Recession has not hit broadband subscribers: Alcatel-Lucent study

An Alcatel-Lucent study has concluded that consumers are unwilling to part with their broadband services at home even in the midst of the economic downturn, preferring to cut spending on things like dining out and leisure travel. Its not quite surprising, given broadband services has become the lifeline of subscribers in worst scenario. Even those who lost jobs due to recession in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, and New Delhi are not ready to disconnect their broadband connections for the simple reason that they want to have the access to job markets and vice versa.

The study, conducted by of Alcatel-Lucent's Market Advantage Program (MAP) in cooperation with market research firms Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Ipsos MediaCT, was done aimed at exploring the impact of the worldwide economic meltdown on spending for telecom services including the broadband services, and the role broadband services can play in promoting global economic growth and social welfare. The study tried to analyze the spending priorities with the use of statistical analysis vis-à-vis how consumers prioritize household spending, given a recessionary mindset, comparing the relative value of a wide variety of specific fee-based services.

It has become clear by now that the telecom industry is the one industry that has become recession-proof or rather it has utilized the opportunity emerging from recession for its business benefits. Broadband is no exception to this. A thumbing majority of 84% respondents/consumers identified broadband as an essential network service and therefore the least likely target for spending cuts on this service.

The interesting part of revelation is that more consumers globally are planning to subscribe to and/or upgrade their broadband services, even while reducing spending in other areas. It shows how much importance consumers give to broadband services. Of course the primary reason for this is that consumers consider this as lifeline during worst time. According to the study, key factors driving this preference include a desire to reduce the cost and travel time associated with commuting, and love for greener alternatives. Respondents from developed countries showed a growing dependence on the Web as an information source, business tool, social network and entertainment venue. But this is also true in the case of emerging countries like India where people are increasingly relying on broadband as their source of information on things from A-Z.

Kannan K
kannan@cybermedia.co.in