Europeans are wary of paying over the odds for high-speed access to the Internet, according to a new report from research firm, Gartner. In the study, which was released in early February, ISPs across Europe were warned that they must cut prices for Broadband services or take-up will remain marginal.
Unlike the US, where high-speed access is increasingly common, there’s been a slow adoption of new services in Europe. While citizens in Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Belgium have been quick in subscribing to new broadband services; take up in other regions has been slow.
Gartner suggests that unless prices come down, only 10 percent of households in France, Germany and the UK, are likely to adopt broadband Internet access, while take-up in smaller markets such as Ireland, Portugal and Greece may receive even less take up.
According to Gartner, Europeans are aware that Internet via cable or ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is faster than a dial-up connection, but most people don’t see it as a ‘must have’ application. To get widespread adoption, the price of high-speed access must drop to under EUR30 a month from its current level of between EUR45 and EUR60.
The report may make interesting reading for the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (ODTR), which is currently in dispute with Eircom over the price it intends to charge customers and other licensed operators, for it’s broadband service. Known as I-stream, Eircom’s proposed price for the new service is around EUR100 per month and this doesn’t include connection fees.
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