Little or no loyalty from mobile broadband users: report

Peter Dinham
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 14:51

IT Industry - Market

The customer churn factor seems alive and well in the global broadband services market and there's clearly very little, if any, loyalty by mobile users to their broadband provider, according to a market study just released to coincide with the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The annual acquisition and retention study, commissioned by Nokia Siemens Networks, which looked at the habits and priorities of 16,000-plus  mobile users in 17 countries, found that those using mobile broadband services frequently are the most likely to switch their operator.

According to Amiram Mel, head of customer experience management at Nokia Siemens Networks, out of more than 16,000 mobile users interviewed, over 40 percent were identified as heavy users of advanced services, and of these more than half had swapped operators in the previous years, with approximately 40 percent ready to switch provider in the next 12 months.

The study found that the impact of mobile broadband quality on customer retention significantly increased in 2011, and revealed that network coverage and voice quality were rated as the most important criteria in 2010 and continue to be among the top criteria to retain customers in 2011.

'However customers who are classified as 'heavy users of advanced services' now rank mobile broadband quality alongside voice quality and network coverage in determining to leave or stay with their mobile operator,' Mel said.

Mel says that people who chose their mobile operator for the first time, and subscribers who swapped operators during the last six months, also ranked voice quality, network coverage and mobile broadband quality as the three top criteria in determining their operator.

The study reveals that customers rated high speed mobile broadband as the most important service over the next few years, while unfavourable contract conditions, the high cost of devices and voice services, unfavourable tariff schemes, operators' device portfolios and poor mobile broadband quality attracted the highest dissatisfaction ratings globally.

Amiram Mel says that given the rise in smartphone subscriber numbers, heavy users of advanced services will become the most prevalent subscribers in the future. 'The number of users in this segment increased dramatically by 34% in mature markets in 2011, and more than half of them are below 35 years.' According to Mel, about 60% of these users expect 'excellent network quality even if it costs a little more', and about 45% are ready to pay extra for special mobile services such as security packages or GPS-based services.

'Our study highlights the need to focus on high value customers and improve the quality of mobile broadband to acquire, satisfy and retain mobile customers,' Mel suggests. 'It is vital for operators to provide a personalized experience by using the information they have about how customers use their mobile services, to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customer insights enable operators to prioritize individually selected services and allocate their precious network resources to match the service expectations of different customer segments.'