Fresh data from market research company Parks Associates showed the number of households relying solely on mobile for their broadband connectivity grew by approximately 600,000 in 2020 to 15 million.
The company said 12 million households had dropped a fixed-line service, with cost, data rates and lack of reliability cited as the top-three reasons. The remaining 3 million never had a fixed connection.
A company representative revealed the 2019 tally to Mobile World Live, adding approximately 14 million additional households used a “fixed wireless or 5G home internet” service in 2020.
In its report, Parks Associates noted the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic played a key role in focusing consumer attention on service speeds and reliability, pointing out 41 per cent of US households had members participating in either remote work or schooling as of September 2020.
Senior analyst Kristen Hanich stated “good performance during the Covid-19 crisis has improved customers’ opinion of their service providers, but there were dips throughout the year, indicating that providers need to continue to deliver on customer service and innovate in value-added offerings in order to grow and maintain their subscriber base”.
