Home Front: No Dash to High-Speed Net Access After Sept. 11

Editor's note: This is the fifth installment in TheStreet.com's Home Front series, a collection of twice-weekly features examining how American business, society and investing have changed in the post-Sept. 11 landscape.

As a result of Sept. 11, Americans may like commuting less. But they may not like telecommuting more.

At least not enough to turn around the fortunes of companies like Excite@Home (ATHMQ Quote) and Qwest Communications (Q Quote).

Anecdotes and speculation might lead one to believe that an increased desire for telecommuting -- working from home to avoid making a trip to the office -- might accelerate growth of high-speed Internet connections like cable modem subscriptions and telephone-based digital subscriber line (DSL) service.

Such demand, strangely enough, would come as certain broadband Internet suppliers, such as Qwest and SBC Communications (SBC Quote), appear to be losing enthusiasm for the high-speed connection business especially suitable for the small-office/home-office market.

But people familiar with the broadband Internet market say that while post-terrorist-attack anxiety may have some effect on demand for high-speed Internet connections, more powerful factors such as pricing and economic conditions overshadow the home office cocooning as a factor in increasing or decreasing broadband's growth.

Quantifying the effect of a traumatic day on information-technology spending is obviously a difficult task. But market research firm Gartner Dataquest has tried. Out of 164 companies polled by Dataquest at the end of September, about 25% said they would significantly expand or encourage telecommuting.

That response might not be as large as it seems. When asked about telecommuting in normal times, companies generally say they'll keep it at the same level or increase it, says Margaret Schoener, senior analyst at Dataquest. "Quite frankly, I thought this would be a larger 'yes' than we got," she says. ...