Providers are ditching tech jargon to sell high-speed internet

Low take rates have broadband experts talking about how to pique subscriber interest in the high-speed internet capabilities now available across the US. Matt Collins, chief commercial officer at Calix, said that building higher speed tiers as many providers have been doing “is an incredible capex investment strategy," and "something we all have to do.” Although, in spite of providers racing against each other to provide the highest speed tiers on the market, he noted “subscribers don't understand speed." When Calix researched over a million subscribers across the providers it works with, fewer than 20% opted for speed tiers at 1-gig or higher. According to Collins, take rates for 5-gig and 2-gig services are typically even lower. The answer to that problem for many providers will be educating subscribers on the benefits of high-speed offerings in terms they’ll understand. “The key is understanding the persona that you're going after,” Collins said, whether it’s someone who uses Zoom, someone who is gaming for hours each day, or someone who streams a lot. “These are very, very different subscribers. And so the key is to help them understand how your service will make your experience better, not the technical capabilities of their services,” he added.