Daily Research News Online no. 2770 - Local and National Performance of US ISPs

Local and National Performance of US ISPs

November 27 2003

comScore Networks has announced an Internet Service Provider (ISP) tracking service which monitors performance at the national and local market levels, and combines data on throughput speed and market share with qualitative attitude and intention data. Initial results illustrate the different speed of the move to broadband - and some contributory factors - in various US localities.

The new service combines market share for all major service providers and throughput speed metrics from comScore's Global Network of 1.5m+ users with qualitative data from around 20,000 online surveys a month, to give an accurate picture of the relation between performance and customer loyalty.

Instead of using the traditional source, clickstream data from a small sample of specific ISPs or user PCs, comScore's monitoring technology operates on servers that are part of the link between panellists and the Internet, enabling the company to measure the actual volume and speed of information transferred, across representative samples of both users and ISPs.

Initial results show that while broadband take-up continues, the majority of online households in the US (67%) still access the Web through narrowband dial-up modems, with 23% getting broadband through cable and 10% only through DSL.

AOL is dominant among narrowband households (45%) but accounts for only 13% of broadband households. However, sister company Time Warner/Road Runner is one of the two largest broadband providers along with Comcast, together accounting for approximately 35% of US home broadband connections. SBC, the largest DSL provider in the country, supplies access to approximately 10% percent of households with a high-speed connection and 3 percent of all Internet-enabled households.

ISP Market Share - U.S. Households, Q3 2003
Source: comScore Networks

Narrowband
	Share of Narrowband Market	Share of Total Market
Total U.S.	100%	67%
AOL	45%	30%
MSN	10%	7%
EarthLink	8%	5%
United Online	7%	5%
AT&T	6%	4%
All Other	24%	16%

Broadband
	Share of Broadband Market	Share of Total Market
Total U.S.	100%	33%
Comcast (Cable)	18%	6%
TW/Road Runner (Cable)	17%	5%
SBC (DSL)	10%	3%
Verizon (DSL)	8%	3%
Cox (Cable)	8%	3%
All Other	39%	11%

There are strong differences at the local level. For example, in Dallas-Fort Worth approximately 72% of all online households access the Internet via dial-up, whereas in Boston the figure is only 59%. Shipps says that 'the competitive landscape among high speed providers is different in every local market' and that it is essential for providers to understand their performance 'relative to their true, local competitors'.

Comcast's strong showing in Boston is a good example of this. The company provides access to 64% of Boston cable modem users and c.19% of all Boston-area home Internet connections. It is also among the fastest ISPs in Boston:

Boston ISP Share and Performance, Q3 2003
Source: comScore Networks

Provider	Connection Type	Market Share	Throughput Speed (bps)
AOL	Dial-Up	31%	33,967
Comcast	Cable	19%	1,421,099
MSN	Dial-Up	9%	32,601
Verizon	DSL	7%	840,085
United Online	Dial-Up	5%	34,221
Earthlink	Dial-Up	4%	33,490
Adelphia	Cable	3%	1,401,571

In Atlanta, unlike the US as a whole, DSL providers enjoy a lead over cable companies. In Dallas-Fort Worth they are nearly even, with SBC providing access for 8% of all Internet households.

ComScore's qual / quant combination enables it to make direct links between ISP Loyalty and connection type and speed. Not surprisingly, those with dial-up connections are far more likely to switch ISPs. Around 20% of dial-up users say they intend to change providers in the next six months, 8% to move to a cable connection and 11% to DSL. 96% of broadband users say they will stay loyal to their ISP for at least the next six months.

According to David Shipps, vice president of comScore Telecommunications Solutions, the new service 'will help ISPs and financial analysts make better-informed business decisions, by providing the industry's first and only accurate understanding of market share, performance and customer loyalty across the entire market'.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.