xlimitx
join:2001-12-31
Wilkes Barre, PA
 ·ProLog
| Dumb Pipe....
Unfortunately not everyone wants a "dumb" pipe to their house for internet connectivity. Many people have broadband now and their choices for their service provider are increasing and or changing.
The companies are now using differentiators in order to pull people in, not just my bandwidth is bigger than your bandwidth.
Those differentiators create stickyness that cause some customers, possibly not BBR readers, to think about possibly losing all of their tunes if they move from Comcast to Verizon if they use the new Comcast ITunes knockoff.
It's all about customer retention and creating the glue that makes someone stay with a provider. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by xlimitx  :Unfortunately not everyone wants a "dumb" pipe to their house for internet connectivity. Many people have broadband now and their choices for their service provider are increasing and or changing. The companies are now using differentiators in order to pull people in, not just my bandwidth is bigger than your bandwidth. Those differentiators create stickyness that cause some customers, possibly not BBR readers, to think about possibly losing all of their tunes if they move from Comcast to Verizon if they use the new Comcast ITunes knockoff. It's all about customer retention and creating the glue that makes someone stay with a provider. I have never chosen an ISP because of thier portal no would I ever. I can find my own stuff thank you. Give me a dumb fast pipe at the cheapest possible rate and the best uptime and I'll stay your customer. Everything else is fluff. |
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xlimitx
join:2001-12-31
Wilkes Barre, PA
·ProLog
edit:
December 6th, @11:09AM
| said by BF69 I have never chosen an ISP because of thier portal no would I ever. I can find my own stuff thank you. Give me a dumb fast pipe at the cheapest possible rate and the best uptime and I'll stay your customer. Everything else is fluff.
That's exactly my point. Average Joe user may or may not like this. Your normal BBR users probably don't care about the portals since we get our content elsewhere.
The point is that they're creating differentiators to their competition, but at the same creating stickyness.
We may be the exception to the rules here at BBR. |
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TK Junk Mail
Go ahead, make my day
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Margate City, NJ
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to xlimitx
said by xlimitx :Unfortunately not everyone wants a "dumb" pipe to their house for internet connectivity. Many people have broadband now and their choices for their service provider are increasing and or changing. The companies are now using differentiators in order to pull people in, not just my bandwidth is bigger than your bandwidth. Those differentiators create stickyness that cause some customers, possibly not BBR readers, to think about possibly losing all of their tunes if they move from Comcast to Verizon if they use the new Comcast ITunes knockoff. It's all about customer retention and creating the glue that makes someone stay with a provider. Good analysis.
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My BLOG
My Web Page |
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bolt
Former Broadband Exile
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Charlestown, IN
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to xlimitx
said by xlimitx It's all about customer retention and creating the glue that makes someone stay with a provider.
[/BQUOTE :Show us where they want to retain customers. Almost every company puts money into getting customers, but they hardly spend a cent trying to retain the customers once they get them. Provide proof or I'm calling shenanigans. |
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tsu
join:2001-08-17
Wheeling, IL
| reply to xlimitx
It's pretty obvious by the overwhelming success of prior portals that this targetted strategy is a sure-fire winner.
..if by 'winner' you mean 'bleeding money'
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"You do not secure the liberty of our country and value of our democracy by undermining them, that's the road to hell." - Lord Phillips of Sudbury. |
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tsu
join:2001-08-17
Wheeling, IL | reply to TK Junk Mail
And history has shown precisely how well this strategy has worked. |
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xlimitx
join:2001-12-31
Wilkes Barre, PA
·ProLog
| reply to bolt
Hrm...
If they hardly spent a cent keeping you online, then how are you online now?
They spend money on their operations to keep their(your) infrastructure up and running so there aren't significant unplanned outages, etc. That way, the retention is created by providing a reliable, well maintained network.
Right? |
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bolt
Former Broadband Exile
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Charlestown, IN
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| I have a perfect example. My coworker is an Insight BB subscriber. When her introductory pricing ended, she canceled her account, as it was too expensive. Less than a week later, they were calling her and offering her the same deal she just finished with. Why didn't they just offer that to her while she was still a customer? They couldn't possibly artificially inflate their numbers if the did that, could they? Why must current customers have to cancel services in order to get the deals that new customers get? I think it's a sad business model.
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bolt
____________________________
"And, you know, it'll take time to restore chaos and order—order out of chaos. But we will."— George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., April 13, 2003
_____________________
»www.boltweb.com |
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phantom6294
join:2002-02-27
Abingdon, MD
·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| reply to xlimitx
Okay... maybe. But there is a huge problem... I can't get Comcast. I have two options: Cablevision's Optimum Online and Verizon's DSL.
If Comcast directly competed with a wide range of other providers, then perhaps creating portals would attract customers.
Though there are certainly exceptions, it seems the average person in the U.S. has two options: ONE Cable provider or ONE DSL provider. In my humble opinion, it seems silly for a company to spend a bunch of money to try and differentiate itself from only one other competitor.
