A new study out today suggests that mobile phone network providers are missing out on billions of dollars in new revenue. The survey of UK and US respondents reveals that if service providers were to charge extra for a consistently great mobile broadband experience their subscribers are willing to pay an incremental amount for this.
As little as $7 to $8 per mobile broadband subscriber would constitute nearly $20 Billion in annual revenue. More than 36% of smart-phone users in the US and more than 22% in GB claim that they are willing to pay an additional $10 (£7) or more per month.
eBay have long been calling for better mobile coverage and it would appear that people are more than willing to pay for it. Ronny Haraldsvik, CMO/SVP Marketing of BelAir Networks (who carried out the survey) said “Subscribers really don’t care whether they are on 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi they just want a good, no-worries, mobile broadband experience. With users being willing to pay extra, the key takeaway here is a ‘build it and they will come’ scenario”.
Would you pay a little extra each month if you knew that your mobile smart-phone would always have the bandwidth you need? How important is Internet on your mobile to you today?
5 Responses
daft question its a little like asking if you would pay extra for air if you needed it
forget mobile, we need optical broadband as standard.
Not so much but I will be switching to pay less very soon.
I wouldn’t. You are basically saying that I can pay one rate and get poor service and pay another to actually get what I’m paying for in the first place. eBay used to be like this but they pretty much got rid of those sellers because they caused a negative experience. How would this be any different? You are also ignoring the actual cost of providing this improved service.
No I wouldnt, surely its their job and in their interest to give the best service possible.
If a provider comes forward and offers service 30% better than the others I would use them.
The vast majority choose a network based on the phone packages they offer or freebies they get with the purchase, not because of the network service. However in rural areas its the opposite – its known that some networks do not perform well in that area so people have to compromise just so they can send a text message without hassle.
This is what the battle should come back to. We are paying enough and these companies are earning enough, we should not pay for an upgrade – the increase in stability and speed should just be a natural progression for the technology, which they should be striving towards for their customers.