Park Associates, a Dallas-based technology market research firm, said
29 percent of U.S. households, or 31 million homes, do not have Internet
access and do not intend to subscribe to an Internet service over the next
12 months.
The second annual National Technology Scan conducted by Park found the
main reason potential customers say they do not subscribe to the Internet
is because of the low value to their daily lives they perceive rather than
concerns over cost.
Forty-four percent of these households say they are not interested in
anything on the Internet, versus just 22 percent who say they cannot
afford a computer or the cost of Internet service, the survey showed.
The answer "I'm not sure how to use the Internet" came from 17 percent
of participants who do not subscribe. The response "I do all my e-commerce
shopping and YouTube-watching at work" was cited by 14 percent of
Internet-access refuseniks. Three percent said the Internet doesn't reach
their homes.
The study found U.S. broadband adoption grew to 52 percent over 2006,
up from 42 percent in 2005. Roughly half of new subscribers converted from
slower-speed, dial-up Internet
access while the other half of households had no prior
access.
"The industry continues to chip away at the core of nonsubscribers, but
has a ways to go," said John Barrett, director of research at Parks
Associates.
"Entertainment applications will be the key. If anything will pull in
the holdouts, it's going to be applications that make the Internet more
akin to pay TV ," he
predicted.