U.S. Broadband Adoption Up to 68%

Some 68 percent of American households used broadband Internet in 2010, up from 64 percent in 2009. Only three percent of households relied on dial-up access to the Internet in 2010, down from five percent in 2009, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Another nine percent of households had people who accessed the Internet only outside of the home.

So is that a good thing, or not so good? It depends on how you look at the data. The main reasons respondents cited for not having Internet access at home were a lack of interest or need (47 percent). 


In other words, about half of households that do not buy or use broadband access services do not have interest in using the Internet, or have no need to do so. About 24 percent of respondents who do not buy broadband say it is too expensive. 


And 15 percent of households do not own computers. Individuals without broadband service at home relied on locations such as public libraries (20 percent) or other people’s houses (12 percent) to go online.

All told, approximately 80 percent of American households had at least one Internet user, whether inside or outside the home and regardless of technology type used to access the Internet.

Cable modems and DSL were the leading broadband technologies for home Internet adoption, with 32 percent and 23 percent of households, respectively, using these services. Broadband Adoption Rises