Almost 50% of dial-up internet users are interested in subscribing to broadband, according to new findings from the US.
Parks Associates surveyed almost 5,000 narrowband subscribers and found that 48.3% were keen to upgrade to high-speed internet services. This compares with the 33.3% of customers who expressed an interest last year.
“U.S. consumers are now more aware of the value of broadband,” said Michael Greeson, senior analyst and director of broadband research for Parks Associates. “But consumer demand for broadband will ultimately be tempered by accessibility to service, subscription costs, and the availability of meaningful content and services. In order to take advantage of this spike in interest, broadband service providers must continue to refine the consumer value proposition and try to avoid increasing the monthly price of high-speed connectivity.”
In a separate study, comScore Networks found that the number of internet users accessing the web from home through a broadband connection increased by 9% in the six months between October 2002 and March 2003. The upshot of this is that 29% of all home internet consumers in the US now connect via broadband.
The Leichtman Research Group predicts that the number of high-speed internet susbscribers will surpass the number of dial-up users in 2005 (see US Broadband Sees Record Growth In 2002).
