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Broadband Access
Today’s Broadband Offers Have Limited Appeal, Says EC
High Prices, Viruses and Lack of Interest Restrict Growth
by Iain Morris
One of the most publicized telecom trends of the last few
months has been the race for the broadband customer.
Operators throughout Europe have been slashing prices and
bundling services in a bid to boost market share.
But unless costs fall further and offerings become more
attractive many potential customers will never be enticed by
broadband, says a new E-Communications Household Survey
published by the European Commission (EC).
According to the survey, 40 percent of households with
narrowband access do not wish to upgrade to broadband
because they are either satisfied with dial-up speeds or do
not believe they use the internet enough, while 22 percent
reported that cost was a barrier to adoption.
“[This is] a challenge to operators and service providers to
develop more attractive broadband offers both in terms of
content and in terms of price, and I will do my part to ensure
that enhance competition will promote such a development,”
says Viviane Reding, Information Society and Media
Commissioner at the EC.
Perhaps even more worrying for operators are details of the
finding that 60 percent of EU households have no Internet
access whatsoever. When questioned why, 43 percent
reported a lack of interest, 27 percent claimed they had no
PC or means of connection and 19 percent said that Internet
access was too expensive for them.
Spam may also be a deterrent. Approximately 17 percent of
households said that receiving spam or viruses on their PCs
had discouraged them from using the Internet, and one half
of households with Internet access said they would consider
switching their provider if spam or viruses continued to be
troublesome.
With just 16 percent of EU households now on narrowband
connections – compared with 23 percent on broadband – the
market for new customers is looking decidedly small unless
operators do something radically different.
A finding that might provide some cheer for operators regards
the frequency of Internet use. The survey results indicate that
only a very small proportion of households with Internet
access use it less than once a week, while in most countries
between 60 percent and 80 percent use it every day.
What’s more, service bundles look set to prosper. Around 18
percent of EU households have subscribed to such packages,
with combinations of fixed telephony and Internet access
proving the most popular of the available options.
The survey was conducted on a representative sample of
25,000 EU households between December 7, 2005 and
January 11, 2006.
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