Broadband ISPs find increasing success with home networks

Data networks from broadband Internet providers have topped 1M U.S. households; connectivity solutions to serve a staging infrastructure for second- and third-generation applications

Dallas, Texas -/August 21, 2004 - Wi-Fi Technology News/- Broadband Internet providers have now deployed data network solutions to more than one million U.S. households and at this current pace will reach nearly two million by the end of 2004, according to Parks Associates? Consumers & Emerging Multimedia Platforms.

Data from this study also show a 60% increase from year-end 2003 to the first half of 2004 in the number of subscribers who obtained home networking equipment from their broadband ISP. Significantly more subscribers also reported receiving an offer for a home networking solution from their high-speed Internet service provider. According to Parks Associates, this trend of ISP-related home networking is likely to increase the presence of additional broadband and network-related applications in U.S. homes.

?Home networking is becoming a powerful value-added application that strengthens the relationship between a broadband ISP and its subscribers,? said Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst at Parks Associates. ?In just over a year, broadband providers have greatly improved the marketing and sales of home networks to their subscribers. And this is only the first stage of deployment for broadband service companies. Basic networking configurations will be leveraged for the second-stage deployment of such value-added services as broadband and network performance and security monitoring, voice-over-IP applications, and content streaming.?

The Parks Associates study Consumers & Emerging Multimedia Platforms is a survey of more than 4,000 U.S. Internet households. It covers the current status of product ownership and service subscription in Internet households, from PCs and consumer electronics to Internet, voice, and television services. The study also examines the potential for forthcoming technology solutions such as media servers, user interfaces, and content applications from service providers. Parks Associates will follow this study with a syndicated study titled Residential Gateways and Home Networks, which will further examine the relationship between broadband providers, retailers, and consumers in distributing home networking solutions and applications. For more information about either of these studies, please contact Parks Associates at 972-490-1113 or sales@parksassociates.com or visit http://www.parksassociates.com.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates is a market research and consulting firm focused on all product and service segments that are ?digital? or provide connectivity within the home. The company?s expertise includes home networks, digital entertainment, consumer electronics, broadband and Internet services, and home systems.

Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, multiclient studies, consumer research, workshops, and custom-tailored client solutions. Parks Associates also hosts Fall Focus and co-hosts CONNECTIONS? (in partnership with the Consumer Electronics Association) each year. http://www.parksassociates.com.


Contact: Elizabeth Parks
Parks Associates
972-490-1113
Email: sales@parksassociates.com