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To: Doug who wrote (7279)	11/6/1998 7:16:00 AM
From: Glenn McDougall	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18016

Yankee Group Finds Consumer Demand for High-Speed Internet Services Growing, But Availability is Limited Subscribers to High Speed Internet Services to Grow to 7 Million by 2002, the Yankee Group Predicts BOSTON, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a recent survey of more than 2,000 U.S. households conducted by the Yankee Group, a Boston-based communications research firm, nearly two-thirds of the PC-owning households in the U.S. are interested in faster speed Internet access. However, with few consumers having access to such a service today, cable and telephone companies are challenged to take advantage of this opportunity to grow the business. Among households who are currently on-line, interest in faster speed Internet access is even greater, the survey revealed. Forty-one percent of those on-line were very interested in high-speed Internet access, and an additional 43 percent were somewhat interested. This represents a significant increase in interest from the year before, when only 25 percent of on-line households said they were very interested in high-speed Internet access. In addition to an increase in interest in high-speed data (HSD) services, there is greater willingness to pay for such services, the survey found. Thirty-six percent of on-line households are willing to pay $40 per month (today's typical price for cable modem service) for HSD services, up from 27 percent last year. Despite increased consumer interest, cable operators and telephone companies in the U.S. are just beginning to offer high-speed Internet access services to consumers. While cable operators offering cable modem service have taken an early lead over telephone companies offering digital subscriber line (DSL) services, cable today can provide service to only one out of every seven households in the U.S., and count approximately 300,000 subscribers. Even though telephone companies have yet to deploy DSL services to consumers, they are still the preferred option versus cable. Given a choice between a service from a cable company or a phone company, those most willing to pay for the service, choose the telephone company 4.5 times more frequently than cable. However, there is opportunity for either party to emerge, as nearly half of the respondents currently don't know which one they would choose. As telephone companies begin to offer DSL services more widely and drop their monthly pricing fee to be more competitive, and cable modem services become available in more markets, the number of U.S. households subscribing to high-speed Internet access will grow from fewer than one-half million today to 7 million by 2002, the Yankee Group predicts. "From year to year, we have seen that there are more households going on-line, and in those households, more willingness to pay for the advantages of HSD," says Bruce Leichtman, director of media and entertainment strategies at the Yankee Group. "It's now up to the cable operators and telephone companies to respond. Today, cable operators have a nearly exclusive window to sell their cable modem service before DSL becomes more of a consumer reality. Cable operators should take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts, and move quickly to market their services." More details on these findings appear in a new report, "Forecasting the High Speed Internet Market for Consumers: It's About Supply and Demand," from the Yankee Group's Media & Entertainment Strategies service. The company's Media & Entertainment Strategies practice examines the tradeoffs that businesses and consumers must make as traditional forms of media are joined by new products, services, and applications. About the Yankee Group The Yankee Group (a subsidiary of Primark Corporation) is an information technology and communications market research firm which specializes in helping users and vendors link their technology strategy to their business strategy. Established in Boston, Massachusetts in 1970, it has built a solid reputation worldwide for analysis of the key issues in information technology. Yankee Group clients number more than 700, and represent a wide range of business and industries. Each year, the Yankee Group sponsors numerous technology-related conferences around the world. Additional information is available at yankeegroup.com. Primark Corporation (NYSE: PMK; PSE: PMK) is a global information services organization headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Primark provides financial, economic, and market research information services to the financial, corporate and government markets. Additional information is available at primark.com. SOURCE Yankee Group