I often observe tech companies operating inside a bubble, making assumptions about what consumers want, the problems they face, and their spending habits. While intuition plays a big role in creating game-changing technology and being first to market, it’s also important to step back and listen to what that market is telling you. Last month we completed a new study focused on the changing broadband landscape and the challenges of managing the increasingly complex home network. This data adds perspective to our product strategy, and provides additional context for service providers that have deployed or are planning to deploy ClearAccess in their network. We’ll publish an in-depth report on our findings as we have in the past, in the meantime I thought I’d share some of the more interesting insights here.  

Based on our research*, the typical U.S. broadband subscriber pays around $40 per month for DSL or Cable (less than 9% have fiber to the home). That price will get you speeds around 10Mbps downstream and 500Kbps upstream. This is a little rough because half surveyed admit they don’t even know what their speed is. Interestingly, only a little over half believe they consistently get the speed they have purchased.  

So what’s connected inside the typical home network? Behind the WiFi router, which 90% now have in their home, there are usually between one and three connected devices, including WiFi-enabled phones. This number is growing fast--the number of homes with four to six devices will probably be most common a year from now. Across all users, 78% routinely use high-bandwidth applications such as streaming, gaming, and web cameras.  

Many U.S. broadband subscribers deal with routine service interruption: 18% say they experience Internet outages at least once a week, 43% at least once a month. The costs are real: 19% have been compensated by their provider, 7% have switched providers and 47% have considered it, all specifically due to outages. Based on focus group feedback, even small improvements to communication and updates on outages would be welcomed.  

Experiencing a “slow” connection is common. Thirty eight percent have contacted their ISP due to a slow connection, and 26% actually scheduled a technician visit.  Not surprisingly, those numbers increase five percentage points if there are kids under 12 in the home, ten percentage points if there are kids aged 13-18.  Basically, the more kids and devices in the home, the more likely you are to call tech support because of a slow Internet connection.  

Calling your service provider because of a slow Internet connection doesn’t usually help though, since only 17% of the time it’s identified as a wiring or equipment problem. Most the time problems go away and resurface on their own, or persist with no clear resolution. In some cases it’s a PC problem, or simply too many devices sharing a limited bandwidth resource.  

Bandwidth and speed issues lead to a somewhat conflicted relationship between subscriber and service provider. An online speed test meets expectations only 65% of the time, but actually prompts a customer service call only 15% of the time. Though the market appears headed towards a usage-based billing model for monthly Internet, less than 8% of consumers prefer that model, overwhelmingly they prefer flat-fee. Not surprising, since only 30% have a “clear understanding” of what a Gigabyte is, and only 14% have a tool (or at least know they have a tool) to check their consumption, there’s work to be done to educate customers on usage in the way, for example, the utility companies have. On the bright side, if given those tools, a majority said they would find them useful, and some would even consider paying for them.  

What all this tells us is that the growth in Internet use and device connectivity is creating demand for tools that end-users themselves can use to resolve problems. This is where research meets product development, and for ClearAccess it’s about tying these concepts to features and applications that both service providers and consumers want. When you see our products in action, you’ll often see us draw a connection between the trends suggested in research like this and the current and future capabilities of our platform. Stay tuned for more on this topic as we continue to study the dynamics of the connected home.  

^*Independently conducted nationally by a third party research firm, across a variety of demographics, based on topics and questions specified by ClearAccess.