Operators are missing crucial revenue opportunities, claimed Acision, as the research reveals that consumers are abandoning their usual mobile habits, despite their appetite to browse the internet, update their social networking status, as well as talking and texting when holidaying.
Over two thirds (62%) of consumers admit to not knowing how much it costs to use their phone abroad and only one in ten (10%) feel they are being charged a fair price. Acision’s Flexible Charger is designed to overcome this issue by allowing operators to provide real time billing transparency for their customers.
The research shows that if consumers were able to set a limit on their spending when using their mobile phone abroad, 42% confirmed they would use their mobile more. Similarly, if operators were to offer more specific bundles for subscribers when abroad, targeted at individual usage patterns, over two thirds (67%) of consumers would buy a bundle to phone or text those at home. Surprisingly, 30% would buy a bundle to talk and text with fellow travellers, while 11% would buy a data package to access the internet.
“The EU roaming legislation announced today is a step in the right direction, but for a growing percentage of consumers, this isn’t going far enough, as they want to access data services such as mobile internet and social networking applications just like they do at home, and this remains costly,” explained Mike Beech, vice president for product management at Acision. “Our research reveals that consumers would be put at ease and would actually use their mobile phone more when abroad if they were able to view their real-time spending. With the next round of legislation insisting just this, operators need to make sure they are prepared to meet the new requirements and provide consumers with the services they want.”
If roaming charges were not as costly, over half (54%) of consumers said they would like to talk and text more with people back at home and over a third (35%) would send their holiday snaps via their mobile to friends and family. There is also increasing consumer demand to access mobile applications and services when abroad, with 22% of consumers saying they would visit social networking sites, and 18% would watch TV and 11% would download TV programmes or movies.