Consumers’ ‘Right to Roam’: Are Operators Missing a Trick?

LONDON -

- Acision Flexible Charger Enables Operators to Comply With EU Roaming Legislation and Provides Consumers With the Billing Transparency They Need to use Their Phone Abroad With Confidence

- 75% of consumers believe they are ‘over-charged’ when using their phone abroad - 62% of consumers admit they are completely unaware of roaming charges - 42% of consumers would use their phone more if they were aware of their real time spending - 22% want to use their phone more for social networking

New research launched today by Acision, the world’s leading messaging company, shows that the EU roaming legislation coming in to force today will be widely embraced by consumers since currently only 12% use their mobile abroad as much as they do at home.

Operators are missing crucial revenue opportunities, 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, VP, Product Management, 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 weren’t so 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, 18% would watch TV and 11% would download TV programmes or movies.

“Acision Flexible Charger is a real-time payment solution for operators enabling them to meet the current and future EU roaming legislation with its credit limiting functionality. It also enables operators to combat ‘bill shock’ providing consumers with the billing transparency they desire to give them the confidence and flexibility to use their phone abroad. Acision Flexible Charger also allows operators the opportunity to increase ARPU as well as customer loyalty by enabling them to differentiate and personalise their offering,” said Mike Beech of Acision.

Acision Flexible Charger:

Acision Flexible Charger provides a cost-effective real-time payment solution for bundles and subscriptions. Acision Flexible Charger protects current billing infrastructure investments and significantly reduces the time-to-market for new bundled price plans. The solution works as a fully functional stand-alone system or can be deployed by inter-working with any existing prepaid system. Bundles have many benefits not least, the consumer perception that they are good value for money. From the operator’s perspective, bundles mean early revenue capture, increased service revenues and improved customer loyalty.

Research:

The European research was carried out by Toluna, the online market research panel provider between the 12/06/2009 and the 13/06/2009.

The results in this release are UK specific from a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK mobile phone users aged 16 and above.

Acision;

Acision is the world’s leading messaging company, providing communication solutions for over 300 network operators and service providers globally. www.acision.com/

Source: Acision

PR Contacts: Annette Leach, Hotwire, Tel: +44(0)-207-608-2500, Email: acision at hotwirepr.com. Lauren McGregor, Hotwire, Tel: +44(0)207-608-4677, Email : lauren.mcgregor at hotwirepr.com.