State ranks 2d in broadband use
Massachusetts leads the continental United States in high-speed Internet use, with nearly a third of its households connected to broadband, according to a survey released yesterday.
The 32.2 percent of Bay State households and small home-based office workers using broadband lags only Hawaii, at 35 percent, according to Leichtman Research Group Inc., a Durham, N.H., market-analysis firm. The group tracks the markets for broadband -- chiefly cable modems and telephone digital subscriber lines -- and the cable and satellite pay-TV markets.
Four of the top five states for broadband usage are in New England. Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island each have more than 25 percent of their households on broadband, according to a Leichtman Group analysis of January data from the Federal Communications Commission.
Next on the list are New Jersey, New York, and California.
Bruce Leichtman, Leichtman's president and principal analyst, said the New England numbers ''are a testimony to how early cable modem service was rolled out here, and it's also a testimony to the higher household income levels here," which make $30- to $50-a-month broadband plans more affordable than in other regions.
Leichtman said broadband use is highest in Hawaii because of the premium residents put on staying connected to the mainland.
Starting in 1996, Continental Cablevision Inc. made Greater Boston one of the first markets where it began rolling out a modem service called Highway1. Continental is now part of Comcast Corp., but its early promotion of cable modems helps account for the 71-29 percent lead that cable modems have over DSL in New England, Leichtman said. That compares to a national split of 63-37.
Massachusetts and New England have consistently led the United States in broadband use, and they continue to stay at the head of the pack, Leichtman said. Seven percent of all US households added high-speed Internet service last year, and growth rates were generally as fast or faster in New England.
Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com.
