Skip to content
Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter September 9, 2010

Household Demand for Broadband Internet in 2010

  • Gregory L. Rosston , Scott J Savage and Donald M Waldman

Abstract

This paper uses data from a nationwide survey administered during late 2009 and early 2010 to estimate a random utility model of household preferences for broadband Internet service. Reliability and speed are important service characteristics: the representative household is willing to pay $20 per month for more reliable service; $45 for an improvement in speed from slow to fast; and $48 for an improvement in speed from slow to very fast. A representative household would be willing to pay $79 per month for a fast, reliable Internet service. Internet valuations increase with experience, and there has been an estimated two- to three-fold increase in consumer surplus per household between 2003 and 2010. If experience causes increased valuation, targeted programs that educate households about the benefits from broadband, expose households to the broadband experience and/or directly support the initial take-up of broadband have potential to increase overall penetration in the United States.

Published Online: 2010-9-9

©2011 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 19.3.2024 from https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.2202/1935-1682.2541/html
Scroll to top button