European Users Willing to Pay for 3G

Forty two per cent of European mobile phone users are interested in 3G services, according to the TNS Telecoms 3G 2003 report, carried out in 10 countries. But the good news for telecoms operators and manufacturers is that the majority of those users interested in 3G were prepared to pay extra for 3G handsets and services.

Half of these respondents who stated that they were interested in 3G services (21 per cent of all mobile users), said they would pay an additional 6 to 10 euros per month for some 3G services such as MMS, high speed Internet and emails. With the report showing that the average monthly invoice for a mobile phone user in Europe is currently at 26 euros (20 euros for prepaid and 37 euros for contract) operators have the potential to substantially increase their average revenue per user (ARPU).

Similarly, those interested in 3G services would also be happy to pay more for a 3G handset than they paid for their existing one. Across all countries surveyed, the majority of respondents would be willing to pay up to 330 Euros for a 3G handset. However this figure changes considerably by country, depending, among other reasons, on whether handsets are subsidised by the operators, as in France or the UK.

Alan Imbert, Senior Research Director, TNS Telecoms explains: 'The fact that operators in many countries have subsidised mobile phone handsets could prove a major stumbling block for the uptake of 3G in some European countries. If operators chose not to subsidise 3G handsets then users may be shocked to find that they will have to pay many times more for the new 3G models than they do for existing handsets. Our report suggests that attitudes to 3G may be changing in Europe, but that mobile providers, especially the smallest ones, will need to put much time and effort into communicating both the benefits of 3G services and their ability to provide consumers with reliable services.'

The study was carried out in 10 countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the UK), in September and October 2002. In each country, the national sample was representative of individuals over 15 who own a mobile phone. A total of 6959 interviews were carried out, either as an omnibus or ad hoc phone survey, across the 10 countries.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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