Cable Internet provider Excite@Home
Tuesday announced results from its ongoing subscriber studies indicating
that its users spend more time online each week.
The February study revealed 40 percent of all @Home (ATHM) subscribers spend more than 20 hours online each week and that 15 percent
of those subscribers are online for more than 40 hours a week.
The @Home study also indicates that almost 50 percent of @Home subscribers
have multiple personal computers connected to the Internet from their homes.
The study further indicated that e-mail is the reason why most @Home users
go online. After e-mail, research and information, education or homework,
personal finance management, online chats, and career searches motivate
@Home subscribers to scour the Internet.
@Home contends that the survey is a further indication that the Internet
has quickly become a tool for every member of U.S. households and that its
subscribers are breaking new ground on how to use the Internet to its
potential.
Byron Smith, @Home executive vice president and general manager, said
because the its cable service is always-on, subscribers spend more time
online and they are using the Internet for a broad range of applications.
“When we see that our subscribers spend more hours online and have more
members of the family on @Home, all of this indicates that we are doing it
right,” Smith said.
Other findings from the @Home study indicate that more than 50 percent of
its subscribers have a college degree and 60 percent have been accessing
the Internet for at least 3 years. More than 15 percent of @Home
subscribers have never had an Internet service provider before, up from 9
percent in 1998.
Furthermore, 50 percent of @Home subscriber households have children using
the service and almost 75 percent have two or more adults using the service.
The @Home study was conducted between Feb. 15 and Feb. 29.
The study was conducted via the Web with @Home subscribers by customer
loyalty retention firm CustomerCast,
Inc.
Odyssey, L.P. is an independent
market research firm dedicated exclusively to studying the complex and
changing relationship between consumers, technology, and at-home
entertainment and information. It’s Homefront survey is conducted every six
months. Research is based on interviews with 2,500 consumers and it a
sample representative of all U.S. households.
According to Odyssey, the @Home survey is consistent with its findings that
most popular online activities among the online households in the U.S. are
sending e-mail, gathering health information, keeping up with the news, and
investment-related research.
However, the survey also found that households use their home computers for
about 20 hours each week, of which only 15 hours are spent online weekly.
