DALLAS—The customer is always right is a familiar adage in the business world, and right now, for broadband service providers, mobile services is a big issue for customers and not adhering to that could lead to more cord cutting.
Parks Associates has released a new research study, “Examining Broadband Cord Cutters,” broadband providers that do not offer mobile services are more susceptible to their current subscribers cutting the cord. As the study found, subscribers highly likely to cut the cord within the next 12 months watch more than six hours of video content through mobile phones a week, compared to two-and-a-half hours among all U.S. broadband households. Parks Associates note that these trends were a reason cable operators Comcast and Charter introduced their mobile services.
“Potential broadband cord-cutters rely on their mobile devices for entertainment,” said Brett Sappington, senior research director and principal analyst for Parks Associates. “They are significantly more likely to watch live video content via mobile, including live TV broadcasts and livestreaming, averaging an hour more per week each compared to average broadband households.”
The research also determined what kind of services broadband subscribers are signed up for. It finds that two-thirds of broadband households currently subscribe to a cable internet service, three in 10 subscribe to DSL or fiber optic, and one-third use mobile data services. Verizon, AT&T and Frontier are the largest providers of DSL and fiber-based fixed-line services.
“Roughly 10% of broadband subscribers are likely broadband cord-cutters, with half of them highly likely to make the change in the next 12 months,” said Sappington. “Many are satisfied with their current provider overall, but these subscribers are aware of the other options available to them and could become actual cord-cutters if their current service does not continually meet their needs.”
