The word today from New York is that Seattle and Portland were the most wired cities in the U.S.A. during March 2001.
That according to New York-based Nielsen/NetRatings, the Internet audience measurement service from Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc.
Both cities topped the list with nearly 70 percent of households having access to the Internet from a personal computer at home. Specifically, Portland had a 69.6 penetration rate and Seattle had a 69.5 percent penetration rate. A year ago, Portland’s Internet penetration hit 54 percent, while Seattle totaled 56 percent.
Following closely behind Portland and Seattle were San Francisco, Boston, San Diego and Washington D.C.
San Francisco also came close to a 70 percent penetration with 69.1 percent. Boston had a 68.4 percent penetration rate followed by Washington D.C. with a 65.2 percent penetration rate.
Seattle.internet.com caught up with Allen Weiner, vice president of analytical services, NetRatings, at his office in Milpitas, California.
In an exclusive interview, Weiner told seattle.internet.com that he is not surprised by the fact that Seattle and Portland topped the list. According to Weiner, due to the large number of tech workers in the Northwest area, there is a big demand for Internet access at home. Weiner believes that in the future we will see Seattle and Portland also at the top of the list for high-speed Internet access penetration.
“People that have a thirst for Internet also have a thirst for fast Internet access. This group of people will be the first to jump on the high-speed bandwagon en masse,” says Weiner.