Over 57 Percent Of American Homes Have Access To High-Speed Internet Service

The PC penetration in American homes has increased to 80.6% in 2008 from 77.9% the year earlier. According to Internetworldstats.com, Americans contribute to 26.2 percent of the total Internet population in the world. Still, only 57 percent of all American homes have access to high-speed Internet service.

PC Penetration Vs Internet Penetration in American Homes
According to Nielsen’s National TV panel, around 80.6% homes in US possess a computer in their home. Around 91.6% of these households have Internet connection. This shows that there are more American homes without computers than homes having a PC without any Internet access. Thus, the major challenge in providing web access to all the Americans is the lag in PC penetration.

57% of US Homes Have Access to High-Speed Internet
According to HT survey, over 57% of the Americans have access to high-speed Internet access. Only 17% subscribe to a dial-up service. A recent Consumer Audit Survey reports that an average home spends about $37 per month for home Internet service. This is one-half of what they individually spend on mobile service and TV service.

Factors That Influence Internet Connection Type
According to Nielsen Claritas Convergence audit, 67% of American homes with a PC have access to high-speed Internet service. Around 11% of them are subscribed to dial-up connection. The following are some factors that were found to influence the type of Internet connection an American home possesses.

•    Education level: Major part of households with a high-speed Internet service is with their HOH at least possessing some college certificate or higher. Around three-quarters of homes with a college graduate as HOH have a high-speed Internet connection. Education level is also a motivating aspect for possession of an Internet connection.

•    Combined home annual income: Income also seems to be one of the major factors influencing the possession of an Internet service. In the survey, it was found that around 56% of homes with a combined annual income of less than $40K do not have any Internet connection.

Age: Over 78% of people between age group of 18-34 have access to high-speed Internet service. The percentage of people who possessed a PC but do not have any kind of Internet connection, seemed to increase along with the age group. In the age group of 18-34 - around 12% of them did not have Internet access, while it is 40% in case of people in age group of 65+.


The comparably lesser PC penetration stands as the major challenge in extending Internet access to all US households. Other challenges include low education levels and low household incomes. However, the overall percentage of people who do not have any type of Internet connection at home decreased from 26% in December 2007 to 23% in December 2008.