ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
The percentage of Americans with high-speed Internet in their homes has surged despite the nation's ongoing economic troubles.
According to a survey released last month by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 63 percent of American adults have broadband connections at home, up from 54 percent at the end of 2007.
Those results ran counter to what researchers had expected when going into April's survey of 2,253 adults. The report's author, John Horrigan, said he was expecting to learn the nation's recession had slowed the growth of high-speed access.
That the assumption was proven wrong demonstrates the evolving role played by the Internet in the lives of Americans, Horrigan said.
"Broadband is, for many people, seen as a utility that's hard to do without," he said.
It's a view that's bolstered by another piece of the survey, which found that people were more likely to cut back on cell phones, land lines or cable TV services than their Internet connections. For example, 9 percent of Internet users said they had trimmed or canceled online services, while 22 percent of adults said they had cut back on cable TV service in the past 12 months.
"Once people get broadband, there is great difficulty going back," Horrigan said. "The dial-up wait time becomes too burdensome."
Among other findings of the survey:
— In 2009, 34 percent of broadband users said they paid extra for a premium service with faster speeds. That's up from 29 percent in 2008.
— The average monthly bill for high-speed access was $39, up from $34.50 in 2008.
— Senior citizens saw their broadband adoption rate increase to 30 percent from 19 percent.
— High-speed access in rural areas increased to 46 percent from 38 percent.
— For the second year, African-Americans experienced a below-average growth rate, with 46 percent having broadband access compared with 43 percent in 2008
