The United States is known for many things. Among them are woefully slow broadband speeds. Compared with the rest of the industrialized world, the US falls way behind countries such as Japan and South Korea, where 50 and 100 Megabit connections are the norm. The US struggles to hit 10 Megabits, and the norm is typically much lower. But that's OK apparently - the latest study by PewResearch finds that broadband adoption is on the rise in the US, and so is the price.

The study, released today, showed that many more Americans are jumping on the broadband wagon at an increasing rate. From approximately December 2007 to December 2008, broadband usage remained steady at around ~57% of all US internet users. This stagnation has broken, as the latest results show that now 63% of all US internet users connect with broadband.

PewResearch's study also found something rather interesting. More people are connecting via broadband (and speed hasn't increased dramatically) despite the fact that prices are on the rise. This appears to be attributable to the fact that more people who were previously on dial-up, or had no previous connection, are willing to purchasing broadband connections because of its obvious advantages.

The price of broadband seems to be on the rise. According to PewResearch, the average price of broadband was only $34.50 in 2008. This figure shot up to $39.00 in 2009.

There has been some effort by ISPs to bring faster broadband speeds to customers in the last year. However, with more people settling for rather slow broadband and at a higher price, it's hard to know whether the US will ever see the kind of speeds that typify other markets.

Date: 2009-06-17 Source: http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1860