CEL & Associates conducted the survey for the NMHC, which first launched its technology initiative in 1998 to help apartment owners make smart technology decisions and investments. Some 30,000 apartment residents and nearly 100 apartment managers received survey questionnaires. The results suggest that high-speed Internet access is becoming a must-have utility, in many cases because residents want to bring work home and stay connected to work-based projects.

Survey results show that most US apartment residents have a computer in their home (79% own desktops, 61% have laptops), and that they spend one to four hours per day using it. Eighty-two percent spend at least some computer time on work-related projects, with a quarter of them devoting at least half their computer time on work projects; Seventy-seven percent are connected to the Internet, paying an average of $28/month for the service. Twenty-three per cent have high-speed Internet access, 45% report they do not plan to get high-speed access this year and 47% say having high-speed access to the Internet would affect their decision whether to rent a particular apartment.

Another finding, called "surprising" by the NMHC, was that among apartment communities providing high-speed Internet access, 41% charged extra for the amenity, while 59% do not.

In tracking technology use among on-site apartment managers, the survey found that: while 88% of managers have a dedicated on-site computer, only 66% have Internet access and only 29% have high-speed Internet access, 66% percent have their own e-mail address, 92% of managers use the Internet to communicate with their firm's central office and 67% use it communicate with other firm-owned properties. Sixty-four percent use it to gather information on competitors, 53% use it to communicate with residents while 36% use it to correspond with vendors and suppliers.