Cable modems are the mode
Despite some hiccups, high-speed Net access over cable is surprisingly popular among growing ranks of users.
Commercial service has been rolled out in 12 markets since December and could increase by fourfold by year's end. "Cable operators are not lying; users do love the service," the report concludes. "Little else in the cable industry seems to be as exciting in 1997."
Of course, there are detractors: "When the service is good, it's great, but there are a lot of technical problems, a lot of outages, and lost email," said a user of Time Warner's Road Runner service, according to the report. "I kept my ISDN line and my AOL service because they are more reliable."
Another complaint: While faster than conventional Net access, the actual speed of the service falls well short of what is promised.
The young industry is also under threat because its number of users remains small and competition is stiff from telephone carriers, which are rolling out their own high-speed services such as ISDN.
Still, the report offers a sign of hope for a much-hyped service that has suffered from myriad delays. The report is based on detailed interviews with about 30 users of services such as @Home, owned by Tele-Communications Incorporated, Cox, and Comcast; Time Warner's Road Runner service; and US West Media's Highway1 service.
The users were located without the assistance of the cable operators and chosen at random, said analyst Doug Shapiro. DMG also disclosed it is a market maker in Comcast and TCI but none of the others.
Some conclusions: