MONTREAL – When it comes to broadband added value, security services are still tops, a meeting in Montreal heard on Monday.
Internet service providers can and should do more to market them effectively, according to Joe Laszlo, senior broadband analyst for New York-based Jupiter Research.
Laszlo spoke about the "Shifting Threats and Opportunities for Broadband as a Mass-Market Service" in a presentation at the Radialpoint Customer Summit in Montreal.
The Radialpoint Customer Summit brought together managers and executives from some of the world’s largest broadband providers to help drive success of their managed security services program. Through its broadband provider customers, Radialpoint security services currently reach over 15 million subscribers worldwide. The company’s customers include the likes of Videotron, Bell and Aliant.
"There is consumer confusion around Internet security and the number of threats is growing," Laszlo said. "It’s increasingly necessary for someone else to take care of it on behalf of consumers. BSPs (broadband service providers) need to drive home the idea that security is a tough thing that changes fast, so buying it as a boxed product no longer makes as much sense as buying it as a service. At the end of the day, security is a ‘checkbox item’ that consumers want to know their broadband provider has."
When asked which security threat most effected they way they use the Internet over the last year, 46% of consumers named viruses, 35% said identity theft, 29% said spyware, and 26% said spam, according to a Jupiter survey. Laszlo said that security services remain the most popular type of value-added offering for consumers.
"There is less interest in entertainment and utility bundles than in security bundles," Laszlo added. "But it’s not enough to just offer security. Broadband providers have to do more about merchandizing and making users aware of the services it has got to be a multi-pronged strategy in terms of how you tell subscribers that you offer these services."
Direct mail campaigns that inform existing subscribers about the security offering is an underutilized tactic, as is placing information and advertisements about security offerings on the customer care web site. While e-mail is the most effective way to communicate about services with subscribers, the ability to use desktop resident messaging technologies is also underutilized.
"Savvy Internet users are all about value and novice users are about convenience," he said. "There may be a shift happening among savvy users whereby convenience is starting to matter more for them. Broadband providers should position themselves to deliver the message that they can save consumers money and, at the same time, make security dead simple. This two pronged message is most effective, though the convenience factor will matter more over time."
"It comes down to price and convenience," Laszlo concluded. "Offer the services at a flat or discounted rate on a single bill and make them easy to find and use."
