Those who sign up to the National Broadband Network are likely to be homeowners, earning more than $100,000 with children, according to a university study.
The University of Melbourne and Swinburne University of Technology have just released a study on the take-up rate of the NBN in Brunswick, Victoria, one of five "first-release sites" the network was rolled out.
The study focused on 225 respondents and looked at who was hooking up to the NBN and why and how it affected the households.
"Research results show that there is a relationship between NBN uptake and household composition, ownership and income," the report stated.
"First adopters of the NBN are much more likely to be households with children than those without children, are more likely to have higher incomes than those with ADSL and are much more likely to be in households who own their home rather than rent."
MORE: When NBN roll-out is due to reach you
MORE: A method to the confusing NBN roll-out
The report found that of the total number of early adopters, 63 per cent owned their own home, 59 per cent were families (compared to 15 per cent being couples and 22 per cent sharing a home) and 52 per cent had a household income of more than $100,000 a year.
The study was funded by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).
ACCAN spokeswoman Elise Davidson said the report showed that connecting to the NBN changed the ways those households used the internet.
"Households who switched to an NBN service report an increase in the amount of data they download, are twice as likely to work from home, have a greater number of connected devices than they did previously and use them in more places throughout the home," Ms Davidson said.
The study also shows that speed (44 per cent) was the leading reason people chose to connect to the NBN.
Cost was not an issue, with 49 per cent saying their internet price had not changed, with 14 per cent paying less.
"For those whose costs did increase, this was often accompanied by increased internet speeds - and sense of value," the report stated.
"Whilst for those whose costs decreased this was often associated with a substitution of landline telephone for a VoIP service [which allows people to make calls via their computer]."