mobile broadband adoption has accelerated with the strong growth of smartphones, connected laptops, and tablets, supported by the introduction of high-performance networks. Smartphone users are increasingly using applications and Internet services on the go. Global mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, with Ericsson announcing in August 2010 that it had tripled in just one year.

Last year was also a good one for Long Term Evolution (LTE). Verizon is beginning to roll out this higher speed mobile network. Ericsson has been a supplier for the majority of High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) Evolution networks operating at speeds of 21 Mbps or higher.

By 2015, Ericsson believes mobile broadband subscriptions will top 3.8 billion, with 95% driven by HSPA, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and LTE networks.

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Adoption of Broadband at Home Grows

The latest findings of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project mark a departure from the stagnation in home high-speed adoption rates that had prevailed from December 2007 through December 2008. During that period, Project surveys found that home broadband penetration remained in a narrow range between 54% and 57%.

The greatest growth in broadband adoption in the past year has taken place among population subgroups that have below average usage rates. Broadband usage among adults ages 65 or older grew from 19% in May 2008 to 30% in April 2009. Overall, respondents who live in homes with an annual household income below $30,000 experienced a 34% growth in home broadband adoption from 2008 to 2009.

Broadband adoption appears to be largely immune to the effects of the current economic recession. More than twice as many respondents said they had cut back or cancelled a cell phone plan or cable TV service than said the same about their Internet service.

The Pew Internet Project’s April 2009 survey interviewed 2,253 Americans, 561 of whom were interviewed on their cell phones.

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Broadband in the Sky

American Airlines has announced the launch of a new mobile broadband service, Gogo,™ provided by Aircell. Customers traveling on American’s Boeing 767-200 aircraft can access complete coast-to-coast coverage on nonstop flights between New York and San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles, and New York and Miami.

Aircell’s Gogo service will be available to customers as a fee-based service in all cabins. Aircell will charge $12.95 on flights that are longer than three hours, which include American’s Boeing 767-200 flights. Each paid Gogo session includes full Internet access. Cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services are not available. Gogo turns an American Airlines flight into a Wi-Fi hotspot. Once the aircraft has reached 10,000 feet, users can simply turn on their Wi-Fi enabled devices such as laptops, smartphones, and PDAs, open their browsers and be directed to the Gogo portal page where they can sign up and begin surfing. Gogo is powered by the Aircell air-to-ground (ATG) Broadband System, which runs over Aircell’s exclusive nationwide network.

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112 million U.S. Adults Have Broadband at Home

The percentage of U.S. households with broadband Internet connections has grown from 12% in 2002 to 49% today, and 112 million U.S. adults now have high-speed Web access at home, according to a study by Scarborough Research.

The study, based on a panel of 220,000 adults 18 and older, found significant regional variation in broadband penetration. San Francisco topped the list, with 62% of adults living in households with broadband Web access, followed by Boston and San Diego at 61%. At the bottom of the list was Roanoke/Lynchburg, Va., at 29% and Charleston/Huntington, W.Va., at 33%. Most of the markets with low broadband penetration are in the South and Southwest.

Not surprisingly, adults with broadband access are more likely to use the Internet, including for shopping. For instance, 10% of those with broadband access have spent $2,500 or more online in the past year, compared with 8% of all adults. That means adults with broadband at home are 23% more likely to have spent at least $2,500 online in the past year. They are 20% more likely than average to have spent between $1,000 and $1,500 and 12% more likely to have spent between $500 and $1,000, the survey shows.

They also use the Internet in other ways, being 30% more likely than the average American to have downloaded podcasts during the past month, 29% more likely to have downloaded or watched TV programs, and 27% more likely to have downloaded or listened to audio clips.