Download Speed.

This is not really a question,more an observation which I would like comments on.
My download speeds, on a dial up 56k modem,seem to have got gradually got faster, that is to say that the speed still drops over time ,but does not seem to go down as quickly as before. For instance , I now regularily get (reported) speeds of between 5.6 to 6 kb/sec as the lowest rate.
Could this be because there are now less people using dial-up, or is the equipment that much better?
Any comments appreciated by an inquisitive pensioner!!!

Thanks,
Harry.