Downstream broadband speeds for U.S. households increased an average 34% in 2010, according to an annual In-Stat survey. Download speeds averaged 9.54 Mb/s, up from 7.12 Mb/s a year ago while average broadband rose 4%, In-Stat says.
The average downstream speed across all technologies has increased 71% during the past two years with cable modem and FTTH showing the greatest increases, In-Stat reports in “US Residential Broadband Service: Speed Continues to Rise, Pricing Holds Steady.” Other findings include:
- In comparison to the rapidly rising amounts of bandwidth available to broadband subscribers, between YE2009 and YE2010, the average price for broadband service increased by just 4%
- 38% of the survey respondents also had a mobile wireless broadband connection.
- The appearance of newly competitive access technologies, such as mobile wireless broadband, acts as a driver for increasing overall broadband speeds.
“The survey also highlights that the majority of US broadband subscribers are generally satisfied with the current speed of their broadband service,” principal analyst Mike Paxton was quoted as saying. “This response indicates that so far, broadband service providers are managing to stay ahead of the consumer demand curve for bandwidth.”
