SMS still the number one data service

Technical problems bar consumers from using multimedia mobile services, says report

Consumers are struggling to keep pace with the rapid deployment of new handset features and data services, as well as complex pricing structures and poor usability. This was revealed in a study by SmartTrust's Mobile Trends Guide 2005-06, which said that consumers around the world are suffering from 'mobile service fatigue'.

This survey covered 6,800 mobile users across 15 countries and was conducted for SmartTrust by market research company TNS.

Growing instances of poor handset configuration have, according to mobile device management company SmartTrust, led to lower than expected usage rates for value-added services such as Multi Media Messaging (MMS) and mobile content downloads. Just 43 per cent of MMS-enabled handsets have ever been used to send an MMS.

"About 15 per cent of users have had problems when trying to use their operator's MMS service," explains the author of the Mobile Trends Guide, Tim De Luca-Smith, communications manager at SmartTrust. "In a large percentage of cases, the service just did not work because of poor handset configuration and network settings."

There is a real need to make such services more intuitive and remove consumer concerns over reliability and pricing. "We live in a plug and play society and today's mobile users expect services to work first time, every time. They don't want to be left wondering whether their message was actually delivered," the survey said.

Services such as MMS and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) have become hugely important to operators keen to raise average revenue per user (ARPU). The survey also says that data use is still limited outside of SMS and amongst prepaid users despite the heavy cost to operators in many countries of subsidising feature-rich handsets.

In many countries camera-phones are heavily subsidised by the mobile operators and they expect to get a return on this investment through MMS usage. Another important finding is that subscribers bypass the mobile network and use e-mail to share their photos, thereby defeating the notion that MMS is an immediate and viral means of sharing content.

"It's all about the user experience and the only way to overcome this consumer behaviour is to make services easier to use "" that's certainly a factor in the continued success of SMS," adds De Luca-Smith.

SMS remains the number one data service. Across all of Europe, and most of Asia, the number of subscribers using SMS at least once a week was over 80 per cent compared to the global average of 72 per cent.

Only in the US was use of the service low with just 15 per cent consumers with compatible handsets admitting to using the service. This has been attributed to the penetration of cheap Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connections. But there are reasons to be optimistic as well. 72 per cent of all consumers reporting problems when using MMS stated that they would use the service more if their technical problems were overcome.

Mobile music and games are also attracting significant attention over the past two years. Following the success of portable music devices and services on the fixed internet there was an overwhelming desire amongst consumers to use their handsets to download and listen to music tracks. India and China are the two places where games were considered a more attractive mobile service than music.

Across Europe, 40 per cent of mobile users expressed an interest in using mobile music services more. In Asia the figure was 38 per cent but dropped to 20 per cent in the USA.

Just 43 per cent of MMS enabled handsets have ever been used to send MMS

15 per cent of users have problem when trying to use their operator's MMS sevice

SMS remains the number one data service except for US

Subscribers bypass mobile network and use e-mail to share photos

Data use is still limited outside of SMS