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Broadband Penetration Spikes Among Low to Middle Income Earners

6:40 am on June 5, 2006 | Category: Business, Internet, Telecom Services

Americans from all walks of life have been signing up for high-speed internet services in record numbers over the past year, with working middle class households showing the biggest increase.

Broadband adoption among middle-class U.S. households ($30,000 to $50,000 annual income) increased by a massive 59% between March 2005 and March 2006. Penetration among those earning less than $30,000 per year grew by 40% over the same period.

Lower and middle income families still lag well behind their wealthy counterparts when it comes to broadband use, but the digital divide seems to be closing with each passing year. 68% of high income households already have a broadband connection, therefore that number has a lot less room to grow than the 43% penetration among middle income earners.

“It seems like the aggressive pricing strategies have had some effect for DSL providers in those middle-income segments,” said John Horrigan, associate research director at the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The spike in broadband adoption has clearly sparked a pricing war between DSL and cable ISPs alike, which is gradually wearing down prices, and making high-speed internet accessible to an even higher percentage of the population.

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