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Broadband Penetration Increases but is Anybody Being Left Out
A recent study touts huge gains in broadband penetration---with some caveats
Recent research from analyst house Scarborough Research indicates that Broadband Penetration in the US has increased over 300 percent since 2002. The research indicates that 112 million adults in the US now have access to a broadband connection. In fact the percentage of US adults has risen from 12 percent in 2002 to 49 percent.
These are huge numbers. But as with most things the details are most interesting. As might be expected DSL penetration (575 percent) has increased much faster than cable (188 percent). This seems straightforward as cable had a higher penetration rate early on and DSL had more room to grow. The cities with high penetration include the usual suspects of San Francisco, Boston and San Diego.
A I have been one who harped upon bad broadband availability data I pleasantly noted that the study indicated that penetration coverage is not uniform with markets in the South and Southwest lagging behind. The study based its data on Scarborough's USA+ database, so I haven't seen the raw numbers.
I think it is important to remember though, that this is a study of broadband penetration, not broadband availability (so far as I know). And it is also not a study of competitive mix in markets either. My take on the industry is that while major population centers have enjoyed major gains in broadband availability there still remain isolated pockets in major cities and large swaths of areas in rural markets with very limited broadband availability.
There are real disparities out there. Sure a market may have one broadband option---but that may be all it has. So yes, there is availability (maybe) but no competition, which means higher prices and lower speed service levels.
There is still a lot of work left to do in this country to improve broadband infrastructure.
Tim Sanders
The Final Mile
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