Broadband - Slowdown in broadband growth attributed to stealing Wi-Fi from neighbours

[dsl reports] Most telecom sector analysts note that the recent slowdown in broadband growth is due to the economy, a sour housing market (no new homes, no moving, no sale) and the fact that most people who want and can get broadband -- already have it. So it's interesting to see a firm by the name of Mintel trying to proclaim that the slowdown in broadband subscriptions is actually due to broadband "piracy" -- or Wi-Fi freeloading.

Says the study:
Home Internet penetration barely moved from 2006 to 2009. The slow growth in the era of Facebook, Pandora and YouTube shows that people are accessing the Internet from home through different methods, even if they haven't paid for access themselves," notes Billy Hulkower, senior analyst at Mintel. "Younger consumers appear especially likely to use a neighbor's WiFi signal instead of subscribing at home as they are more likely to know how to find and connect to their neighbors' service."

The firm bases all of this on a study that found 72% of consumers have Internet access at home, but only 56% report subscribing to home Internet service. Given other established slowdown causes, this still sounds suspect -- and their press release doesn't cite a survey size or other meaningful data. The firm does proclaim this overall trend "disturbing," and goes on to insist that homes with incomes above $75,000 actually steal Wi-Fi more frequently than their less affluent counterparts.

Firm Claims Broadband Slowdown Due To Wi-Fi Theft