Today we are celebrating International Internet Day, which marks the first message ever sent over the Internet 45 years ago. At NTIA, one of our main jobs every day is to maximize the societal benefits made possible by the Internet through policies and efforts that expand Internet availability and adoption.
To help us in this work, it is important to know how Americans are using and accessing the Internet. Earlier this month, NTIA released the latest installment of our Digital Nation report series, which measures American computer and Internet use. The latest data, which is based on a survey of 53,000 households collected for NTIA by the Census Bureau in October 2012, demonstrated not only how ingrained the Internet has become in Americans’ lives but that we are now a digital nation on the go. The report found:
- In just five years, Internet use by those 16 years and older grew by 18 percent, after adjusting for population growth, from 151 million in October 2007 to 187 million in October 2012.
- In just 15 months, broadband adoption by U.S. households grew from 69 percent to 72 percent from July 2011 to October 2012.
- Home broadband use by Americans 65 and older increased dramatically between 2007 and 2012, growing 15 percentage points to 47 percent.
- At the same time, there were big jumps in mobile Internet use, with 43 percent of mobile phone users 25 and older using their devices to check email (a 10 percentage point jump from 2011) and 42 percent using these devices to browse the Web (compared with 33 percent in 2011).
Past reports have detailed how Internet use can benefit users from helping them find a job to obtaining key health information. Through our broadband grant program, NTIA has made great strides in expanding broadband access and adoption. So far, NTIA broadband grantees have:
- deployed more than 112,000 miles of new or upgraded fiber;
- generated more than 730,000 new broadband subscribers; and,
- connected more than 25,000 community anchor institutions to high-speed Internet service.
NTIA’s infrastructure grants along with private-sector deployments are helping to ensure nearly all Americans have access to basic broadband. The latest data from NTIA’s National Broadband Map shows, as of December 31, 2013, that 99 percent of Americans have access to wired and/or wireless broadband at advertised speeds of 6 Mbps downstream and 1.5 Mbps up, though this number drops to 89 percent when considering wireline broadband alone. While this demonstrates clear progress, our latest Digital Nation report also shows that there are still obstacles that keep Americans from adopting broadband at home including affordability and a lack of digital skills.
Moving forward, NTIA will continue to work to expand access to and use of high-speed Internet service by leveraging the collective wisdom we gained through the operation of our $4 billion broadband infrastructure and adoption program to help communities as they seek to build broadband capacity.