3g-g
14th February 2006, 12:27 AM
Obviously the people at YouGov didn't ask any of the users on here for their opinion about 3G, however I do accept that "most people" don't have a clue what their mobiles are capable of, which I think is a pretty poor reflection on the operators who are champing at the bit for your cash! Maybe a little more education from handset manufacturers and the network operators would yield higher ARPU and make them and the public in general look less stupid in these extensive *cough* surveys.
New research is suggesting that UK consumers are finding mobile services increasingly confusing and that issues around ease-of-use are still holding them back from buying and using 3G handsets and services. According to the poll commissioned by Netonomy, a staggering 79% of respondents believe mobile phone services are getting more complicated to understand and configure, compared with 71% of respondents in a similar survey carried out in January 2005.
Furthermore, 73% of the early-adopters that already own 3G phones rarely use the 3G services and applications available to them. Indeed 28% never use them at all.
While technology is intended to make our lives easier, it would seem that consumers are struggling to cope with the emergence of next-generation mobile services. Of those that did not already own a 3G phone, less than half (47%) were confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use and only 8% of respondents are considering upgrading to a 3G phone.
Fortunately, the news is not all bad for operators. The number of users confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use has grown slightly from 45% in the previous survey to 47% today. In addition, the percentage of respondents planning to upgrade to a 3G handset has doubled from 4% to 8%, but unfortunately it still remains in the single digits.
"This research is likely to be a bit disappointing for the mobile industry," comments John Hughes, cofounder and executive vice president of Netonomy. "While there has been an increase since we asked the same question a year ago, real consumer demand for 3G is still low.
Operators have spent billions of dollars on 3G licenses, and billions more on developing the technology, but it still looks like customers are fairly indifferent."
Self-Service on the Rise
As you would expect from a survey arranged by a customer care solutions vendor - the report says that 59% of 18 to 29 year olds think that quality online customer self-service facilities (such as the ability to set up new services, resolve problems or analyze bills yourself) will make 3G services easier to understand.
In fact, the report concludes that self-service is set to become the primary channel for mobile customer service with around 60% of survey respondents indicating self-service as the preferred way to manage their account - compared to 13% opting for the call center and 9% for going to a high-street store - and 90% of self-service users finding it "quite useful" or "very useful" for managing their accounts.
The research was carried out by YouGov and based on responses from almost 2,000 consumers.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16077.php
New research is suggesting that UK consumers are finding mobile services increasingly confusing and that issues around ease-of-use are still holding them back from buying and using 3G handsets and services. According to the poll commissioned by Netonomy, a staggering 79% of respondents believe mobile phone services are getting more complicated to understand and configure, compared with 71% of respondents in a similar survey carried out in January 2005.
Furthermore, 73% of the early-adopters that already own 3G phones rarely use the 3G services and applications available to them. Indeed 28% never use them at all.
While technology is intended to make our lives easier, it would seem that consumers are struggling to cope with the emergence of next-generation mobile services. Of those that did not already own a 3G phone, less than half (47%) were confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use and only 8% of respondents are considering upgrading to a 3G phone.
Fortunately, the news is not all bad for operators. The number of users confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use has grown slightly from 45% in the previous survey to 47% today. In addition, the percentage of respondents planning to upgrade to a 3G handset has doubled from 4% to 8%, but unfortunately it still remains in the single digits.
"This research is likely to be a bit disappointing for the mobile industry," comments John Hughes, cofounder and executive vice president of Netonomy. "While there has been an increase since we asked the same question a year ago, real consumer demand for 3G is still low.
Operators have spent billions of dollars on 3G licenses, and billions more on developing the technology, but it still looks like customers are fairly indifferent."
Self-Service on the Rise
As you would expect from a survey arranged by a customer care solutions vendor - the report says that 59% of 18 to 29 year olds think that quality online customer self-service facilities (such as the ability to set up new services, resolve problems or analyze bills yourself) will make 3G services easier to understand.
In fact, the report concludes that self-service is set to become the primary channel for mobile customer service with around 60% of survey respondents indicating self-service as the preferred way to manage their account - compared to 13% opting for the call center and 9% for going to a high-street store - and 90% of self-service users finding it "quite useful" or "very useful" for managing their accounts.
The research was carried out by YouGov and based on responses from almost 2,000 consumers.
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/16077.php