In search of [network] excellence: a 12-country survey finds Asia cellular users are more demanding than ever of their mobile operator, with more than 25% thinking about changing networks for more competitive prices and better coverage

Telecom Asia, June, 2004 by Joseph Waring

As expected, the usage patterns varied greatly by market, age as well as payment method. One of the most striking findings was that post-paid respondents used many valued-added applications more than twice as much as pre-paid users (see table above).

While SMS and downloads of ringtones and games were similar among the two groups, post-paid mobile owners were more than two times as likely to send/receive emails with attachments, subscribe to a news service or shop online. The biggest gap between the two groups was with Internet usage--26% of post-paid users said they browsed while just 8% of pre-paid customers did. The only application used more by the pre-paid respondents was instant text messaging or chat mail (10% vs 5%).

A closer look

The survey supported the predictable patterns of usage by age group. SMS usage across all age groups was fairly consistent (70-88%) as was subscribing to news services (14-17%) and online shopping (4-5%), with the young group edging out the other groups in all categories. But those were the few areas of similarity. Twice as many users under 25 years old downloaded ringtones and music, sent photos and browsed the Internet as those 40 and over. Just 8% of the 40 group downloaded games compared to 33% of those under 25.

The one area where both the 25-39 and 40 age groups topped the under 25-year-olds was in online banking/stock trading, but by just one percentage point. There was little difference in the applications used by men and women, with the reported use of downloads of ringtones, games and music virtually identical.

Some of the aggregate figures across all 12 markets need to be taken with a grain of salt since there were huge disparities between certain countries, particularly in the value-added and Internet applications. Usage of Internet services in Japan was off the chart in a number of categories in Japan, thus raising the overall average and skewing the results. Most notable was Japanese users' 43% use of Internet browsing--more than double the next closest (Korea with 16%) and four times all the rest.

The situation was the reverse with 44% of Koreans surveyed searching online yellow pages and directories--twice the number in Japan and four times the other 12 markets. Other applications that Japanese respondents used more than two times the average were sending/receiving emails with attachments 16%), online banking (16%) and Internet shopping (10%). The only area where Japan and Korea trailed the pack was instant text messaging--1% and 3% respectively, compared to the 7% average.

"Our findings indicate that mobile data applications are gradually becoming more significant for Asian mobile users," Chan said. "The 2.5G, 2.75G and 3G networks and multimedia enabled-mobile handsets are the key drivers for this. To realize the opportunities, it is crucial for operators to market the benefits instead of the technology to the mobile users."

Based on consumer interest, the mobile applications with the potential to grow the fastest are location-based services, video calling, directory services, MMS (photos, audio, video), downloading music and watching real-time TV. Harun notes that, "These are the applications that mobile consumers aspire to use, and it is up to mobile networks to harness this interest with suitable products and pricing."