Does your Internet service choice show your age? It just might. In-Stat recently conducted an online survey among 1,013 North American broadband users. The survey found that the age group with the highest use of cable broadband is the 18-29 year old segment with more than 69 percent choosing cable over DSL. That same age group also had the lowest use of DSL broadband.

Compared to last year's results and that of December 2003, this most recent survey indicates a significant rise in cable broadband use for Generation Y. In February 2006, 56.2 percent of them had cable broadband. And in December 2003, 50.8 percent of broadband users age 18-29 used cable broadband.

In-Stat concludes that the 18-29 age group in North America seems to be finding cable broadband more attractive. Cable broadband has historically offered more bandwidth than DSL, and younger subscribers are considered power users who are looking for service that allows them to download the latest music, videos, and online games.

If you need help choosing between cable and DSL, check out the Comparing Cable and DSL High Speed section of the ConnectMyHighSpeed Internet Buyers Guide.

If you are planning to get high-speed Internet service for your home, you should also start thinking about how you are going to take advantage of the amazing broadband speeds you are going to experience. You probably already know about music downloading, video clips, and online gaming but did you know you can watch live TV online too? I currently listen to radio online and I knew that you could get subscriptions to various sporting events. However, it turns out there are a ton of other sites that offer live content.

Find Internet TV™ recently announced the launch of its program Listings for live Internet TV. According to their press release, Find Internet TV Listings is the first to provide Internet users a programming grid to find live online video content. The Listings contains schedules for a variety of programming from around the world, including entertainment television, sporting events, music, and news.

"Online video, whether live or on-demand, is expanding immensely, and it has become increasingly difficult for viewers to locate the content they want to watch online. While a number of companies and sites have made their focus to index video clips on the Web, they've left live streaming video on the sidelines," says Curtis Sund, Founder of Find Internet TV. "With our live Internet TV Listings, users now have the ability to visit one central destination for complete and updated lineup of live online content."

The company says that the Find Internet TV program grid provides a high-quality user experience through an easy-to-navigate, feature-rich format. Users have the ability to jump hour-by-hour through the grid or to specific dates and times. In addition, users can save their favorite Internet TV channels for easy access.

The Find Internet TV Listings includes sites broadcasting from all over the world, in different languages, and in different time zones. To provide the best end-user experience, the site automatically adjusts all program runtimes to match the viewer's time zone.

"The number of viewers who are looking for live television content on the Internet is tremendous and ever-growing. We have witnessed it through our directory and search engine when live events take place. This first-of-its-kind live Internet TV Listings is a win-win solution for both viewers and content providers," said Birgit Schelzel, Marketing Manager for Find Internet TV.

According to the latest research by Cable Digital News, U.S. phone companies signed up at least 100,000 more high-speed Internet subscribers than cable companies during the fourth quarter of 2006.

CDN says that for the ninth time in the last 11 quarters, the phone companies topped cable companies as together the industries added more than 2.5 million subscribers for high-speed Internet service. The nation's largest phone companies added more than 1.3 million broadband subscribers during the quarter, compared to fewer than 1.1 million customers for the biggest multi-system operators and more than 1.2 million subscribers for all cable operators.

As the total number of U.S. high-speed customers hit 53 million at the end of December, the two rival industries finished the year with cable companies reporting more than 29.4 million subscribers, more than 55 percent of the market, and phone companies accounting for about 24 million subscribers, around 45 percent of the market.

Comcast reported the largest growth with a pickup of 488,000 cable Internet customers. Although down from its gain in the third quarter, the total is still one of Comcast's highest increases ever. Time Warner Cable followed next with 246,000 new subscribers.

The top two phone companies were Verizon and AT&T, with 409,000 and 383,000 new broadband subscribers respectively.

For more, check out the full Cable Digital News article.

Broadband Internet access is gradually becoming a defining characteristic of advanced industrialized economies. In the latest update to ABI Research's online Broadband Subscribers Database, ABI forecasts that the total number of DSL and cable broadband users in the world will grow by an average of 9 percent annually over the next five years to reach 480 million subscribers by 2012.

"The Asia-Pacific region offers a potentially huge market to tap into," says broadband research analyst Serene Fong, of ABI Research's Asia bureau. "In terms of statistical benchmarking, the subscriber base in the Asia-Pacific region will grow substantially over the next five years, and is expected to outperform other areas. Much of the Asia-Pacific growth is expected to be fueled by the flourishing Chinese broadband market."

Broadband DSL will continue to be the fastest growing sector in the industry, as opposed to cable broadband. Asia-Pacific research director and general manager Jake Saunders comments, "DSL is set for stronger growth than cable across the globe mainly because it is able to leverage existing telecommunications infrastructure, leading to lower prices and greater ease of deployment."

ABI Research's "Broadband Subscribers Database", which is updated twice each year, profiles subscriber trends categorized by operator, by country, and by technology. To read more about this research, check out the press release Broadband to Reach Almost Half a Billion Subscribers Worldwide by 2012.

A broad array of technology companies, media organizations, trade associations and nonprofits recently announced their collaboration in launching Project Online Safety, an educational campaign focused on promoting Internet safety for children. The initiative provides parents and children with a centralized online resource of Internet safety tools and educational materials at www.ProjectOnlineSafety.com, and supports and encourages the broadcast of a series of related national public service advertisements (PSAs) being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Ad Council.

Project Online Safety is part of an ongoing, industry-wide effort working with leading advocacy organizations to educate parents and children about the importance of online safety. The partners of the initiative that are investing resources to support online safety programs are AT&T, BlogSafety.com, Cable in the Classroom (CIC), Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox Communications, Facebook, Fox Interactive Media (MySpace), Internet Education Foundation, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Network Solutions, News Corp., Qwest Communications, Time Warner Cable and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC).

"Charter is proud to join this industry-wide effort to help make online safety information available to our nation's youth," said Jay Carlson, senior vice president of information technology for Charter Communications. "With the provision of powerful communication tools comes responsibility, and Charter takes the responsibility of raising awareness and education very seriously."

This educational campaign addresses concerns regarding abuse of the Internet to victimize children online. Many companies are currently taking important measures to reduce the potential threats posed by Internet predators and to prosecute individuals who utilize the Internet to prey upon children. For example, companies participating in Project Online Safety are conducting a variety of activities, including national traveling education programs; conducting extensive law enforcement training sessions; and designating specific online locations where parents, guardians and children can learn how they can have safer and more rewarding experiences on the Internet.

In conjunction with the initiative, a new online portal at www.ProjectOnlineSafety.com serves as a central repository where parents, guardians, teachers and children can access numerous Internet safety tools and educational materials, which are made available by the participating companies and organizations. The site serves as a portal through which users may access resources on specific topic areas of interest, such as parental control technologies, ways to report trouble online, cyberbullying, and safe web sites for children. In addition, users can also click on a participating technology company or advocacy organization web page to review their online safety materials and read more about their efforts to help protect children's online experiences.

For more information on this project, read the National Cable & Telecommunications Association press release.