2002 saw 48.8 percent of the nation's households sporting Internet-capable electronics equipment, according to the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry.
Households with such devices as computers and mobile phones topped 50 percent in the Kanto and Kinki regions.
Starting in January 2002, the ministry surveyed households monthly on the spread of Net-capable equipment as part of its monthly poll on household spending.
The percentage of households that accessed the Net via conventional analog-signal phone lines fell to 30.4 percent in the October-December period from 43.2 percent in the January-March period.
Meanwhile, those that accessed the Net through high-speed digital subscriber lines, including asymmetrical digital subscriber lines, soared to 26.3 percent from 9.9 percent.