High-speed Internet use grew 42 percent last year as some 8.3 million homes and businesses signed up for broadband service, the Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday.
Driven largely by new residential and small-business customers, broadband use grew to 28.2 million lines by the end of 2003, the FCC said.
The growth rate increased slightly in the second half of the year, from 18 percent to 20 percent, the FCC said.
Cable-based services continued to be the most popular form of broadband service, the FCC found, accounting for 16.4 million lines.
Telephone-based digital subscriber line service accounted for 9.5 million lines, while 2.3 million high-speed lines used satellite, fiber-optic or wireless technologies.
Unlike other estimates of broadband use based on consumer surveys, the FCC survey counted the actual number of lines in use as reported by providers like Verizon Communications and Comcast Corp.
Broadband users can download music, video clips and other bandwidth-intensive content that chokes a traditional dial-up line.