The Broadband DifferenceThe Broadband Difference

John B. Horrigan – Senior Research Specialist

NARUC Broadband SummitApril 28, 2003

Presentation OutlinePresentation Outline

• Pace of broadband adoption

• Who are broadband users?

• What do they do online?

• My take on the state of broadband demand.

Broadband adoptionBroadband adoption

American adults with Broadband at Home

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Month

Millio

ns o

f A

meri

can

s

Percent of American adults with broadband in the home

36

16

811

0

5

10

15

20

Mid-2000 Early 2001 Late 2001 End 1Q2002

End 1Q2003

% Americans with home broadband

Adoption Time of New TechnologiesAdoption Time of New Technologies(source: Federal Communications Commission ) )

Technology Years to Reach 10% Adoption

Years to Reach 50% Adoption

Video Cassette Recorder

10 14

Compact Disc Player

4.5 10.5

Color TV 12 18

Cell Phones 8 15

Personal Computer 4 18

% Internet users in each group … Home Broadband Dial-Up

Male 56% 49%

Female 44 51

Community Type

Rural 12 21

Suburban 59 55

Urban 29 24

Education Level

Some college 58 63

College graduate or more 42 36

Age

18-24 21 12

25-34 23 23

35-44 26 26

45-54 21 19

55+ 10 20

Income (household)

Less than $30K 12 16

More than $75K 42 26

Broadband Demographics – 2003 and 2000Broadband Demographics – 2003 and 2000

% Internet users in each group … March 2003 May 2000

Male 56% 66%

Female 44 34

Education Level

Some college 58 50

College graduate or more 42 50

Community Type

Rural 12 10

Suburban 59 50

Urban 29 40

Income (household)

Less than $30K 12 13

More than $75K 42 32

Broadband amplifies, intensifies everything

A fat-pipe effect

• Spend more time logged on

• Do more things online

• Do them more often

• Feel better about the Internet’s role in their lives

• Change the way they spend their time

Frequency of online use Frequency of online use & online experience& online experience

How often do you sit down and access the Internet from home?

Several times a day … 43% 19%

% broadband % dial-up

Did you go online yesterday?

%yes … 73% 51%

% broadband % dial-up

How long have you been an Internet user?

More than 6 years

% yes … 64% 44%

Broadband changes online behavior

• Create and share content

• Multimedia use and multitasking

• Taking online activities that used to be performed offline

The broadband picture:

Information seeking Broadband Users (BLUE) vs. Dial-Up Users (RED)

% Users who do activity on typical day

News

46

24

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

School research

24

9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

The broadband picture: Information producing

Broadband Users (BLUE) vs. Dial-Up Users (RED) % Users who do activity on typical day

Share files

17

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Create content

16

3

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

The broadband picture: Downloading

Broadband Users (BLUE) vs. Dial-Up Users (RED) % Users who do activity on typical day

Games, videos, pictures

22

4

0

5

10

15

20

25

B

Music

17

3

0

5

10

15

20

The broadband picture: Media streaming

Broadband Users (BLUE) vs. Dial-Up Users (RED)

% Users who do activity on typical day

Listen to music

19

4

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Video clips

21

6

0

5

10

15

20

25

Changes in time use

• 37% say their Internet use has cut their time watching TV

• 31% say it has decreased the time they spend shopping in stores

• 18% say it has decreased their time reading newspapers

• 13% say it has decreased the time they spend in traffic

• 25% say it has increased the time they spend working at home

The Broadband StoryThe Broadband Story

• Broadband uptake is rapid compared with adoption rates of other technology

• Broadband adoption appears to be driven more by activities than demographics– Those who say they want broadband tend to be

content creators, music listeners, news gatherers– And those who say they want broadband spend

more on communications goods than other users.

• Internet adoption, by contrast, is driven more by demographics– And Internet adoption has stalled in past 12 months

How to quicken uptake?How to quicken uptake?

• Get more people online– Broadband uptake is quick given that

you’re online– Lots of good models for encouraging

access

• Let activities that are associated with broadband users flourish– Business models for online music, P2P– No “walled gardens” on the Internet

About us

Pew Internet & American Life Project

1100 Connecticut Ave. NW – Suite 710

Washington, D.C. 20036

202-296-0019

http://www.pewinternet.org/

Find me at: jhorrigan@pewinternet.org