51% of Americans use broadband

Nielsen/NetRatings announced that, for the first time in its surveys, home broadband usage soared from 38% in July 2003 to 51% of the American online population in July 2004. Nielsen found that 63 mln Americans used broadband compared with 61.3 mln Americans who used dial-up (narrowband) in July 2004. Those numbers represent a 47% year-over-year growth rate for broadband and a 13% decline for narrowband.