Northwest leads in 'Net access

Associated Press

NEW YORK — At least two-thirds of households in five U.S. markets have Internet access, according to a survey released yesterday.

In Portland, Ore., and Seattle, 70 percent of households have Internet access, a 29 percent increase from a year ago for Portland and a 25 percent bump for Seattle.

Nielsen/NetRatings based its findings on random telephone surveys, which had sample sizes ranging from 400 to 800 per market. The company could not provide the margin of sampling error for the surveys.

Nielsen Media Research conducts similar surveys for television, and the Internet market areas it uses were the same as those for TV.

The other top U.S. markets were: San Francisco, with 69 percent of households hooked up; Boston, 68 percent; San Diego, 66 percent; Washington, D.C., 65 percent; Denver, 63 percent; Orlando, Fla., 61 percent; Hartford/New Haven, Conn., 61 percent; and Kansas City, 61 percent.