A new report from the Federal Communications Commission shows that wireless growth surpassed fixed broadband growth in the first half of 2010. In the six month span, fixed-location Internet connections increased by just one percent from 81 million to 82 million users. In that same time frame, subscribers with mobile and wireless device data plans for full Web access increased by 27 percent reaching 71 million users. The larger growth in wireless connections last year was attributed to the rapid adoption of the iPad and other tablet computers with wireless capabilities.

While the FCC report states the fixed-location connection increase is the lowest number of households to sign up for access since 2000, the agency notes that 60 percent of the wireless connections were slower than the benchmark of 4 Mbps download speeds that are generally required to accommodate things like voice calling, steaming video, and other data-intensive applications.

Additionally, the FCC released a report showing an eight percent decrease in traditional land lines from June 2009 to June 2010. In the same year, users making and receiving voice calls over their broadband connections rose 21 percent.

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