This is the third release of the BuyTelco Broadband Index covering January 2004. This month's index highlights the time of day consumers shop and order broadband services. We also highlight demand by state, zip and demographics.

Companies have long suspected employees were surfing for work and pleasure from their office broadband Internet connections. Who would have thought they’re also spending this time buying broadband for the home? In its monthly roundup of demand trends for high-speed Internet including DSL, cable, and satellite across the USA, new data from the BuyTelco Broadband Index (BBI) shows that 42% of Broadband Shopping/Buying Activity occurs during peak afternoon work hours, with a high of 14.82% during the 3pm – 5pm EST timespan, post-lunch for all US time zones in the workplace.

A clear majority, 72%, do their broadband shopping and buying during work hours across all US time zones. The Monthly Index’s full findings for January can be found at http://www.buytelco.net/bbi.asp and include the Broadband Shopping/Buying Activity breakdown by hour included below:

January 2004

Broadband Shopping/Buying by Time of Day
Hour (EST)    Percentage
12-1 AM              3.13%
1-2 AM              2.19%
2-3 AM              1.35%
3-4 AM              0.76%
4-5 AM              0.54%
5-6 AM              0.52%
6-7 AM              0.60%
7-8 AM              1.09%
8-9 AM              2.23%
9-10 AM              3.83%
10-11 AM         5.12%
11-12 AM         6.37%
12-1 PM              6.74%
1-2 PM              6.88%
2-3 PM              7.09%
3-4 PM              7.63%
4-5 PM              7.19%
5-6 PM              6.66%
6-7 PM              5.47%
7-8 PM              5.46%
8-9 PM              5.38%
9-10 PM              5.22%
10-11 PM    4.69%
11-12 PM    3.85%

What The Data Reveals:
The exact logic behind these figures is a bit elusive, but judging from what carriers and ISPs have said, Tuesday is always the highest traffic day over the IP network. Regarding the daytime buying habits, perhaps a frustrating day of facing congestion over a dial-up connection drives consumers to purchase broadband in the late afternoon.,” said Steven McKean, CEO and President of BuyTelco.

Purpose Of The BBI:
The purpose of the BuyTelco Broadband Index (BBI) is to measure current month and historical trends as it relates to broadband demand in the United States on a relative basis to area populations and households. Each month's BBI measures the current month’s and historical trends of broadband demand, analyzes and screens dozens of behavioral demographic variables down to the “granular” level, and offers the latest updated statistics and trends such as:

Where are households looking for broadband geographically located?
Where are they in the buying process?
What are they selecting when both cable and DSL are available?
Who wants broadband?
What are the demographics?
What do these people have in common?
Where is the highest and lowest demand by state and city?

Index Methodology:
The data compiled for the BBI is derived from broadband Internet consumer transactions at http://www.buytelco.net. BuyTelco is a leading e-commerce site that specializes in providing comparison shopping information on the high-speed Internet service providers in the US. Since its inception, BuyTelco has executed broadband availability searches for well over 2 million customers. Produced in conjunction with Targus Information Services www.targusinfo.com, the BBI incorporates third party databases and proprietary statistical analysis to glean, categorize, and quantify additional behavioral and demographic relationships. “The Telecommunications industry will use the BBI for pinpointing demand, targeting marketing resources and getting a true measure how their products and services stack up against the competition,” stated Steven McKean.

The Future Of The BBI:
Although the BBI is targeting information on broadband usage, it will be expanded to measure other dimensions of broadband demand. "For example, we will be tracking how lower-priced broadband services stimulate the demand for services in lower-income brackets," explained Steven. The BBI will issue updated statistics and trends on a monthly basis, with the next issue of to be published on March 16,2004.

About BuyTelco:
BuyTelco operates BuyTelco.net, an open marketplace where customers compare and order broadband solutions for their home or small business. It is a Web- and phone-based resource for real time broadband service availability checks, pricing and promotions from multiple providers.

Editor’s Note: Please source all data to BuyTelco Broadband Index (BBI)