Digital subscriber line is catching up to cable-modem services, according to a new study from Horowitz Associates Inc., “Broadband Content and Services.”
The study found that speed, followed by price, were the two key drivers in high-speed-data subscribers’ decisions about which provider to choose. A total of 77% of cable-modem customers cited speed as their primary decision-influencer, while that number was 71% for DSL users, trailing 74% who tabbed monthly cost.
Horowitz found that there was virtually no difference between cable-modem and DSL subscribers' level of satisfaction with the speed of their services -- 84% and 82%, respectively.
“It appears that cable has made full use of its advantages in speed and early availability in the race to get high-speed Internet to the home,” Horowitz president Howard Horowitz said in a prepared statement. “However, what these data strongly suggest is that both price and perceived value for the money are growing in importance. The question is: How can cable operators improve the perceived value of cable-modem services?”
