Fierce Telecom reports on recent research from JD Power…

Fixed and wireless broadband customers cited price as the number one reason they would switch service providers in a new J.D. Power study, and it appears most have a particular price point in mind.

The takeaway comes from J.D. Power’s 2022 U.S. Residential Internet Service Provider Satisfaction Study. The report analyzes consumer sentiment and operator achievement across five categories: performance and reliability, cost of service, billing and payment, communications and promotions, and customer care.

And what’s that price?

He added consumers seem most satisfied if their service cost $70 per month or less. After that “we see a meaningful drop off” in satisfaction, Greenblatt noted.

Practically speaking, that means most consumers are shopping operators’ mid-tier plans. For instance, AT&T and Verizon both offer 500 Mbps fiber plans for less than $70 (or, in Verizon’s case, a gig if you have an eligible 5G plan with them). Comcast offers a 600 Mbps plan at that price point, though its 1.2 Gbps plan is also in reach if you apply autopay. Meanwhile, T-Mobile’s fixed wireless home internet is $55 per month for typical download speeds of between 33-182 Mbps.

But let’s compare that to a report from NTIA earlier this month where they surveyed non-broadband households …

Answers to the new question showed that the mean price offline households wanted to pay was approximately $10 per month, though it’s worth noting that three in four households gave $0 or “none” as their answer.

Interestingly, households citing expense as their main reason for non-use were more willing to pay some amount for home Internet service, with a mean reported price of $16 and 54 percent responding that they would only purchase home Internet service if it were $0.

In contrast, households citing a lack of need or interest in home Internet service were only willing to pay $6 per month on average, with 83 percent of the group giving an answer of $0.

That is a serious disconnect and it appears as if the difference is perceived value more than budgetary issues. There is clearly room for helpful non-users find value.