NEW YORK – While dial-up access to the Internet continues its slow death globally, the number of Internet adults utilizing ‘wired’ broadband connections may also be peaking, according to Ipsos Insight’s annual The Face of the Web study.
At the end of 2006, over three-quarters (77%) of the global online population was utilizing a broadband connection to access the Internet, compared to just 21% using a dial-up connection.
And though the prevalence of broadband access continued its steady growth trend through 2006, growing from 70% in 2005, the salad days of robust annual growth for broadband penetration may soon be coming to an end.
The latest findings from The Face of the Web 2006 are based on interviews in 12 key global markets – urban Brazil, Canada, urban China, France, Germany, urban India, Japan, urban Mexico, urban Russia, South Korea, the U.K., and the U.S. It involved more than 6,553 adults, including 3,798 active Internet users. Ipsos has been tracking this data sinc 1999.
Since 2003, the percentage of active internet users utilizing a high-speed connection has jumped over 20 percentage-points, as digital subscription lines (DSL) have been the major force driving up broadband penetration globally. In comparison, the number using dial-up access has declined just as rapidly; just one in five Internet users today uses dial-up (20%), less than half the rate (45%) of just three years ago.
Despite the fact that wireless Internet access from a PC still remains a relatively nascent behaviour – just 15% of users connect to the Internet in this manner today – the future of Wireless Internet access looks very promising globally, Ipsos said.
Two factors contribute to this optimism. First, the rate of household ownership of notebook PCs continues to climb globally, now at 34%.
In addition, the prevalence of mobile Internet browsing also continues to climb globally; at the end of 2006, nearly one in three adults (31%) had accessed the Internet on a wireless mobile device.
Second, in many underdeveloped nations, some online adults are beginning to leapfrog high-speed tethered connections, such as cable and DSL, and opt for Wireless access/service, simply because that’s where the ‘access’ opportunities are emerging within these markets.
