US Broadband Use Growing Briskly

The FCC on Thursday released new data that showed a 34 percent increase in the number of broadband Internet lines, from 28.2 million at the end of 2003 to 37.9 million at the end of last year.

DSL lines saw the largest growth of the two major high-speed options, increasing 45 percent year over year from 9.5 million to 13.8 million lines. The larger increase likely had to do with more of a willingness by DSL providers to offer competitive pricing for their services.

For example, in some regions, high-speed access can be obtained through DSL at up to half of what it would cost through cable.

Cable Internet, on the other hand, saw a 30 percent increase in subscribers during 2004, from 16.4 million to 21.4 million lines. Originally, cable had a distinct speed advantage over DSL services that allowed it to grow at a faster pace.

However, recent improvements in the technology behind DSL has allowed providers to offer the same speed as cable without having to increase prices, cutting into cable Internet's fast-paced growth.

Alternative services have also shown some slow growth as well. Satellite and terrestrial wireless connections, billed as ways to get high-speed access into rural areas increased by 200,000 to 700,000 homes during 2004.

All in all, 99 percent of the United States population now lives in an area that has access to at least one broadband service, which covers about 95 percent of the nation's zipcodes.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said that Thursday's findings indicate the country is well on its way to providing universal access to broadband cheaply by 2007, as promised by President Bush in his 2004 campaign.