Definition of ‘broadband’ is too broad

There’s good news, and not-so-good news. The good news is the number of people accessing the network over broadband continues to increase. The not-so-good news is that the term “broadband” is so broad that it’s difficult to tell how good the good news really is.

The Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project conducted a survey of adults in the United States to determine what percentage have made the transition from archaic dial-up Internet access to more modern broadband connections. The results are that broadband access has climbed to 70 percent, while dial-up remains steady at three percent.

Pew survey shows broadband use has climbed to a new high of 70 percent.

The problem is the things considered to be “broadband” cover a wide range of connection speeds. The actual survey question used by Pew was, “At home, do you connect to the Internet through a dial-up telephone line, or do you have some other type of connection, such as a DSL-enabled phone line, a cable TV modem, a wireless connection, or a fiber optic connection such as FIOS?”

Whether a home relies on a 3G wireless connection, a DSL connection, a cable modem connection, or happens to be lucky enough to live in an area served by Google Fiber, all these technologies are considered “broadband.” However, Google Fiber is thousands of times faster than some 3G wireless connections, so it’s a little silly to lump them together at all—never mind suggesting they’re all “high-speed broadband.”

It’s great to see the percentage using broadband continue to inch up, but it’s also a bit misleading to call everything that isn’t dial-up “high-speed broadband.” The National Broadband Plan put out by the FCC in 2010 set a bar that every household should have 4Mbps Internet access by 2020. Contrast that with South Korea, which established a goal to connect every home in the country with gigabit fiber connections by 2012.

The FCC set the bar very low with a goal of
4Mbps access by the year 2020.

Clearly, the U.S. definition of “high-speed” is different than many other developed nations. Sadly, though, as pathetic as 4Mbps is by global standards it’s still exponentially better than much of what we currently classify as “high-speed broadband.”

The difference is staggering, and it has a significant impact on other technologies, and whether or not businesses or consumers can take advantage of them. Consider the fact that it takes two and a half days to download a 5GB file over a 3G “high-speed broadband” connection, but less than a minute to download the same file over a gigabit fiber “high-speed broadband” connection. Would you rather be the business that can download and review a 5GB file over a cup of coffee, or the business that has to plan days in advance to download the file? Which business do you think has the strategic advantage?

We’ve reached a point where dial-up should no longer be considered part of the debate. It’s dead. Move on.

As long as we focus on “broadband vs. dial-up” and pat ourselves on the back for the increased use of “broadband”, we’re missing the bigger picture—and bigger problem—that the term “broadband” is too broad, and that we need to raise the bar of what’s considered adequate.

Tony is principal analyst with the Bradley Strategy Group, providing analysis and insight on tech trends. He is a prolific writer on a range of technology topics, has authored a number of books, and is a frequent speaker at industry events.
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70% of US residents have broadband access, study finds

IDG News Service - As of this past May, 70% of U.S. residents ages 18 and older access the Internet via high-speed broadband, although the rate of broadband adoption has been sluggish, according to survey results released Monday by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project.

Just 3% of U.S. residents access the Internet via dial-up, which is unchanged since August 2011, Pew found.

But while the number of people zipping along the "information superhighway" may be high at 70%, the percentage does not constitute a major shift in online behavior. Compared to the 66% of adults who said they had home broadband in April 2012, Monday's results show only "a small but statistically significant rise," the report said.

Access rates were more or less stagnant in previous years, too. In August 2011, 62% of adults had high-speed access. In May 2010, it was 66%.

The report points to several socioeconomic factors to explain the trend toward home broadband access.

"We've consistently found that age, education and household income are among the strongest factors associated with home broadband adoption," said Kathryn Zickuhr, the report's lead author, in a statement.

In keeping with previous research findings, groups with the highest rates of home broadband adoption continue to be college graduates, adults under age 50, adults living in households earning at least $50,000, and white people and adults living in urban or suburban areas, the report said.

The gap in broadband adoption rates between younger and older adults is large: 80% of adults ages 18-29 have high-speed broadband compared to 43% of seniors 65 and older.

The study includes data going as far back as 2000, showing that broadband adoption rates first surpassed dial-up rates between 2004 and 2005.

The study also took a look at smartphones, which have helped to provide an alternative form of home Internet access as their popularity has grown in recent years, authors said.

If the devices are included in the definition of broadband, they are also exacerbating the broadband gap between older and younger people, the report said.

Adding smartphone ownership to the mix, the percentage of young adults with broadband increases to 95%, while the access rate for seniors rises only moderately to 46%.

Smartphones are narrowing the gap, however, between some racial and ethnic groups. While black people and Latinos are less likely to have home broadband than white people, their use of smartphones nearly eliminates that difference, the report said.

Today, 56% of U.S. adults own some kind of smartphone, the report said.

The report is based on data from telephone interviews conducted between April and May of this year, among more than 2,200 adults, Pew said.

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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Study: 70 percent of US residents have broadband access

As of this past May, 70 percent of U.S. residents ages 18 and older access the Internet via high-speed broadband, although the rate of broadband adoption has been sluggish, according to survey results released Monday by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project.

Just 3 percent of U.S. residents access the Internet via dialup, which is unchanged since August 2011, Pew found.

The Pew Research Center and American Life Project says that 70 percent of U.S. residents 18 years and older access the Internet via broadband.

But while the number of people zipping along the “information superhighway” may be high at 70 percent, the percentage does not constitute a major shift in online behavior. Compared to the 66 percent of adults who said they had home broadband in April 2012, Monday’s results show only “a small but statistically significant rise,” the report said.

Access rates were more or less stagnant in previous years too. In August 2011, 62 percent of adults had high-speed access. In May 2010, it was 66 percent.

The report points to several socioeconomic factors to explain the trend toward home broadband access.

“We’ve consistently found that age, education and household income are among the strongest factors associated with home broadband adoption,” said Kathryn Zickuhr, the report’s lead author, in a statement.

In keeping with previous research findings, groups with the highest rates of home broadband adoption continue to be college graduates, adults under age 50, adults living in households earning at least $50,000, and white people and adults living in urban or suburban areas, the report said.

The gap in broadband adoption rates between younger and older adults is large: 80 percent of adults ages 18-29 have high-speed broadband compared to 43 percent of seniors 65 and older.

The study includes data going as far back as 2000, showing that broadband adoption rates first surpassed dialup rates between 2004 and 2005.

The study also took a look at smartphones, which have helped to provide an alternative form of home Internet access as their popularity has grown in recent years, authors said.

If the devices are included in the definition of broadband, they are also exacerbating the broadband gap between older and younger people, the report said.

Adding smartphone ownership to the mix, the percentage of young adults with broadband increases to 95 percent, while the access rate for seniors rises only moderately to 46 percent.

Smartphones are narrowing the gap, however, between some racial and ethnic groups. While black people and Latinos are less likely to have home broadband than white people, their use of smartphones nearly eliminates that difference, the report said.

Today, 56 percent of U.S. adults own some kind of smartphone, the report said.

The report is based on data from telephone interviews conducted between April and May of this year, among more than 2,200 adults, Pew said.

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