More people access the Net in the US using a broadband connection than by dial-up, according to the latest stats from Nielsen//NetRatings.

In July, 63m people accessed the Net by broadband, compared to 61.3m by a narrowband connection. Nielsen//NetRatings counts ISDN, cable modems and DSL as broadband, while narrowband includes modem speeds of 14.4K to 56K.

The overall growth for broadband connections rose 47 per cent year-over-year, while the number of narrowband lines slipped 13 per cent over the same period.

Said Marc Ryan, a senior director and analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings: "Despite a plateau in the growth of US Internet access, we've seen continued high double-digit growth in users' broadband access.

"We expect to see this aggressive growth rate continue through next year when the majority of Internet users will be accessing the Internet via a broadband connection."

Yesterday, BT announced that more that 3m people in the UK access the Net using a DSL connection. ®

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