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Telcos could lose up to half their customers in 2015: Ovum

Telcos could lose up to half their customers in 2015: Ovum

Quality of mobile broadband the main reason, with iPhone users much more likely to churn, according to Ovum’s latest global survey.

Telecoms operators can be sure to keep only about half of their existing customer base over the next 12 months, reports Ovum in its
2014 Telecoms Customer Insights.

About a quarter of all users globally say they will definitely change providers, with another quarter indicating they may do so, says the analyst firm.

The survey finds iPhone users are much more likely to churn than those with another phone, and mostly in order to find a provider with faster mobile network speed – again underlining how crucial the quality of broadband experience is to consumers, says Ovum.

“Operators must deepen their understanding of consumers’ propensity to switch providers, not just in their own market, but more broadly given that global trends permeate national borders,” says Angel Dobardziev, practice leader at Ovum.

“This must be combined with an evaluation of drivers for customer churn across different segments, markets and providers, with a view to gaining insight on the best, and worst, practices – despite differences in local market contexts and levels of competition,”

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Operators must deepen their understanding of consumers’ propensity to switch providers, not just in their own market, but more broadly given that global trends permeate national borders,

Angel Dobardziev, Ovum

Ovum says the survey included over 15,000 consumers and 2,700 enterprises in 15 major global markets. Dobardziev says the report as “one of the largest and most unique global data sets that illuminate the significant differences in users’ churn patterns in incredible detail".

The survey shows that the quality of the mobile broadband experience is the leading driver for mobile operator churn, with 37 per cent of consumers across the globe saying they either have left or plan to move to another provider because of slow connection speeds. For operators, these findings highlight the importance of investing in broadband.

For example, the survey finds that almost twice as many customers of Airtel India or LG U+ in Korea plan to churn more than the global average of 23 per cent. In contrast customers of Vodafone Germany or NTT DoCoMo in Japan are much more loyal, with only about 1 in 10 indicating they plan to switch operators.

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