Qwest shapes broadband offers to suit economic climate

Qwest Communications’ announcement yesterday that it is bringing back lower promotional pricing for its broadband services is an acknowledgement of two realities: First, that the broadband connection becomes more important to consumers during tough times, and second, that a telco losing a broadband customer may lose that customer for good.

Qwest Vice President of Consumer Marketing Kim Whitehead agreed readily with the first reality, but stopped short of endorsing the second in an interview yesterday. The Qwest pricing plan delivers ADSL at download speeds of up to 1.5 megabits per second for $14.99 to customers who also take phone service or at downloads speeds of up to 7 Mb/s for $24.99. Those prices represent a $15 and $12 savings, respectively, and are good for one year, Whitehead said.

“This is an offer that we had in the fall that we had very good response on,” Whitehead said. “The other things playing in are the headlines of the day. We see the continuing impact on people’s lives because of economic concerns and how that plays into broadband usage. When you really think about it, your broadband connection becomes such a hub. There are more people starting home offices, looking for their next career and doing research. People are doing more at-home shopping because they don’t want to use gas. Home also becomes the entertainment hub – kids are doing a lot more with staying connected via Facebook and other sites, and they are moving video usage from the TV to DVRs to online video consumption. All of those things require broadband.”

Like other telcos, Qwest offers “naked” DSL at prices about $10 higher than that of bundled broadband and is now offering a broadband-wireless bundle with a $5 discount that doesn’t require consumers to pay for a wireline phone. Qwest resells Verizon Wireless services as part of its bundle.

Whitehead said Qwest has trained its customer service representatives to try to work with customers who call to cancel service to find pricing or packaging that will retain customers.

“Customer retention is huge with any industry, particularly in economic downturns,” Whitehead said. “When we have a promotion like this, we also have an offer for existing customers if they do call. We can give them an upgrade in terms of speeds or add broadband to their service. The offers are different, but we are being very conscious of treating our existing customers well.”