LTE can make or break mobile subscriber loyalty, finds consumer and CSP survey
Tecnotree Corporation
Press Release
27 February, 2013 at 8.30 am CET
Barcelona, Spain – Telecom IT solution provider Tecnotree today shares findings of the joint operator and consumer research report; ‘Unravelling what makes a mobile customer loyal’ revealing that there is a disconnect between subscriber and operator perception of what keeps today’s mobile subscriber loyal.
For both loyalty and churn, consumers will focus on one aspect of their mobile service – better tariffs (24%), device upgrades (21%) or bundled services (15%) – as the key driver. However, the mobile operator belief is that a collection of issues (55%) will impact loyalty and churn. Above all though, the report highlights that LTE is actually the glue that cements a customer’s loyalty with a mobile operator.
Over 60% of mobile consumer respondents claim that they will increase their spend on non-communication services when they own an LTE device, and almost 48% of mobile operators believe that LTE will increase consumer data spend. In the same breath however, 59% claim they would churn if a rival mobile operator was offering 4G and their existing mobile operator was not.
Nick Lane, Chief Analyst at MobileSQUARED says, “It’s clear that LTE holds the power to drive success and generate an uplift in ARPU for the mobile operator. So if a mobile operator is not first to market with 4G, it will need to be talking about LTE to its customers now, and its rollout plans for LTE. If not we run the risk that nearly 60% of loyal subscribers will switch elsewhere.”
The research also revealed that 94% of respondents believe they are loyal to their operator, with those in Nigeria (97%), South Africa (96.7%) and the UK (96.3%), claiming to be the most loyal. However, over one-fifth have changed mobile operator in the last six months, and a similar number intend to churn in the coming months. This implies that at any-one-time, there is a settled subscriber base of 50% per subscriber.
By cross-referencing the results with content spend, it shows that the longer a customer stays with a mobile operator, not only does their loyalty increase, but their propensity to spend on non-communication services increases – by over 20% for almost one-fifth of subscribers.
Ilkka Aura, Chief Operating Officer at Tecnotree comments, “What is clear from this report is that operators need to ensure they are continually being innovative and competitive - whether with tariffs, services and even the handsets they offer to loyal subscribers. This is where really knowing the individual subscribers counts to offer those relevant and real-time deals, to combat churn”.
The results of ‘Unravelling what makes a mobile customer loyal’ were announced today at Mobile World Congress, and can be viewed in full at www.tecnotree.com/whitepapers. You can also visit Tecnotree at the show in Hall 7, Stand G50 where you can receive a copy of the research results.
Further Information
Helen Gough / Anne-Marie Lavelle at Liberty Communications: tel. +44 (0) 207 751 4444, tecnotree@libertycomms.com
Distribution
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd
Main Media
www.tecnotree.com
Notes to Editors
During 1Q13, MobileSQUARED surveyed 42 leading operators worldwide regarding their attitude towards customer loyalty in order to gauge how the industry can compete in a digital world. The full results can be viewed in ‘Unravelling what makes a mobile customer loyal’ at www.tecnotree.com/whitepapers.
During 1Q13, OnDevice Research surveyed 2,700 mobile subscribers in Europe, Africa and Latin America to understand consumer sentiment on current mobile trends, including operator loyalty. The full results can be viewed in ‘Unravelling what makes a mobile customer loyal’ at www.tecnotree.com/whitepapers.
About Tecnotree
Tecnotree is a global provider of telecom IT solutions for the management of products, customers and revenue. Tecnotree helps communications service providers to transform their business towards a marketplace of digital services. Tecnotree empowers service providers to monetise on service bundles, provide personalised user experiences and augment value throughout the customer lifecycle. With over 1100 telecom experts, Tecnotree serves more than 100 service providers in over 70 countries. Tecnotree is listed on the main list of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki with the trading code TEM1V.
For more information on Tecnotree, please visit http://www.tecnotree.com