Broadband, Broadband Everywhere...

It seems like every time you turn around, another study is showing the tremendous growth of both broadband deployment and broadband uptake.

Two such studies came out this past week.  Parks Associates, an industry and consumer research group, has released its "North American Market Update," which projects that by 2012, almost 33 million U.S. households will have broadband connections capable of streaming high-definition video with speeds of 10Mbps or higher.  That's five-fold growth from the end of 2007, when 5.7 million households had such speeds.  Top drivers of the growth?  Company investment in new broadband technologies - and the ever-increasing range of broadband entertainment available.

And another study, by Leichtman Research Group, shows ever more consumers are signing up for broadband.  The 19 largest telecom providers signed up more than 8.5 million subscribers in 2007.  Although that's down from the record number of subcribers in 2006 (10.4 million), Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, says, "The broadband market is clearly maturing, but the broadband subscriber base will continue to grow for many more years."

Broadband has the potential to speed delivery of advanced applications that will improve the environment, personal security, education, and health care for all consumers.  These studies show that the broadband future is getting closer for everyone.