Inclusive MB pricing is the most commonly used tariff structure by the 79 mobile operators across 30 countries, whose prices are included in the survey. Over 95 per cent of the operators offer a 1GB and higher volume inclusive product. 16 per cent of the operators offer a time-based product such as minutes, hour(s) or day(s) in addition to Mbyte inclusive products.
The report found evidence of a general correlation between pricing and per MB inclusive packages across the tariffs and service providers covered in Europe. Although prices in certain volume categories show examples of dramatic divergences, average prices trended with a reasonable level of consistency.
5 GB, 3 GB and 500 MB are key pricing categories with the 5 GB product offered by 24 per cent of all surveyed operators. The report also reveals that the most offered three products (10 MB, 1 MB, and 50 MB) in 2004 are now half the price they were then.
Overall however, the report and tariff tables reveal a multiplicity of taxes, excess charging tiers, roaming definitions, and pricing & billing increments that are employed.
“If it is accepted that customer perception of data is changing, and pricing needs to be accessible, the complexity associated with Mobile Broadband pricing must also change. Operators are starting to introduce simpler pricing and bundling with Wi-Fi and other services. The current structures are not sustainable if congruence in pricing is to be achieved,” commented Margrit Sessions, BroadGroup Tariff Services.
The report provides several hundred tariff schedules for Mobile Broadband including (GPRS, UMTS, EDGE and HSDPA) across 79 operators in 30 European countries.