Broadband Technology Report

According to Parks Associates, 50% of U.S. broadband households surveyed consider $20 or more per month for a comprehensive smart home service to be a good value. More than 26 million U.S. households own at least one smart home device, which represents a 35% increase from the beginning of 2016. However, privacy concerns remain a barrier to wider adoption.

"The key challenge in today's smart home market is to move adoption beyond the early market and achieve mass adoption," s ...read more

According to Parks Associates, 78% of U.S. broadband households have a home network, which is expected to increase to 95% by 2016, with an average of 4.5 connected devices. The research house believes the explosion in home networking will drive consumer demand for comprehensive tech support.

Patrice Samuels, research analyst for Parks, said: “Nearly 75% of consumers set up new devices on their own, but one-half indicate they would prefer assistance with future acquisitions. ...read more

According to Parks Associates, the U.S. market for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will reach a 14.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2012 and 2016, reaching nearly $25 billion by 2016. The research house estimates there are nearly 6 million U.S. firms with 1-99 employees, and that 45% of U.S. SMBs with 1-20 employees have paid for tech support at least once in the past year, but as the SMB network gets more complicated, many current solutions are inadequate. ...read more

According to Parks Associates, the do-it-yourself model of tech support is the dominant, but not preferred, method for consumers setting up new connected or mobile devices, suggesting an opportunity for service providers in offering tech support. Parks estimates that U.S. tech support revenues will exceed $8 billion in 2017.

The firm reports that among U.S. broadband households purchasing new devices, 81% set up a new tablet on their own, 72% set up a smartphone on their own ...read more