AT&T Uses Wi-Fi as Differentiator

Ina Sebastian | July 03, 2007, 03:01 PM

AT&T announced that its public Wi-Fi network (around 10,000 locations in the US, including Barnes&Noble) would be free for premium broadband customers – residential and business.
The company has offered very cheap access to broadband consumers for a while ($1.99 per month). This corresponds to what we see as top motivators for consumers. Not only would 20 percent of online consumers consider signing up and even paying for public Wi-Fi if they could trial the service, but consumers are also interested in discounted add-ons to broadband access.

High-speed customers would not save that much money for dropping the fee, but it is a differentiator and part of an overall strategy to increase switching cost (see also free wireless gateways). Fixed-Mobile Convergence and the digital home – discussed in an upcoming JupiterResearch report - are interesting key words as well when looking at AT&T. Often Wi-Fi is used as the foundation of a business model, but consumer responses in our surveys suggest that companies can effectively use it in broader strategies.