Pulse of Residential Broadband vs. ISPs.

After pioneering residential Internet access in the 1990s, ISPs now face increased pressure to offer subscribers broadband access, or they will ultimately lose potential revenues and the market share they have worked so hard to achieve. The latest Yankee Group Report, “Winning Residential Broadband Subscribers: Do Pure-Play ISPs Stand a Chance?” examines the current state of the residential broadband market, identifies the market leaders, and determines what ISPs must do to counter stiff competition from incumbent telecommunications providers and cable companies that are finding value in selling broadband access to the masses.

Pure-play ISPs such as AOL, EarthLink, Prodigy, and Juno blazed the trail for consumer Internet access in the early 1990s, making the Web easily and affordably accessible, and a part of everyday life for households across the United States. As broadband ubiquity looms on the horizon, these companies now face an uphill battle against telcos and cable companies that have recently found value in selling Internet services to consumers, and can easily bundle access with existing telephony and television services.

“ISPs must make a sink or swim decision when it comes to offering broadband services,” said Rob Lancaster, author of the Report and Internet Market Strategies analyst. “For ISPs that are not allied directly with a broadband provider, access margins are currently very low, and will not improve dramatically in the near future. It will be broadband content and services, in addition to access, that will drive revenues for ISPs, and these companies must rely on their experience as online service and content providers to give them a competitive edge.”

NFor more information at http://www.yankeegroup.com