Since I'm a bandwidth fan/nut/hog, I thought I would share this interesting release announcing that broadband has overtaken narrowband, i.e. dial-up. Just don't tell my dad he's in the minority and he needs broadband - he says he's fine surfing the Web at 56kbps. Add my co-worker, gadget-phobe, former Microsoft-patch-a-phobe and somewhat of a "technology Luddite", Robert Hashemian to that list of "holdouts" still surfing.. i mean "crawling" the Web on dial-up. Though he does know his ASP.NET, ASP, C#, and other programming languages, which is quite a contradiction, don't you think?

In any event, here's the release:

U.S. Broadband Connections Reach Critical Mass, Crossing 50 Percent Mark for Web Surfers, According to Nielsen//NetRatings Wednesday August 18, 9:30 am ET Young Adults and Kids Boast Highest Broadband Penetration; Seniors Still Log-on via Narrowband NEW YORK, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings (Nasdaq: NTRT - News), the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reported that broadband connections for the first time reached 51 percent of the American online population at-home during the month of July, as compared to 38 percent last July (see Table 1).
Sixty-three million Web users connected to the Internet via broadband during July 2004 as compared to 61.3 million accessing the Internet through narrowband. Overall growth for broadband connections rose 47 percent year-over-year, while narrowband dropped 13 percent annually.
"Despite a plateau in the growth of U.S. Internet access, we've seen continued high double-digit growth in users' broadband access," said Marc Ryan, senior director and analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "We expect to see this aggressive growth rate continue through next year when the majority of Internet users will be accessing the Internet via a broadband connection."
Table 1. Broadband vs. Narrowband Connections (U.S., At-Home)
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Connection Speed Jul-03 Jul-04
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Broadband 38% 51%
Narrowband 62% 49%
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, July 2004

Note: Broadband connections include ISDN, cable modems and DSL; narrowband connections include modem speeds from 14.4K through 56K.
U.S. Online Demographics
Broadband penetration rated highest among those between ages two through 34 years as compared to those 35 years and older. The 18 to 20 age group possessed the highest penetration of broadband surfers at 59 percent, followed by kids at 58 percent, 25 to 34 year olds at 55 percent, and teens and 21 to 24 year olds both at 53 percent (see Table 2). In comparison, seniors between the ages of 65 to 99 years have the lowest penetration of broadband connections at 34 percent.
Table 2. Broadband vs. Narrowband Connections by Age Group
(U.S., At-Home)
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Age Group Narrowband % Broadband %
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18 To 20 41% 59%
2 To 11 42% 58%
25 To 34 45% 55%
12 To 17 47% 53%
21 To 24 47% 53%
35 To 49 49% 51%
50 To 54 51% 49%
55 To 64 54% 46%
65 To 99 66% 34%
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, July 2004
Note: Broadband connections include ISDN, cable modems and DSL; narrowband connections include modem speeds from 14.4K through 56K.
"Not surprisingly, the younger set of adults, kids and teens, who grew up with PC technology, have the highest penetration of broadband access," said Ryan. "The norm of waiting for a page to load has gone by the wayside through increased broadband access. With high-speed access in the majority, we're likely to see the richer, more interactive content becoming the standard."
· Nielsen//NetRatings reports July 2004 data for the Top Sites by Parent Company and Top Brands. In addition, Nielsen//NetRatings reveals the Top Advertisers by Company for July 2004.
Nielsen//NetRatings Top 5 Web Sites by Parent Company and Top 5 Web Sites By Brand
Month of July 2004

Table 1. Top 10 Parent Companies, Table 2. Top 10 Brands,
Combined Home & Work Combined Home & Work

Unique Time Per Unique Time Per
Audience Person Audience Person
Parent (000) (hh:mm:ss) Brand (000) (hh:mm:ss)
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1. Microsoft 105,601 2:01:14 1. MSN 92,141 1:42:18
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2. Time Warner 93,710 5:10:54 2. Yahoo! 90,826 2:51:30
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3. Yahoo! 92,484 2:49:03 3. Microsoft 88,369 0:38:09
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4. Google 61,207 0:31:48 4. AOL 64,963 6:38:08
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5. eBay 48,176 1:40:29 5. Google 60,654 0:31:24
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6. United States
Government 43,678 0:25:07 6. eBay 46,508 1:37:30
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7. InterActiveCorp 37,149 0:21:09 7. MapQuest 35,357 0:11:32
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8. Amazon 34,531 0:18:27 8. Real 31,174 0:46:07
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9. RealNetworks 32,105 0:48:35 9. Amazon 30,277 0:16:26
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10. Walt Disney 10. Lycos
Internet Group 31,744 0:47:55 Network 24,948 0:08:28