Should Data Connections Be Considered Essential Like a Utility?

Thursday, 02. 4. 2010  –  Category: T2 Communications

Every month, we get the usual round of bills at home.  For most, there is the electrical and the gas bill.  Most pay for trash and perhaps water.  Likely you either you have a mortgage payment to make or rent to deliver.  Combined with our food tab for the month, these are considered “essential” services for our existence.

And then there is data.

For the purposes of this article, data is any connection you pay for over which communication is delivered.  For some that still means copper phone lines.  It also means cable or satellite service, internet connections, wireless (cell phone) service and any other devices like VoIP that you pay for to create your experience.  They come from one provider or three, and like clockwork they are increasing in cost.  While you can sometimes talk down the price of your cable or wireless, it is likely only temporary.

Diversity of Devices Driving Demand (say that fast!)

Consumers used to have a single choice when it came to phone, television and later internet service.  Competition came, but often it came from similar types of technology.  More recently however, competition has come in the form of new devices that drive unique choices.  Wireless is the biggest new competition ground, particularly smartphones that have push the wireless data product forward.  Now, not only can consumers forgo land line connections altogether, they can consider doing away with computers as well.

Other products take advantage of similar opportunities.  Some devices like the Amazon Kindle have a free built-in wireless technology for connectivity.  Others, like Apple’s iPod Touch and newly announced iPad, take advantage of WiFi.  With so many public hot spots available, some consumers may be able to go without a data plan at all.

But is it Essential?

While an economy that appears to still be weighed down by a number of factors, and families tightening up their budgets, do data connections justify being in the same category as gas and electric?  It partially depends on how you view essential.  With more and more people working from home, or working around the clock, the answer just may be yes.

Despite not feeling as essential as heating your home or providing drinking water, American daily life is directly connected to data access.  And those that likely need to cut back their budget, such as unemployed individuals, may just be the ones who need it the most.  Online job postings and research, training, e-mail correspondence and social networking are all considered standard components of the employment searching process.  Without access, candidates lose sight of the market.

Cutting Back

Just because data connections are seemingly necessary, it doesn’t mean that one has to pay for them.  Those who need to cut back still have options.  The technology is out there so that you can surf the web on your phone while uploading pictures from your computer while you iPod Touch streams audio—all on separate data connections.  The convenience of all of this is amazing.  But do we need all of these options?

The amount of connections you pay for may be one of those areas where savings can happen.  Do you need cable TV when you watch most shows online?  Do you need to pay for a DSL line if you can surf on your phone?  Additionally, as was mentioned earlier, there are a number of ways to access a data connection for free.  While not as convenient as being in our home, their availability provides us with another way to communicate and access content without spending the extra money.

A Future of Singularity

As technology advances, the lines between data platforms will continue to fade.  Wireless companies may compete head to head more regularly with phone and cable companies for home internet.  Wireless devices might work on the same network as all of your other technology gear.  They will all unify on a single data platform.  Some predict this could be the entry for WiMax, or perhaps the long term vision for the wireless spectrum auction that occurred in 2008.  Whatever it is, there is a good bet that we will be uniquely tied to a single connection for all of our digital needs.  And at that time, we just may have to start considering our connection as essential as our utilities.

David Fleming is the Director of Corporate Communications for T2 Communications, a CornerWorld company.

Tags: data connection, David Fleming, internet, television, utility, VoIP, wi-fi, wireless