Andy King's Bandwidth Report is a monthly roundup of connectivity trends in the US and elsewhere. Each month's bandwidth report offers the latest statistics in Internet connectivity and broadband trends.  "Speed Up Your Site – Web Site Optimization" (also by Andy King), and the companion web site are about designing "speedy" web sites with techniques that...  * Cut file size and download times  * Speed up site load time * Engage users with fast response times * Increase usability, boost profits, and slash bandwidth costs
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The Bandwidth Report is a monthly roundup of connectivity trends in the US and elsewhere. Each month's bandwidth report offers the latest statistics in Internet connectivity and broadband trends, including: 

 * Home Connectivity in the US 
 * Broadband Growth in the US 
 * Work Connectivity 
 * Broadband Trends in the US, Canada, and other countries 

Summary:
Continuing last year's trend, Canada leads the US in broadband penetration by 20 percentage points. As of March 2005, Canadians enjoy a broadband penetration rate of 77%, while only 57% of the wired US population has broadband. In May, U.S. broadband penetration crept up by 0.36 percentage points to 58.82% among active Internet users. The charts below, derived from Nielsen//NetRatings and Ipsos-Reid, show trends in connection speeds to the Internet for United States and Canadian users.*

Home Connectivity in the US:
Most active Internet users connect from home with broadband connections. Among narrowband users, 33.76% use 56Kbps modems, 5.08% use 28/33.3Kbps, and 2.34% use 14.4Kbps modems. In total, 41.18% of home users in the US connect to the Internet at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 1). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0506/

Broadband Growth in the US:
Broadband penetration in the US grew by 0.36 percentage points to 58.82% in May, up from 58.46% in April. This increase is less than half the average increase in broadband of 0.85 points per month over the last twelve months. US broadband penetration growth appears to be tapering off in recent months. At the current growth rate, broadband penetration among active Internet users in the US should break 60% by mid-summer 2005 (see Figure 2). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0506/

Work Connectivity:
Most workers in the US enjoy high-speed connections to the Internet. Most use a high-speed line such as a T1 connection, and share bandwidth between computers connected to an Ethernet network. The speed of each connection decreases as more employees hook up to the LAN. As of May of 2005, of those connected to the Internet, 81.55% of US users at work enjoy a high-speed connection, up 0.22 percentage points from the 81.33% share in April. At work, 18.45% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 3). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0506/

US-Canadian Broadband Penetration Gap at 20 Points 
In North America, Canada is leading the US in the race for broadband domination. Continuing last year's trend, Canada leads the US in broadband penetration by 20 percentage points. As of March 2005, Canadians enjoy a broadband penetration rate of 77%, while only 57% of the wired US population has broadband (see Figure 4).

About Web Site Optimization
Don't Make Me Wait! The new book titled "Speed Up Your Site – Web Site Optimization" by Andy King, and the companion web site are about designing "speedy" web sites with techniques that... 

 * Cut file size and download times in half 
 * Speed up site load time to satisfy customers 
 * Engage users with fast response times and flow stimulus 
 * Increase usability, boost profits, and slash bandwidth costs 
 * Improve search engine rankings and web page conversions

Andy King is also the founder of WebReference.com and JavaScript.com, both award-winning developer sites from internet.com. Created in 1995 and subsequently acquired by Mecklermedia (now Jupitermedia) in 1997, WebReference has grown into one of the most popular developer sites on the Internet.  While he was Managing Editor of WebReference.com and JavaScript.com, Andy became the "Usability Czar" at internet.com, where he optimized the speed and usability of their sites. In addition to his consulting work, he continues to write the monthly Bandwidth Report and the “Speed Tweak of the Week” for www.WebSiteOptimization.com. 

Contact  Matt Hockin at 503.246.1375 for an interview with the author or a review copy of Speed Up Your Site - Web Site Optimization http://www.interactivemarketinginc.com matt(at)interactivemarketinginc.com
 

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