Latest figures reveal that broadband subscriptions in the US were up by a third on last year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Wednesday.

The US, which has the largest number of broadband users in the world, now has 50.2 million lines, divided into consumer with 42.4 million and business with 7.8 million. The FCC says that more than three quarters of the American population are now connected to high speed internet services.

DSL subscriptions jumped to 5.7 million lines easily beating cable companies’ 4.2 million subscribers in 2005. Worryingly for the cable industry, its market share fell 3.5 per cent to 57.5 percent, against a rise of 3.3 per cent for DSL to 40.5 per cent, the FCC said.