This and a quarter still won't get you on a bus....
Excite@Home Broadband and ISP Awareness Study Reveals Consumers Seek Speed,
Ease of Use, and Reliability
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Excite@Home (Nasdaq: ATHM),
the leader in broadband, today announced results from its ongoing usage and
awareness survey, naming the @Home(R) service the #1 recognized broadband
brand in the top 13 broadband markets in America. The survey, conducted in
January 2000 by Harris Interactive, interviewed 6,000 dial-up and broadband
Internet users in @Home-ready markets, and evaluated consumer ISP preferences,
@Home brand awareness, and product knowledge. Study results confirmed that
consumers looking for a new ISP are primarily seeking fast connection speed,
an ability to connect to the net easily and reliably, and an ongoing
dependable Internet service.
(Photo: newscom.com )
The study also highlighted that Excite@Home is poised to meet consumer
Internet demands in top markets. Consumers' top demands -- speed,
ease-of-use, and reliability -- are three of the core attributes of the @Home
service. Speed, reliability and an "always on" connection are especially
important to high-speed users. The "always on" feature of broadband transforms
the web from a once-a-day activity to an easily accessible tool for consumers
to get things done. High-speed users spend more than twice as much time
online each week as their dial-up ISP counterparts. Over 40% of @Home
subscribers are online for more than 20 hours per week, while only 25% of AOL
customers and 30% of other ISP users are online that frequently, as revealed
in the January 2000 survey.
"Consumers are demanding speed, reliability and a constant connection to
the Web. This type of functionality can only be delivered via a broadband
connection," said Byron Smith, senior vice president of the @Home service.
"@Home subscribers use the Internet as a tool to manage their everyday lives
becausewe deliver solutions to consumers' needs."
Broadband Users Online More Than Dial-Up Users
The move to broadband creates enormous opportunities for consumers to use
the Internet for media-rich applications such as entertainment, shopping,
communicating and research, among other uses. An independent survey by
Mercer Management Consulting found that people with high-speed Internet access
make twice as many purchases online as people with low-speed dial-up modems
The @Home service delivers consumers peak download speeds up to 100 times
faster than 28.8 dial-up service. A 10-megabyte file, which takes 24 minutes
to download with a 56K modem, can take only 8-20 seconds with a cable modem.
The @Home service also provides easy access to the open Web and unique rich
media content, such as live satellite weather forecasts, video news stories,
and sports highlights. Survey respondents aware of the @Home service could
identify several preferred features and benefits of the service even if they
were not subscribers: 81% knew the @Home service was offered by their cable
company, 71% knew that the @Home service can be 100 times faster than dial-up
services, and 70% were aware that the @Home service does not require the use
of a telephone line.
@Home's awareness survey was conducted via the Internet by
Harris Interactive. The most recent survey was conducted in January 2000, and
6,000 interviews of Internet users were conducted in 13 markets.
About Excite@Home
Excite@Home, the leader in broadband, offers media services through the
Excite Network (www.excite.com, www.bluemountain.com, and other properties),
and broadband subscription services through @Home (www.home.com) and @Work
(www.work.home.net). The company has a worldwide footprint of 72 million
cable homes under long-term contract. Excite@Home's MatchLogic division
(www.matchlogic.com) offers marketers industry-leading digital advertising
capabilities including rich media production, ad andemail services, and
database analysis, all integrated into a complete solutions package.
Excite@Home, @Home, @Work, Excite, Blue Mountain, the stylized @ logo, and
MatchLogic are trademarks of or licensed to At Home Corporation and may be
registered in certain jurisdictions. All other brand names are trademarks of
their respective owners.
SOURCE Excite@Home
-0- 03/17/2000
/CONTACT: press, Jacqueline Russo of Excite@Home, 650-556-3965, or
jrusso@excitehome.net/
/Photo: NewsCom: newscom.com
AP Archive: photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, 888-776-6555 or 201-369-3467/
/Web site: home.net
(ATHM)
CO: Excite@Home
ST: California |
