74
|
BROADBAND COMMUNITIES
|
www.broadbandcommunities.com
|
JULY 2014
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
Consumer Survey:
FTTH Adds Value to MDUs
A major new survey commissioned by Broadband Communities and conducted by RVA
LLC shows that multifamily residents are highly satisfed with FTTH services.
By Steven S. Ross / Broadband Communities
R
esidents of multiple-dwelling-unit
properties (MDUs) who subscribe to
fber to the home are highly satisfed
with their broadband and video services – yet
nonsubscribers are often unaware of the
advantages of fber to the home. In an
exclusive survey that Broadband Communities
commissioned in spring 2014, market researcher
Michael Render of RVA questioned more than
2,000 broadband users in multifamily housing
throughout the United States.
Te study showed that
• Broadband is now the No. 1 amenity,
displacing physical amenities such as
washing machines and freplaces.
• Internet speed sells, especially to young
residents.
• Knowledge of fber to the home is increasing
but remains remarkably low.
• Tough MDU residents are turning to over-
the-top video, most still get their television
content through traditional video providers.
• Most consumers do most of their viewing
on TV screens, although almost half (47
percent) own a tablet and close to 60 percent
own a smartphone.
KNOWLEDGE OF FTTH LAGS
Te MDU resident most likely to know about
FTTH is under 18, has completed some
college, earns more than $100,000 a year and
is a single male with children. Unfortunately,
this particular composite is almost impossible
to envision. What is clear is that the young
are more likely to be exposed to fast fber in
high school and college (thanks in large part to
E-rate and distance-learning tools) and more
likely to crave FTTH for its advantage in shoot-
em-up games and over-the-Internet video.
However, "more likely" tops out at only a
32 percent awareness rate. For the sample as a
whole, only one in four MDU residents knew
specifcally about FTTH advantages. Te term
"FTTH" has not achieved category status as
"DSL" or "cable modem" have. And despite
Google's stirring the national imagination
with the promise of gigabit service, the term
"gigabit" was only about as well known as
"fber to the home."
Subscribers to FTTH, of course, see its
advantages very clearly, and the growth in their
numbers is accelerating. Slightly less than half
the sample's FTTH users (49 percent) have
subscribed for more than two years; a quarter
The Broadband Communities/RVA study
surveyed more than 2,000 MDU residents
about broadband – making it the largest
study of its kind.