Broadband Goes Mainstream

Toronto, April 30, 2002 - A new study from marketing research firm Ipsos-Reid shows that nearly one-half (48%) of Canadian adults with a home Internet connection have a broadband connection, further proof that Canadians continue to be at or near the top in the world when it comes to Internet adoption and usage.

The findings from the company's Canadian Inter@ctive Reid report -- a quarterly review of Canadian Internet trends -- also show that 75% of all Canadians have access to the Internet, one of the highest adoption rates in the world. Additionally, 63% of Canadian adults access the Internet from home.

Broadband Internet access has doubled in the past two years in Canada. In March 2000, Ipsos-Reid found that only 24% of Canadians with a home Internet connection had a broadband connection (DSL or cable modem) versus 48% in March of this year. Put another way, 30% of all Canadians access the Internet from home with a high-speed Internet connection, which can be 25 times as fast as dial-up services.

"Broadband has gone mainstream in Canada, and its growth has been nothing short of phenomenal," said Chris Ferneyhough, Vice President of Technology Research at Ipsos-Reid in Toronto. "Aggressive promotions from the cable and telephone companies have obviously succeeded in attracting thousands of new broadband users, young and old. But there's also no denying that once you've tried broadband, you're hooked."

Broadband Access in Canada

The incidence of broadband in Canada dwarfs that of the U.S., where only an estimated 21%¹ with a home Internet connection are using broadband. Meanwhile, the percentage of European households with broadband connections has been estimated at about 5%.

"The acceptance of broadband in Canada and the U.S. couldn't be more different," said Ferneyhough. "The difference is due to a myriad of factors, including lower access prices in Canada, a less fragmented industry relative to the USA, our regulatory framework, better and more reliable access, and extremely positive response from consumers to marketing campaigns."

BROADBAND USERS STAY ONLINE LONGER - A LOT LONGER

"Growth of high speed access is key for increased Internet application usage as we find that high speed users are driving Internet behavior in this country. They are online for 14.3 hours a week whereas dial-up users are online for only 8.6 hours per week. As such they are more inclined to be trying different online activities such as online banking and online shopping. Accordingly, increased penetration of broadband is going to keep Canada ahead of the curve when it comes to most things Internet," said Ferneyhough.

DSL providers in Canada have steadily increased their broadband market share from 29% of broadband users in March 2000 to 42% currently, the study found.

Not only has broadband penetration reached a new high, but Ipsos-Reid also found that the incidence of overall Internet access has reached 75% in Canada, compared with 68% at the same time last year. This incidence is also higher than that found in the U.S., where approximately 69% of all adults have Internet access. Canadians are at or near the top in the world in overall Internet adoption, online banking and music downloading, earlier studies have confirmed.

The same pattern is replicated with home Internet access, where 63% of Canadian adults access the Internet from home. While the incidence of household Internet access is lower in the U.S. (55%), their larger population means that 114 million American adults access the Internet from home², compared to only 15.1 million Canadian adults who are accessing the Internet from home.

"Ultimately that is why Americans are generally going to have a lot more choice, selection, and opportunity to purchase goods and services online," said Ferneyhough. "We may be ahead of the game in access and broadband on a per capita basis, but overall there are 137 million³ American adults online compared to only 18 million Canadian adults."

The Canadian Inter@ctive Reid Report is the largest, most comprehensive and authoritative source of its kind about quarterly Internet trends in Canada. The results in this release are based on 1,000 telephone interviews with Canadian adults, which were conducted between March 5th and 14th, 2002. With a national sample of 1,000, one can say with 95% certainty that the overall results are within a maximum of 1773.1 percentage points of what they would have been had the entire population of Canadian adults been surveyed. The margin of error will be larger for sub-groupings of the survey population.

Established in 1979, Ipsos-Reid is Canada's leading marketing research and public opinion company. It is best known for the Ipsos-Reid Express Poll, the most widely quoted source of public opinion in the country. Ipsos-Reid has conducted extensive market and social research in 80 countries and in 40 languages, and serves clients around the world through more than 300-professionals and 1,000 data collection staff in eleven offices. The company is a member of the Paris-based Ipsos Group, ranked among the top ten research companies in the world.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Ferneyhough
Vice-President
Technology Group, Toronto
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900

Steve Mossop
Senior Vice-President
Technology Group, Vancouver
Ipsos-Reid
(604) 257-3200

¹ Rachel Konrad. Survey: Broadband goes mainstream. CNET News.com. March 5, 2002

² Humphrey Taylor. Internet Penetration Increases to 66% of Adults (137 Million). HarrisInteractive. April 17, 2002

³ Humphrey Taylor. Internet Penetration Increases to 66% of Adults (137 Million). HarrisInteractive. April 17, 2002