Broadband usage growing and growing

Nearly three-quarters of Web surfers in the United States have a broadband Internet connection at home, up from just 57 percent a year ago, according to a study released on Wednesday by Nielsen/NetRatings.

The number of dial-up users dropped to 28 percent from 43 percent over the past year, according to the May report statistics. The actual number of U.S. broadband home users rose to 102.5 million from about 78.5 million, while home dial-up users fell to just over 40 million from nearly 59 million.

In the work place, broadband consumption was even higher at 90 percent saturation, up from 82 percent a year ago.

The study concluded that broadband users are more than three times as likely than dial-up users to use RSS and more than twice as likely to publish a blog or build a personal Web page.

"Although we are not seeing the explosive month-over-month growth we once were, the market for broadband Internet connection has not yet reached saturation," said Jon Gibs, senior director of media at Nielsen/NetRatings. "We're past the point where decreasing prices and increasing availability will move the needle for providers; the remaining consumers will be pushed to broadband as the Internet continues to move beyond text-based information to a comprehensive source for video."