One month before the FCC presents its National Broadband Plan, the FCC has released a consumer survey with the latest information on national broadband use and adoption.  The survey offers information to provide a greater understanding of the reasons why some have not adopted... Read The Story...

One month before the FCC presents its National Broadband Plan, the FCC has released a consumer survey with the latest information on national broadband use and adoption.  The survey offers information to provide a greater understanding of the reasons why some have not adopted broadband.

The survey reveals that 65% of Americans are broadband users at home – about the same figure the most recent Pew studies have shown.  Among the lowest “adopters” are older adults, with only 35% of those 65+ having broadband at home.   What I found most interesting, and a bit perplexing, about this latest survey was the reasons for not adopting broadband.  Whereas previous surveys conducted by Pew found that consumers were not adopting broadband because they didn’t get the relevance or value broadband could offer to their daily life was the major reason for not adopting broadband, this survey reveals that cost issues are the leading issues, although not the major adoption barrier.  Digital literacy and relevance concerns combined are still considered a barrier to broadband adoption by a majority of the respondents.

I find the cost issue interesting.  While cost is identified by non-adopters as a barrier, many of these same consumers are spending significant dollars on other technology and electronics in their homes.  80% of broadband non-adopters have cable or satellite television service at home, 70% have cell phones and pay an average of $73 per month for the service, and 42% have at least one working computer at home.  These respondents may cite cost as an issue, but aren’t they really saying that they actually haven’t discovered a real value in adopting broadband?  They have determined that these other products have value, regardless of the cost (which are higher than a broadband subscription).

So, why not adopt broadband?  I still think the issue is they have not recognized the tremendous value broadband service can offer.  Of course, there are some consumers that can’t afford the cost, but for many non-adopters perhaps it’s more of a question of a cost-benefit analysis.  They haven’t yet recognized the benefits, so perhaps they are unwilling to include the cost of broadband service in their budget.

On the final full day of last week’s conference of state regulatory commissioner’s (the National Association of Regulatory Commissioner’s Winter Meeting) in Washington, D.C., there was an interesting panel session addressing wireless consumer concerns.

The wireless panel discussion began with the GAO’s December report on wireless consumer issues.  While the GAO report revealed that consumers are somewhat or very satisfied with their wireless services (84%), there are still consumers that have complaints about their service. Some consumers are still experiencing problems related to billing issues, understanding charges, and service quality.  The GAO recommends that the FCC improve its oversight of wireless consumer concerns and complaints.

FCC’s Consumer Affairs Bureau Chief Joel Gurin stated that the FCC is looking at all these issues and working closely with consumer representatives and state regulators to consider how the FCC can help consumers.  Panelist Nebraska State Commissioner Anne Boyle spoke about the role state regulators can have in resolving consumer disputes regarding wireless service.  Wireless industry association representative (Dane Snowden, CTIA) stated that the industry is listening to consumers and the concerns and issues they have, and the wireless market has responded.

These wireless consumer issues will continue to be addressed over the coming months. The FCC has a Notice of Inquiry directed at the information and disclosures consumers need when purchasing wireless phones and service. We expect that regulators and the industry will be working on resolving these issues, to help minimize customer dissatisfaction issues that continue to be raised by consumers aints and dissatisfactions that the regulator’s and industry aim to resolve.

Today I attended the first day of the Winter Conference of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, in Washington, D.C.

NTIA’s Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling kicked-off the day and provided an update on the BTOP grants program – first and second rounds.  With less than 10% of the first round grants awarded, there are still many more projects to be awarded.  Assistant Secretary Strickling knows that the clock is running and they are trying to move quickly to get the funds out the door.  However, he said the most important thing is that five years from now these projects (that are funded) are still going.  They don’t want to fund any failures.

The highlight of the program today was a panel on net neutrality, with representatives from Comcast, AT&T, Google, Free Press, ITTA (association representing mid-size telephone companies) speaking for and against the need for FCC net neutrality rules.  A representative from the FCC’s Wireline Bureau also spoke and defined the FCC’s interest in an Open Internet and the current proceeding.

Speakers for Comcast, AT&T and ITTA all stated support the FCC’s current four open Internet principles and do not believe the six proposed open Internet rules are needed.  Google and Free Press disagreed, endorsing the proposed rules.  There was a brief discussion about reasonable network management, but the most interesting topic was regarding the question of the risks of openness anywhere in the ecosystem, not just at the point of the Internet Service Provider.  There was a particularly pointed exchange between a state commissioner and Google regarding its own blocking behavior.  Isn’t that an issue as well?

Very interesting panel!

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Consumer Resources

Below are additional resources to more information about online privacy.

Consumer Guide to Online Privacy (PDF)
Consumer Online Privacy Survey
2008 Online Safety Survey
bNetS@vvy
www.onguardonline.gov
www.ikeepsafe.org/
www.getnetwise.org
www.fosi.org
www.enough.org

Other Organizations

National Caucus and Center on Black Aged:
http://www.ncba-aged.org/

National Consumers League:
http://www.nclnet.org/