LRG: Household Broadband Penetration Tops 80%

Just over 8 in 10 U.S. households (81 percent) have broadband Internet service at home, a rise of 26 percent since 2005, according to new market data from LRG (Leichtman Research Group). Broadband service penetration, moreover, has reached 97 percent of all U.S. Internet households, up from 91 percent in 2010 and 40 percent in 2005, LRG highlights in a news release.

Overall, 84 percent of U.S. households have Internet service, LRG found in producing its Broadband Access & Services in the Home 2015 report. In addition, nearly 7 of 10 adults (69 percent) use smartphones to access the Internet.

Household Broadband Penetration
While the overall percentage of U.S. households with Internet service is about the same as it was three years ago, the percentage of U.S. adults using smartphones to access the Internet has risen from 44 percent in 2012 to 69% in 2015, LRG pointed out.

“Nationwide, about four of every five households now subscribe to a high-speed broadband Internet service, a significant increase from about one in four households having broadband a decade ago,” commented Bruce Leichtman, LRG president and principal analyst.

“As the subscriber base has expanded, and broadband users are spending more time online at home, smartphones are also making Internet access more ubiquitous. Overall, 63% of adults now get a broadband service at home and also access the Internet on a smartphone compared to 40% in 2012.”

Other highlights from LRG’s latest research include:

• 78% with broadband at home also access the Internet on a smartphone — compared to 52% in 2012
• 31% not online at home access the Internet on a smartphone — compared to 12% in 2012
• The mean time spent online at home per day among broadband subscribers is 2.9 hours — up from 2.4 hours per day in 2010
• 13% of households get a broadband Internet service, but do not subscribe to a pay-TV service, while 68% of households get both broadband and pay-TV services
• 32% of households with annual incomes <$30,000 do not use a laptop or desktop computer at home — compared to 4% with incomes >$50,000
• About 3.5% of all households have an iPad or tablet, but do not use a laptop or desktop computer — up from 1% in 2013.

U.S. Internet penetration has reached saturation levels, at least for some groups, according to an analysis of 15 years of data collected by Pew Research Center group that has been tracking and studying Internet penetration in the U.S. since 2000.

Eighty-four percent of all U.S. adults use the Internet, up from about half in 2000. Internet saturation has been reached among young, affluent and well-educated Americans, Pew researchers concluded in ¨Americans’ Internet Access: 2000-2015.¨