Broadband's swept-up features fail to fire

NEWS

Households upgrading to broadband are still basing their decisions on practical necessities rather than a desire for splashy graphics and streaming videos, according to a new study. In a survey of 525 US broadband households, faster Net access and a free phone line influenced consumers' decision to upgrade from their dial-up accounts significantly more than watching streaming video and downloading music. The study, conducted by market research firm Strategy Analytics, also showed that broadband households check email and search for information more than access audio or video content. "The broadband market today in the US is still being driven heavily by access and basic features and availability rather than a move to what we've all been waiting for -- where premium services and content would become more important," said James Penhune, a Strategy Analytics analyst. The findings fly in the face of lofty predictions among media and Internet companies that video clips and streaming music would be the primary driver for broadband. While broadband penetration has reached 19 million US households, multimedia content still plays second fiddle to narrowband applications such as email. AOL Time Warner's America Online unit, Microsoft's MSN, and Yahoo all have stakes in broadband content and have pinned the growth of their services on broadband adoption. The companies believe their mix of online content and services will prompt consumers to buy subscriptions on top of broadband access provided by third parties. So far, cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications are driving household adoption of broadband. Phone companies that provide DSL (digital subscriber line) access lag behind cable companies in terms of market share. Baby Bells such as Verizon Communications and SBC Communications are partnering with Web portals MSN and Yahoo, respectively, in hopes of luring consumers with the portals' mix of services. AOL, MSN and Yahoo all want to partner with DSL and cable providers, but deals have been hard to come by. Yahoo last week struck an agreement with British Telecom that mirrored its deal with SBC under which access and advertising revenue will be shared by both parties. However, the BT agreement came more than a year and a half after the SBC deal. Only AOL has struck a deal with cable companies Comcast and its cousin Time Warner Cable. The study also revealed consumers' satisfaction for particular features of their broadband services. Respondents said they were most satisfied with the access speed of their broadband service, followed by reliability, content and services, customer support, and value for money. While broadband households seek practical attributes, multimedia content hasn't necessarily fallen by the wayside. About 45 percent of the respondents said they would pay for a streaming audio, music download or streaming video service. "I think that's a development that's going to happen," Strategy Analytics' Penhune said about expected demand for content. "But the market is still going up strongly on pent-up demand."

For a round-up of the latest on ISPs, broadband and related issues, see the Telecoms News Section. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

6 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

14 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

15 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

16 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

18 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

19 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

21 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

21 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

21 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

22 hours ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

24 hours ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

1 day ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

1 day ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

1 day ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

1 day ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

1 day ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

1 day ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Broadband's swept-up features fail to fire

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

BT hits the broadband million

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Solutions Architect - Oxford - publishing

Project/ImplementationManager - homebased - DataWarehouse/BI

Project/Implementation Manager-homebased-Data Warehouse/BI

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

How to handle data replication

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Broadband's swept-up features fail to fire

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features