Pew's Home Broadband 2021 Survey

Pew Research Center released their latest “Mobile Technology and Home Broadband 2021” survey, which is one of the authoritative reports on broadband adoption. What will probably get some attention is the breakdowns of the non-adopters of broadband. The largest group is the 27% who haven’t adopted broadband because the cost of the service or devices is too high. Behind that is “smartphone does everything I need” and “other options for internet access outside of home” with 19% and 9% respectively. In my view, these responses are virtually indistinguishable from “cost is too high”. They aren’t saying they don’t want broadband in the home. They’re saying they would not derive enough utility from it to justify the cost given other options. It is likely that these respondents would be broadband subscribers at a lower price, or if they were more able to derive benefits from the service.