Consumers prefer premium broadband to caps, metering

A new International Data Corp. survey shows consumers adamantly oppose bandwidth caps or metered Internet services but do see value in premium services that provide special treatment of voice, video, gaming, telecommuting or other specific applications. According to the survey results, 94% of respondents saw value in such premium services and 54% would be willing to change to a broadband service provider that offered this service. A smaller number, 26%, was willing to pay their service provider additional fees for a premium bandwidth service, however. Zeugma Systems, which makes network edge gear that enables such premium services, views these survey results as an endorsement of its approach to enabling service providers to generate new revenue and manage their broadband networks efficiently.