What follows is a hypothetical letter, but it illustrates a real quandary--not for me or other customers, but for the content'n'convergence megacorporations counting on big monthly fees to pay back their investments. Whether the specifics that follow refer to me or to a hypothetical composite in my high-tech middle-class Silicon Valley neighborhood doesn't matter; the point remains. dear ATT Broadband, I'm a little confused. I hope I have the name right this month. "Dear striped blue deathstar" seems too informal (and may infringe on a high school classmate's intellectual property--sorry, George). "ATT" I understand; "Broadband" I'm not sosure about. But never mind. I'm one of your customers and, I suspect, a hot prospect to get where you and other convergence operators need to be--and I just don't see it. THE GOAL? I'm no businessman, but I read the business section. Don't we all? As I understand it, you and your primary competitors are investing tens of billions in infrastructure and content with the expectation that you'll get it back (and more) in monthly fees. I've seen a target number floating around dollar 150 to dollar 170 per month for a middle-class household, for a full range of "broadband" services and content. "Maybe your goals are more modest. Would dollar 120 per month be enough? I know you're not the only ones in the game; the frequency with which they tear up El Camino Real to lay new fiber demonstrates that. THE QUANDARY Here's my question: How do we get there from here? To put it another way, what combination of services and content will convince a moderately skeptical, college-educated, literate householder to pay you dollar 150 to dollar 170 per month? I should be an easy sell. Consider where you touch me already: * You know I use your cable TV. There's no decent rooftop reception around here and your competition is typically nonexistent. That's dollar 32 a month.
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