A new poll has found that more than two-thirds of broadband users would happily pay a premium for a guaranteed quality of service (QoS) from their provider.
The survey of Broadband4Britain members commissioned by the network platforms company
net.com found that 79% would like a new service that promises a minimum bandwidth performance level and 68% would be willing to pay more for this facility. These findings were reported at ITU Telecom World 2003, an industry event being held in Geneva this week.
It is value-added applications like multimedia, internet telephony, gaming and remote/teleworking that are driving the demand for quality of service (QoS) levels in the broadband access network.
Some 17% of respondents expressed an interest in a lower basic connectivity rate, paying for “turbo internet” with QoS guarantees. The survey also found that of the 79% who were willing to pay for improved QoS, 21% would be happy to pay a 20% premium for performance guarantees and 47% would gladly pay 5% more than their current connectivity fees.
As regards payment methods, 32% would like metered pricing for QoS while 58% would prefer to pay for the guarantees as part of their monthly subscription.
“Customers have become increasingly sophisticated in their use of the internet, and new business and entertainment applications are straining the internet to its limits,” said Steve Shaw, director of industry relations for net.com. “A QoS-based service is a wide open toll road on the congested internet highway. This survey shows that customers are willing to pay a premium for service level guarantees that let them use their broadband connections to stream audio or video, use IP telephony services or work from home.”
