55pc select data over voice in times of crisis

BANGALORE, INDIA: Global research released highlights new revenue opportunities for service providers in delivering improved Quality of Experience (QoE) for customers.

The report also shows that QoE, particularly for data, is fast becoming a primary loyalty driver for customers, and that providing personalized services is now a significant revenue opportunity for service providers.

Commissioned by Amdocs, the HOT TELECOM research paper is based on a global survey of more than 4000 consumers and highlights: “Four keys to shaping mobile quality of experience”.

APAC is the second most advanced region, after North America, when it comes to 4G, making up 35 percent of the APAC mobile users surveyed.

Key findings:

Data overtakes voice in times of crisis - the survey asked a simple question – in times of crisis, would you rather have voice or data coverage? A solid 55 percent chose to keep their data service and drop voice (APAC: 59 percent). This result is even more prominent with LTE/ 4G users, with 64 percent choosing data over voice.

Quality of experience is essential to drive loyalty: data coverage (55 percent) and data speed (56 percent: APAC 64 percent) were named as the primary loyalty drivers by mobile users.

Consumers are interested in personalized services – 81 percent (APAC 83 percent) woud like tailored offers that reflect useage patterns; 85 percent would like rewards based on usage history; 85 percent (APAC 88 percent) would like the ability to self-manage their plans; and 88 percent (APAC 91 percent) would like to be notified in real time if the service provider is working on a issue related to their use.

45pc (APAC: 56 percent) of mobile users would be willing to pay more to have access to better data coverage and 42pc (APAC 56 percent) to enjoy faster downloads.

In addition, 31pc (APAC 38 percent) of respondents said they would pay for data speed boosters; and 23 percent (APAC: 22 percent) would pay more to receive tailored service and plan offerings.

79pc (APAC: 84 percent) of mobile users actively look for a Wi-Fi network whenever possible. 48pc of those do so to get better quality.