Maybe it's just me... who knows. |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| reply to xlimitx
My in-laws probably count as "Average Joes". They don't know much about the Internet. They can check e-mails and browse the web a bit, but that's about it. In fact, my father-in-law's favorite activity is playing Snood.
When they purchased their new laptop and wanted to move away from AOL dial-up (yay!), they looked at Verizon DSL and Time Warner Roadrunner. They chose DSL. ISP content offerings didn't factor into the decision at all. They looked at price first and speed second. It just so happened that Verizon DSL's $15 plan was fast enough for their needs. (Much faster than their old dial up AOL, that's for sure.)
I think most "Average Joes" shop for Internet access in the same way. How much does it cost? How fast is it? (In general terms since 3Mbps is too technical for them.) |
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systems2000
What? You Say It's Fixed. Hah
join:2001-11-29
Cyberspace
 ·Embarq
| Here! Here!
I've always believed that comcast would attract more customers if they would get rid of the CATV "Blackmail Fee" and supply lower bandwidth tiers for lower prices. Why not just kill off dial-up with this idea?
As for their content, who cares? It gets more bandwidth and CPU intensive everytime I stop by (which is about once-a-year).
--
Personal Theme Song:RUSH - Mystic Rythms from Power Windows.
Rush Radio Website -- WinAmp Stream 24/7 |
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systems2000
What? You Say It's Fixed. Hah
join:2001-11-29
Cyberspace
·Embarq
edit:
December 6th, @01:18PM
| reply to phantom6294
Your forgetting about Satellite (Hughes Network) and Wireless. Granted, as for value, xDSl and cable generally corner this arena, there is more than one or two options for connecting to the internet. There are major areas of this country that still can not get any option other than Satellite or dial-up.
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Personal Theme Song:
RUSH - Mystic Rythms from Power Windows.
Rush Radio Website -- WinAmp Stream 24/7 |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to xlimitx
said by xlimitx :Unfortunately not everyone wants a "dumb" pipe to their house for internet connectivity. Many people have broadband now and their choices for their service provider are increasing and or changing. The companies are now using differentiators in order to pull people in, not just my bandwidth is bigger than your bandwidth. Those differentiators create stickyness that cause some customers, possibly not BBR readers, to think about possibly losing all of their tunes if they move from Comcast to Verizon if they use the new Comcast ITunes knockoff. It's all about customer retention and creating the glue that makes someone stay with a provider. Problem is there are so few choices (usually just 1 or 2) that content means nothing.
Most people who get simple emails and surf small websites don't need broadband. Even so, many places it's either DSL or cable. My area has 2 cable providers and DSL but that is not the norm.
I could see if there were multiple ISP choices (like the old dial-up days) but not in the monopoly or duopoly situations we have now. |
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Michieru
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL
·Speakeasy
| reply to TK Junk Mail
Or instead we can go back to contracts? After all you make a minute plan change Sprint adds you another spanking new year of contract service. I don't seriously mind as there service is top notch and only improving. But to someone who wants to leave, it must be hell on earth. |
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Michieru
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL
·Speakeasy
| reply to bolt
Sounds more like a sales or techie error to me. I remember when my mother lost her screw with Nextel they tried everything in there power to not make her leave. That includes a new phone and bonus minutes till the contract expires.
I can't say the same for Sprint though. |
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cwilliams194
join:2006-12-04
Hamilton, ON
·Acanac
| reply to xlimitx
I don't really know if that's true, but then again maybe its a Canadian thing, but I know a lot of people that know pretty much nothing about the ISP they use and they dont care, including whether or not they have a portal.
These people include alot of people that are in the kinda technically challenged group, which I would believe to be the ones these marketing people are aiming for.
I'll give you an example, my dad, he is getting better with technology, but honestly he doesn't know anything when it comes to his internet connection, including the ISPs website, when he needs something changed I go over there and eigther walk him through it step by step with customer service on the phone or if its a self care thing just do it for him. So to him and many people like him having a portal doesn't matter simply because of ignorance.
I know my ISP has a portal and I choose not to use it.
So I would really like to know how many people know that their ISP has a portal and actually use it.
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You want a piece of me? Well come and get it!-Prof. Farnsworth |
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kyramilan
join:2006-11-26
Pensacola, FL | reply to xlimitx
xlimitx - Don't go confusing the nerds with the fact that 99% of HSI companies don't really care about them.  |
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thehpkid
join:2006-11-16
Fort Myers Beach, FL
| reply to TK Junk Mail
Google, Itunes,Etc, How many more portals do you want in an INTERNET PROVIDER? I din't want one that requires six rows of toolbars to view and navigate before I get to where i want go. I want to get to my desired sites fast. Load up home pages with more crap? Look how well Google has done and how sinple their start page is. It works! I would rather have more speed than another Itunes store.
Get the speed and simplicity and we will flock there faster than lemmings to the sea. |
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