Gigabit? What's That?

Prospective providers of 1 Gbps Internet services may have a larger customer education and marketing task ahead of them than they realize, according to research from the Pivot Group. A survey of 800 current U.S. Internet users indicated that 87% of respondents had not heard of "gigabit" before the survey. Only 32% of Internet users surveyed knew the speed of their current connection, and 74% indicated that their current Internet speed meets their needs or is faster than what they need.

Other findings indicate:

• 54% of respondents didn't know a gigabit is more than a megabit.
• 70% of respondents indicated $70 a month for gigabit is too high.
• 64% of respondents would prefer to pay slightly less per month for their current speed than pay slightly more for a faster connection.
• An overwhelming majority of consumers would select gigabit service from a competing incumbent service provider over a municipal or electric utility.