The number of US household with high-speed Internet access grew 12% from 2006 to 2007. That is down from the 40% increase from 2005 to 2006.
John B. Horrigan of Pew said, "Moderate growth in home high-speed adoption from 2006 to 2007 is partly a reflection of strong prior-year growth; the low-hanging fruit was picked in 2005. Luring remaining hard-to-get adults to home broadband is likely to involve showing them the relevance of online content."
Among adults in households with annual incomes between $30,000 and $50,000, home broadband adoption stood at 46% in early 2007, up from 43% in 2006.
Home broadband adoption among those ages 65 and older was 15% in early 2007, up from 13% in 2006.
Broadband connections grew to 40% from 2006 to 2007 among people ages 50 to 64.
African-American household broadband growth was especially strong, with 40% now using high-speed connections at home, up from 31% in 2006.
Over three in 10 rural households now have broadband, although converting holdouts may be tough.
Aaron Smith of Pew said, "Broadband adoption in rural America faces two challenges — network availability and demographics. Rural Americans tend to be older, less avid online users, and thus less interested in fast home connections. And some parts rural America also simply don't have the infrastructure for providing broadband at home."
eMarketer's own projections put Internet penetration at nearly three-quarters of US households by 2011, with 94.1% of these households connected via broadband.
