US Consumers Eyeing ‘High Speed’ Broadband More Closely
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., March 5, 2008 -
US consumers are becoming aware of the limitations that some broadband service connections provide, particularly in regard to available bandwidth, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). The amount of bandwidth that is available to a broadband data service end-user has become important, the high-tech market research firm says. The more bandwidth an Internet service offers, the faster the end-user can access multimedia-rich web sites and download files.
“As a general rule of thumb in the broadband world, higher bandwidth is better,” says Mike Paxton, In-Stat analyst. “Consumers readily recognize this fact, and many of them are actively looking for a broadband service that will increase the amount of bandwidth that they can use.”
In order to determine US residential broadband speeds, In-Stat recently surveyed over 700 broadband households. These households use several different types of broadband access technologies, to include cable modem service, DSL, Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), satellite broadband, and fixed wireless. A key part of this survey consisted of the households taking a broadband “speed test” administered by an online bandwidth measurement site. The results of this survey included:
The average downstream speed of a US broadband connection is 3.8Mbps, while the average upstream speed is 980Kbps.
FTTH connections offer the fastest broadband speeds, followed by cable modem and DSL connections. The average downstream FTTH speed was 8.8 Mbps, while cable modem connections averaged 4.9 Mbps and DSL averaged 2.1 Mbps.
The average monthly price for broadband service is currently just over $38.
Over 83% of respondents to the In-Stat consumer survey stated they were either “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with their current connection.
Recent In-Stat research, US Residential Broadband Services: How Fast is "High-Speed?" (#IN0804264MBS), covers the US market for residential broadband services. It details consumer survey results about the amount of bandwidth currently available to residential broadband end-users in the United States. It covers the type of broadband access technology (i.e., cable modem, DSL, etc.) being used, the company providing the service, the download and upload speeds of the end-users broadband connection, and how much they are paying for broadband service.
This research is part of In-Stat’s Multimedia Broadband Services service. Broadband and video are everywhere, but who will win, and with which service offerings, is a multi-billion dollar global question. In-Stat’s MBS research provides a worldwide, comprehensive perspective on the delivery of consumer broadband voice, video, and data services to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each delivery pipe. Providing invaluable data on enablers and blockers, MBS examines existing and potential subscribers, business models, industry agendas, and key cross-market combatants.
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