Economy in the pooper = Internet subscriptions expendable?

We have wondered when or if the lagging economy would translate into fewer new Internet subscription requests (or rather, people electing to terminate that service). With gas and food prices what they are, times are tight and many people are having to think more strategically about what expenses are truly necessary. It’s definitely a tough call. Imagine being a small business and trying to make that decision? Or the parent of a high school-aged student?

An article in Telephony Online this week pointed out that AT&T cited a decline in home-based wire line Internet subscriptions when discussing its third-quarter earnings. AT&T Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner mentions that the lost customers are “indicating they are not going to a competitor” and that many of these lost subscribers are trying to save costs by using their work/office-based Internet services instead of having that availability at home.

As Ed Gibbons from Telephony Online points out, “If these people have office Internet connections, they likely don’t have blue collars; they’re not bus drivers or waiters. They’re white-collar workers who would rather fill up their gas tanks than their phone lines. The irony, of course, is that if they were able to keep their broadband connections and work from home, they would likely reap much larger savings by not buying the gas needed to drive to and from work each day.”

As others have pointed out, stressful or uncertain economic times tend to quickly illustrate the value (or lack thereof) that consumers place on any given product – gas, disposable diapers, new sneakers, name-brand macaroni-and-cheese, to name a few. This draws into question something that contradicts much of the e-NC Authority’s cause…the profound economic value of broadband connectivity.