Super-Speed Internet Packages Mostly About Marketing, Suggests Prof. Jeff McCall '76

September 6, 2015

A new Internet package, offering Indianapolis-area homeowners Internet speeds of "up to 2,000 megabits per second, 167 times faster than the average U.S. connection speed" is analyzed in an Indianapolis Business Journal story.  Jared Council writes, "Most residents won't even come close to needing that bandwidth, industry experts said, and even the households bustling with movie streaming and music downloading would easily be pleased with around 100 mbps."

Jeff McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University, tells IBJ, "A lot of this is just the marketing of the companies, I believe. These Internet suppliers can't ever have an image that they are behind the times technologically. They can't tell customers, 'Well, there's new higher-speed technology available, but we don't necessarily need to provide it.' " 

Council reports, "Internet usage -- which paves the way for pay-TV alternatives like Netflix -- continues to climb and represents the best prospect for telecom growth. But, as with cell-phone carriers, that growth will largely come from nabbing competitors' customers, DePauw's McCall said, so the perception of technological staleness can prove disastrous."

Access the complete article at the publication's website.

A 1976 graduate of DePauw and a former journalist, Jeffrey M. McCall authored Viewer Discretion Advised: Taking Control of Mass Media Influences and is regularly called upon by media outlets.  He authored a column on America's obsession with football that's appearing in newspaper's across the nation this weekend and was recently cited in a New Orleans Advocate story on the role of traditional media outlets in modern presidential campaigns. Dr. McCall also authored a USA Today column previewing the first Republican presidential debate. The professor is faculty sponsor of DePauw's student radio station, WGRE.

Source: Indianapolis Business Journal

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Source: Super-Speed Internet Packages Mostly About Marketing, Suggests Prof. Jeff McCall '76