A friend of mine directed me to this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/technology/6400639.stm.  It's an amazing read and presents some powerful (but simple) logic for how to satisfy customers when providing basic broadband services.

In sumary, the Broadband Customer Satisfaction Survey conecuted by Point Topic www.point-topic.com reveals that customer satisfaction rates are going down:

"a year ago, 92% of customers were very or fairly satisfied with their broadband provider. That figure has now fallen to 77%, and those very or fairly dissatisfied have nearly doubled to nine percent.

The survey also shows that a majority of the dissatisfaction is attributable to new entrants who fail to provide ample after sales support: 

"New entrants, such as TalkTalk and Sky, are the main focus of dissatisfaction. Nearly 17% of TalkTalk customers and 14% of Sky broadband users were very or fairly dissatisfied with the service on offer. The main complaint is about after-sales support. "

The first point is this -- if you're going to provide broadband services in a heavily commoditized market, then you better make sure to provide "white glove" after sales support.

The second point is this -- if you're going to evolve your broadband offering to a level where you're also providing hosted apps, then the need for "white glove" support is even higher.