A Third of US Households Not Online, Not Planning To Be Soon

A survey released by home technology MR specialist, Park Associates, has revealed that around one-third of US households, or 31 million homes, have no access to the Internet and do not plan to subscribe in the next 12 months. Meanwhile, broadband usage is once again on the up, underlining the so-called 'digital divide'.

According to the results of Park Associates' latest National Technology Scan survey, many respondents could see little use for the Internet in their lives, with 44% saying they are not interested in anything on the web. A small segment (17%) said that they don't go online because they don't know how to, and 14% answered the question by saying 'I do all my e-commerce shopping and YouTube-watching at work' 0 they therefore have no requirement to be online at home. More than a fifth (22%) say that they can't afford a PC or the cost of an Internet service.

John Barrett, Director of Research at Park Associates commented: 'What we're seeing reflected in the data is that there is a big segment of people out there who don't yet know what the big deal is. They can live without it, so they do. Of those who don't subscribe, about 40% are over the age of 65. However, 13% were under the age of 34, and somewhere around 30% were aged between 35-54.'

The study also found that in 2006 broadband penetration increased from 42% to 52%, with roughly one-half of new subscribers being converted dial-up users and the other half of households previously having had no access.

This increase is born out in e-Marketer's report - Broadband Worldwide: 2005-2011 – which says that 251 million households across the globe now have broadband. The report shows that the US and China are the two largest broadband markets in the world, with 54.6 million and 46.6 million broadband households respectively. And by 2011, e-Marketer estimates that there will be a total of 89.9 million broadband households in the US, representing 69.3% of all American households. The firm also predicts that there will be 90.5 million broadband households in China, which is just 23% of all Chinese households.

Web sites are at www.parksassociates.com and www.emarketer.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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