Cost Still Major Factor in broadband Adoption

Consumer Research Director for the Federal Communications Commission John Horrigan led a panel on broadband adoption at the Roadmap for Broadband Adoption conference sponsored by Broadband for America.

Horrigan detailed the new data obtained via a large scale phone survey which contacted over 5,000 people that purposefully oversampled non-adopters to obtain detailed data. The sample showed that price was still the main reason why individuals do not adopt with 15% of respondents claiming the monthly fee is too high for them along in addition the cost of the hardware is too expensive and the fees are too high.

But Intel's Rick Herrmann emphasized the need for increased education as a mechanism for increasing long term adoption. Robert Shapiro, a Senior Fellow of the Georgetown School of Business, claimed that there is not a digital divide but rather a lag; lower income communities which are unable or unwilling to adopt will eventually adopt as the price drops.