CONSUMER INTEREST IN GETTING BROADBAND HITS ALL-TIME HIGH, REPORTS JUPITER MEDIA METRIX

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Ryan Oettinger
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Roughly 1/3 of at-home and at-work Internet users in the U.S. connect via broadband

Road Runner emerges as dominant U.S. consumer broadband brand

NEW YORK, April 23, 2002 – Jupiter Media Metrix (NASDAQ: JMXI), the global leader in Internet and new technology analysis and measurement, today reports that while only 16 percent of U.S. online households subscribe to broadband, more than 24 percent of dial-up consumers are considering signing up for a broadband service within the next 12 months. Jupiter analysts have found that these dial-up consumers actually favor utility over entertainment, even though companies catering to a broadband audience emphasize entertainment and rich-media applications. According to a new Jupiter Research Report, titled “Broadband Audience: Maximizing Revenue from the New Mainstream,” for the first time in years, the top motivator of dial-up users planning to switch to broadband is a persistent “always on” connection (59 percent). Less important are entertainment-related features such as the ability to view quality video (26 percent) and listen to audio (15 percent).

“Despite rising prices, demand for high-speed Internet connections is increasing,” said Dylan Brooks, senior analyst with Jupiter Research. “Broadband connectivity will soon be the rule, not the exception, for Internet users. For ISPs, the key to reaching this burgeoning nationwide audience is to embrace multiple technologies. Incumbent providers of access and content, not competitive upstarts, will win the broadband battle and make the best partners, even at a premium.”

Broadband Going Mainstream

Broadband has at last passed a critical inflection point in the U.S. – household subscriptions nearly doubled last year, from just over five million to 10.4 million. Moreover, individual broadband users, including those at work, totaled 38 million in 2001 – 32 percent of at-home and at-work Internet users. According to Jupiter analysts, broadband households have long been going online: 60 percent have an online tenure of more than two years. However, households that have come online in the past 24 months make up a growing portion of the broadband audience: 27 percent in summer 2001 compared with 17 percent in summer 2000.

While the wealthiest households remain the most likely to have a broadband connection, lower income groups are increasingly entering the fold. Jupiter Consumer Survey data reveal that nearly one-third of broadband households have annual incomes lower than $50,000 today, up from only 26 percent two years ago.

Acquire Customers Online, Not Off

In an August 2001 Jupiter Consumer Survey, broadband consumers said that self-initiated research and recommendations from friends were relatively important factors in choosing providers. However, no single influencer drove even 15 percent of broadband users to make a selection. In fact, almost 40 percent of broadband users said that they were not sure if any single factor influenced their decision to sign with a specific service provider. According to Jupiter analysts, this uncertainty suggests that costly ad campaigns may currently be ineffective tools for acquiring new customers. Instead, companies with high Web site traffic or a strong word-of-mouth from satisfied customers, will prove most successful in garnering broadband subscribers.

“Broadband service providers now face the challenge of selling a complex product to an audience that is increasingly mainstream,” said Joe Laszlo, senior analyst with Jupiter Research. “By using the Web as a sales channel, broadband providers can educate consumers about broadband’s benefits, while at the same time control customer acquisition costs. With these costs running upwards of $500 to $700 per customer, broadband providers must place greater emphasis on the Web channel this year.”

Road Runner Runs Away from Competition

By examining traffic to broadband Web sites of a number of major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and carriers, Jupiter analysts have found that Road Runner regularly garners over four million monthly unique visitors to its site – more traffic than that to any other provider’s broadband-related site. In comparison, most of the broadband sites of other major carriers each had around 300,000 to 500,000 monthly unique visitors.

Companies interested in purchasing either of the two new Jupiter Research Broadband Reports – titled “Broadband Audience: Maximizing Revenue from the New Mainstream” or “Broadband Customer Acquisition: Building up the Web Channel to Control Service Provider Costs”– can call toll-free at 1-877-464-6627 or visit www.jmm.com. Jupiter Research helps companies develop, extend and integrate business strategies across online and emerging channels. Backed by proprietary data, Jupiter’s industry-specific analysis, competitive insight and strategic advice give businesses the tools they need to exploit new technologies and business processes.

Jupiter Broadband Research Methodology

Jupiter utilizes a wide set of data-gathering tools to conduct research, including systematic polling of leading industry executives, extensive consumer surveys, extensive executive surveys, Media Metrix audience measurement data and a rigorous approach to building market forecasting models. Jupiter analyses and forecasts are based on a number of methodologies, including close examination of analogous markets (either previous growth of new technologies or relevant off-line market case studies), consumer self-stated intentions culled from proprietary Jupiter surveying, complex market segmentation analysis, and analysis of historical trends. Additionally, all forecast assumptions are rigorously debated in a process designed to capture the collective judgment of analysts with relevant experience and perspectives on each given market. For a fuller explanation of the methodology, please visit www.jmm.com.

Jupiter Consumer Survey – In May 2001, Jupiter designed and fielded a survey to online consumers selected randomly from NPD consumer panels. A total of 3,150 individuals responded to the survey. Respondents received an e-mail invitation to participate in the survey, with an attached URL linked to the Web-based survey form. The sample was weighted by a series of demographic and behavioral characteristics to ensure that it was representative of the online population. Demographic weighting variables included age, gender, household income, household education, household type, region, and market size. Additionally, Jupiter took the unconventional step of weighting the data by online tenure and AOL usage, two key determinants of online behavior. Balancing quotas were determined by an ongoing weekly RDD survey of almost 5,000 US households.