[Swprograms] Fwd: MediaPost.com Article: Consumers Prefer TV Vs. Phone, Internet, Even Utility Providers

[Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>]

BPL might fail simply because people don'e want to buy services from
their utility providers...

Richard Cuff

-----------------------

Consumers Prefer TV Vs. Phone, Internet, Even Utility Providers
Joe Mandese

On Friday, during the closing day of Madison Avenue's annual media
conference, the government's top media technologist predicted electric
utility companies might transform the telecommunications industry
providing broadband services anywhere there is an "electric pole," and
transmitting data to anything that "uses electricity." If that proves
the case, it was not evident in a recent survey asking consumers whom
they wanted to receive their telecommunications services from. Asked
whom they believe would provides the best service and value for
bundled TV, phone and Internet service, U.S. consumers overwhelmingly
selected TV service providers including cable system (29 percent) and
satellite TV (22 percent) operators, according to results of an annual
study scheduled to be released today by Knowledge Networks/SRI. Local
phone companies placed a close third (21 percent), followed by
Internet service providers (19 percent), but electric utility
companies (8 percent) didn't exactly show the juice. "Based on the
response to this survey, utility companies don't appear to be much of
a factor, at least not yet," said David Tice, vice president-client
service at KK/SRI. He noted, however, that the concept of
telecommunications service from utility companies is still relatively
knew - the FCC only recently authorized broadband over utility lines -
and that the results likely reflected "an incumbent issue." But some
incumbents appear better positioned than others, according to the
results. "People seem to be much more accepting of getting their
telephone service from a cable service provider, as opposed to the
other way around. TV providers definitely seem to have the advantage
in a bundled world," he said. The findings also reveal a potentially
significant inflection point for telecommunications services, and what
may be the beginning of a consumer spending saturation point. While
the average U.S. households indicated more upside to what they are
willing to pay for new telecommunications services - $7 more per month
to an average monthly outlay of $52 - broadband households were the
least price elastic, willing on average to pay only another ten cents
per month. "They're tapped out," said Tice. "The broadband homes seem
to have reached a point where they're paying enough for what they're
getting and even additional services aren't going to increase that by
much."

 Which Would Provide the Best Service and Value for Bundled TV, Phone
and Internet
 

   

 Cable System Operator 

 Satellite TV Operator 

 Local Phone Company 

 Internet Service Provider 

 Electric Utility Company 
 

 Total 

 29% 

 22% 

 21% 

 19% 

 8% 
 

 18-34 

 36% 

 22% 

 17% 

 19% 

 5% 
 

 35-49 

 28% 

 19% 

 21% 

 20% 

 9% 
 

 50-64 

 23% 

 25% 

 23% 

 18% 

 10% 
 

 <$30k 

 25% 

 19% 

 28% 

 19% 

 9% 
 

 $30k-$49k 

 31% 

 22% 

 19% 

 23% 

 4% 
 

 $50k+ 

 30% 

 24% 

 16% 

 17% 

 10% 

 Source: Knowledge Networks' Home Technology Monitor. 

Click to read this article on the MediaPostPublications.com website.
_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://dallas.hard-core-dx.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.