How do Attributes of Broadband Plans Affect Price?

摘要

Broadband has become ubiquitous across OECD countries, yetrnbecause it is typically sold as part of a bundle of services, each with its ownrnset of options, little research has explored how it is priced. In this paper wernassemble a new dataset of more than 25,000 residential and business broadbandrnplans from all OECD countries from 2007 to 2009 to explore how datarnmetering, service contracts, and bundling voice, video, and data affect thernprices consumers pay. We find that faster speeds are correlated with higherrnprices, although prices increase at a decreasing rate as speeds increase. Additionally,rnbundles including voice and video are more expensive than standalonernservice, and plans with more channels included in video bundles arernmore expensive than plans with fewer channels. Finally, the analysis showsrntradeoffs consumers and suppliers make: plans with data caps are less expensivernthan those without caps and plans with contracts are less expensive thanrnmonth-to-month plans.