Despite the number of offers directed at consumers to switch their Internet broadband service providers, the majority tend to stick with their current carrier. But don’t assume that the choice to stick is a measure of consumer loyalty.
That’s one of the conclusions of a recent white paper issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Entitled “Broadband decisions: What drives consumers to switch-or stick with-their broadband Internet provider,” the white paper identified a number of factors that prevent or inhibit consumers from switching, even when they’d like to.
Among the reasons noted in white paper for not switching Internet service providers were the following concerns:
- Paying a set-up or installation fee (50% of respondents)
- The inconvenience of arranging for new service (43%)
- Providing a deposit for service from a new provider (40%)
- Having to give up a current e-mail address (34%)
- Having to pay a termination fee to the current provider (32%)
Of those surveyed by the Commission, just over one-third of Internet users have changed their service provider in the prior three years, with only 13% having switched providers more than once during the three years.
Read the complete text of the Commission’s white paper on consumer broadband decisions.