Broadband Subscribers Give Providers High Marks: Study

Seventy percent of broadband subscribers are very satisfied with their high-speed Internet service, but only 45% of dialup subscribers can say the same, according to a research report from Durham, N.H.-based Leichtman Research Group.

However, only 45% of dialup or narrowband subscribers ascribed the same rating to their service.

The findings were based on a telephone survey of 1,601 U.S. households which ranked their Internet service providers on a scale of 1-10. A score of “8” or higher was categorized as “very satisfied.” The data is included in a larger Leichtman Research Group study called “Broadband Access & Service in the Home 2008,” the market researcher’s sixth-annual study of the topic.

Among other information culled from the study:

-- 72% of cable broadband subscribers and 62% of telco broadband subscribers rated the quality of the speed of their Internet connection between 8-10 on the 10-point scale.

-- 24% of broadband subscribers are “very interested” in receiving faster Internet access at home than they currently receive.

-- 11% of broadband subscribers would “very likely” pay an additional $10 per month to double their Internet speed.

In addition, 57% of U.S. households subscribed to a broadband service–up from 20% four years earlier. Broadband now represents over 75% of all online service at home, up from less than one-third in 2004. Overall, only 6% of all Internet subscribers say that broadband is not available in their area.

“While the base of high-speed Internet subscribers in the US has rapidly increased over the past few years, broadband subscribers typically remain very satisfied with their service and are not interested in paying for even faster Internet access,” Bruce Leichtman, president and principal analyst for Leichtman Research Group, said in a statement. “Although the pace of annual net broadband additions is beginning to wane, LRG forecasts the total number of broadband subscribers will still increase by 33.5 million over the next five years.”

The broadband data is included in a larger Leichtman Research Group study called “Broadband Access & Service in the Home 2008,” the market researcher’s sixth-annual study of the topic.