Market_Structure_Of_Internet_Providers

Market Structure Of Internet Providers The market of Internet Service Providers has changed since the inception of the Internet. The market structure began as monopolistic due to high costs of entry but now that the backbone network has been established, startup costs have diminished. Determining the current market structure requires that we investigate four aspects of the Internet Service Provider marketplace. The four aspects are as follows (Brinkley, 129): 1. The number of buyers, sellers and entrants 2. The degree of product differentiation 3. The amount and cost of information about the product price and quality 4. The conditions for entrance and exit. Examining the first condition, buyer, sellers and entrants, we can conclude that Internet Service Providers have huge numbers of buyers. According to the US Commerce Department’s Census Bureau, in 2000 (among households with two to four persons) approximately 47 percent had internet access (Pastore, 1). The number of households in the years since has most certainly increased. In seller’s portion of this market, for our region of KY, there are approximately 500 internet service providers (http://www.thelist.com/areacode/859/). There are most likely many entrants at any given time as well. The degree of product differentiation of internet service providers is great. Differentiation in market, service, internet, structure, about, speed, providers, product, low, information, industry, high, costs, cost, competition, companies, because, phone, per, month, entry, entrants, barriers, sellers, quality, monopolistic, four, exit, differentiation, cable, broadband, access, while, technology, price