Can Cellphones Capture the Broadband Market?

Linda Hardesty asked, “What if, in ten years, young people don’t subscribe to fixed broadband at all?” Her story is based on a U.K. research group that predicts that within ten years there will be a lot of young people who will never have subscribed to a landline broadband product. Hardesty asks if the same might be true for the U.S. It’s not an obvious answer. Young people in both countries seem to be satisfied with watching videos on the small cellphone screen. However, there are some big fundamental differences between the two markets. One big difference today is that there are cellular carriers in the U.K. that offer unlimited usage cell phone plans. There is nothing like that today in the U.S. Current U.S. cell phone plans are not aimed at satisfying average home broadband usage, and to do so would be a giant shift.