Nearly half of all Americans have high-speed Internet service at home, but the growth rate for "broadband" service is slowing sharply, and it's still uncommon among poor and rural residents, according to a new study.
About 47 percent of adult Americans surveyed by the nonprofit Pew Internet & American Life Project said they have high-speed Internet service at home, up from next to nothing at the start of the decade.
The rate of growth for broadband service adoption, however, was only 12 percent for the one-year period ending in March. That was down from 40 percent for the comparable period a year earlier and the lowest rate in at least five years.
John Horrigan, associate director for research at Pew, said broadband growth hasn't necessarily reached a plateau.
But clearly, many people who can afford broadband service have it. In the future, Horrigan said, Internet providers will have to try harder to convince those without broadband that it's worth the cost, typically $20-$40 a month.
"I think we're at a point where many people in the upper socioeconomic groups now have broadband," he said. "You'd expect to see growth continue, but it's going to be in fits and starts."
Horrigan said the sharp decline in growth during the past year isn't surprising given the rapid increase in broadband adoption rates in past years, when many cable and telecom companies offered deep discounts for new broadband subscribers.
Also, "once you get near 50 percent of the market, sustaining growth gets more challenging," he added.
Not surprisingly, high-speed Internet service is more common in urban areas and among the wealthy.
About 52 percent of urban residents and about 49 percent of suburban residents have high-speed Internet access, the Pew study said.
Among rural residents, about 31 percent have it.
The study's findings come as the Federal Communications Commission is in the middle of an inquiry into whether broadband providers - primarily cable and telephone companies - are doing enough to provide rural and poor Americans access to high-speed Internet service and all that it offers, from entertainment to educational programs.
Cox Communications Inc., a sister company to Cox Newspapers, is a major supplier of broadband service over its cable network.
Depending on the outcome of the FCC inquiry, regulators could set rate caps or take other steps to encourage broadband growth.