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News

Mobile Data not Popular among Holidaymakers

(21 Sep 2009, BWCS Staff)

We should all feel doubly sorry for mobile operators this summer - not only have roaming rates for 2010 been slashed by an EU edict, but, apparently, we have not been using our mobile phones whilst on holiday this year. According to a survey released this week by YouGov, two thirds of British citizens travelling abroad this summer have not used the mobile data services available on their phones.

The survey, which was commissioned by Openet, found that mobile operators have yet to get their pricing right for customers travelling abroad.  While the new EU mobile roaming regulations will help bring down data roaming charges from next year, the survey indicates that there is room for mobile operators to drive roaming subscriber data usage higher.

Openet claims that some of the key findings of the survey, which was conducted amongst British users of internet-enabled mobile phones who went abroad this summer, include:

• 67% of respondents chose not to use data roaming at all when they were abroad, with only 8% using data services at least once a day.
• 64% of respondents said they would prefer to be informed of roaming charges by SMS when they first arrive in the country.
• For the most popular data services used abroad this year (e-mail, 19%; browsing the Internet, 14%; social networking applications, 9%), one-off SMS notifications do not provide adequate protection to bill-shock.

According to Mike Manzo, CMO of Openet, "Next year could be a very different situation. The EU Data Roaming regulations coming into effect on 1 March, 2010 will give subscribers much better bill shock protection. But that's only part of a solution to getting high-end phones out of the suitcases. These EU mandated controls mean operators have an opportunity to take both the moral high ground by making it easier for customers to avoid bill shocks. Operators should encourage users to use their smart-phones and dongles when abroad, by doing a better job of selling roaming data bundles, not just before they leave home, but also when they start using their service abroad. This will give subscribers certainty as to their costs and comfort in using their service." He claimed.

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