Dial up service is available in a wide variety of prices (from a low of $5.50 per month to a premium company offering of $22.00 per month). Companies that offer DSL generally offer this service at $35 to $40 per month. .
Broadband connections are generally a little different market structure from phone line services. The costs of such connections are much higher (around $50 to $70 per month) and require the purchase of additional equipment for the buyer such as a cable modem. There are fewer sellers in this market and greater limitations due to the fact that the seller must have access to cable transmission. These entrants become bound to the obstacles of cable television market structure. The top cable operators now account for over 11.25 million broadband Internet subscribers, giving them 65 percent of the high speed Internet market (http//www.nua.ie/surveys/?f=vs&art_id=905358754&rel=true). While this market will assuredly change as the demand for the technology increases, it has a more oligolopolized version of the market structure. For this reason, we will limit our investigation of this variation. Observing this market in the near future should be of some interest because the overall trend in internet service is toward high speed.
Addressing the amount and cost of information about the product price and quality, information is readily available. Information about these products is easily accessed on the internet free of cost. Many companies that provide internet service will provide free or low cost trials as well to determine the quality of the product. .
The final determinant is the conditions for entrance and exit into this market. .
Entrance and exit to this market are marked by relatively low barriers. Internet service providers buy access to phone lines but are not charged interstate access fees by the FCC. The FCC also decided early on that ISP's would not be subject to regulation of what they charge, unlike a phone company (http://www.