Is Bandwidth Addictive?

[Commentary] Conventional wisdom among marketing types holds that as consumers purchase more of a given product their needs become satisfied, and the ability to incrementally sell them more of that product diminishes. The question is, does bandwidth obtained via broadband connections exhibit similar tendencies? That is, is bandwidth addictive? Surveys have consistently shown that a), a significant subset of consumers are interested in enhanced broadband services that are more dynamic in how bandwidth and are willing to pay for them, and b), even for those unwilling to pay for such services they are viewed by a majority of consumers as desirable enough to change service providers if the price was right. Specifically, 27 percent of survey respondents expressed a willingness to pay (and 11 percent of those would pay "almost any price"), and 52 percent said they would actively seek to change broadband providers to get them. For consumers purchasing the fastest broadband tier, 37 percent would pay extra for enhanced bandwidth services. For the middle tier, 21 percent would pay extra, and for the bottom tier, 16 percent would pony up more money. In other words, it appears that the more bandwidth people buy, the more they want.