January 19, 2005

A new market study performed by Bolt, a youth-oriented online content site, finds that 70 percent of young people, aged 15 to 22, accessed the Internet with a broadband connection during the 4th quarter of last year, an 11 percent increase from the third quarter of 2004.

Among those who use broadband, one-half employ cable modems to surf the Net, while 44% use DSL and 6% use T1 or T3 lines. The higher than usual incidence of T1 or T3 line use, relative to the overall broadband population (of which only 2% use T1 or T3 lines, according to Harris Interactive), probably stems from the use of high-speed school networks by college students.

Broadband Internet access makes a host of Web activities that many kids in this age group enjoy much faster and more enjoyable because of quicker download times. Bolt Director of Entertainment Content Kevin Wicks remarks that "kids who are online aren't just surfing the Web. They're blogging, uploading photos and video and downloading and sharing music. Faster connections mean a higher volume and broader range of activity on the Web."

In addition to these activities, many teens and young adults are simultaneously engaging in other activities like watching TV.

About two-thirds of 15 to 22 year-olds say they are online while watching TV some of the time, while 16% say they are online and watching TV at the same time all the time. This is a bit above the simultaneous use of TV and the Internet among the general population, according to BIGresearch.

However, Internet use is also leading to a decline in TV watching — 55% of respondents in the Bolt study say they are watching less TV now than one year ago.

Source: eMarketer