For the first time, a slim majority of U.S. Net users are connecting via broadband. In July, 51 percent of America's home online population was using broadband connections, according to a report from Nielsen/NetRatings. Before July, the majority of Americans connecting to the Web did so with narrowband or dialup connections.

Nielsen reported that broadband gained on its own -- 63 million broadband users in July for a 47 percent year-over-year gain. There were 61.3 million narrowband users in July. Narrowband dropped 13 percent from its usage in July of 2003.

Last July, broadband connections accounted for 38 percent of the total online population, the ratings firm reported.

"Despite a plateau in the growth of U. S. Internet access, we've seen continued high double-digit growth in users' broadband access," said Marc Ryan, Nielsen senior director and analyst, in a statement. "We expect to see this aggressive growth rate continue through next year."

Nielsen defined broadband connections as ISDN, cable modems, and DSL while narrowband consisted of modem speeds from 14.4K through 56K.