Call-drop off is a daily occurrence for one in three mobile users, causing customer churn and costing the industry billions, Horsebridge Network Systems survey reveals London , UK – 28 November, 2005
A consumer survey today shows that a widely-known issue plaguing the mobile networking industry, customer churn, is being impacted by rising and problematic call drop-off rates. More than one-third (36 per cent) of UK mobile users, who responded to a survey commissioned by Horsebridge Network Systems, experience call drop-off at least once daily and an alarming one in five more than three times per day.
The study also showed that mobile phone users that frequently lose calls are more likely to contribute to the widespread problem of customer churn in the telecoms market. One third of all mobile consumers in the UK switched operators in 2004, according to telecom watchdog group Ofcom.
The typical frustrations that consumers have with their mobile service that may drive them to change networks were explored in the Horsebridge survey. Each major mobile operator claims that churn causes around 8 to 12 per cent of their customer base to constantly be in flux. Number portability is one recent advent in the telecoms sector which has made it easier for users to switch mobile operators when dissatisfied.
According to the study, every respondent (100 per cent) indicated that poor quality of service (call drop-offs) was amongst the top three considerations that cause them to consider changing their mobile service. An alarming, 44 per cent of respondents indicated that poor quality of service is their top consideration in changing mobile operators. The only other consideration ranked higher was “if call charges were lower” which 45 per cent indicated was the biggest driver to make them change operators. No respondents indicated that better 3G services would drive them to change.
The cost of capturing every new mobile customer is around £400 per year in the UK * which is mainly spent on marketing schemes. At this rate, the total cost to the mobile industry of replacing every churning customer is £8.16 billion per year. Per Horsebridge's survey, 44 per cent of respondents indicated call drop-off was the most important consideration in changing operators, leaving the estimated cost to the industry of poor quality networks at £3.59 billion. [Figure as provided by a leading UK mobile operator]
In total, mobile operators spend millions of pounds annually on marketing and advertising to attract customers onto their networks, but the study also revealed that this is not significantly helping to address the issue of customer churn. Only 20 per cent of respondents said that their operator's marketing schemes make them less likely to change services while nearly 80 per cent felt they had little or no impact on their decision to change.
“This number is fairly astounding – everyone knows about mobile phone drop outs, but few realise the extent of the problem and the mounting cost to the industry. Call drop-off rates could be largely reduced if mobile operators reallocated some of their marketing budgets to fill quality cracks on their networks. The technology is available now and it's not rocket science,” said David O'Connor, managing director of Horsebridge Network Systems.
“A major cause of call-drop off is poor data synchronisation when users are moving in cars or walking down streets and the mobile phone signal improperly syncs with the mobile operator's base station. As mobile phone users become more saavy, call-drop off is starting to exasperate users and cause them to switch networks. When the major investment in attracting new customers is considered the financial loss of poor network synchronisation is in the billions,” concluded O'Connor.
Respondents to the survey were also questioned about what they find frustrating in mobile phone services. Call charges being too high (42 per cent); poor network coverage (32 per cent) and poor quality of service (31 per cent) were most frequently selected by respondents as the thing they found most frustrating about their mobile service. Contractual issues and the inability to access all desired applications were amongst the second most frustrating complaints from respondents on mobile phone service.
A management report with the full results of the survey, which polled 500 UK consumers during October-November 2005, downloaded from this site.
Management Report - Mobile Network Customer Churn
Horsebridge Network Systems launches Next Generation Sync™ to tackle high call drop-off rates and reduce risk of packet-data loss across operator networks London, UK – 28 November, 2005
Horsebridge Network Systems today announced the launch of its Next Generation Sync™ product portfolio, providing mobile operators and next generation network equipment manufacturers a carrier class solution for improving the quality of data transmission and resulting service across 3G networks.
Next Generation Sync has been designed to maximise traffic throughput on next generation networks and give mobile operators a reliable and robust network synchronisation solution that for the first time improves network performance and resiliency against interference on 3G networks. It also increases the accuracy of call handover across 2G and 3G networks to ensure the highest level of interoperability can be maintained to minimise the risk of data loss.
When meeting the demands of next-generation data-centric services, poor network synchronisation can lead to a high rate of call drop-off, the loss of data, reduced stability against interference and slow connection speeds caused by the poor transmission of data packets. Slow connections or interference can cause unacceptable interruptions to service when streaming video services or delivering multi-media applications.
The impact of degradation in quality of service has been identified by the mobile industry as a key contributing factor to customer churn. A consumer survey commissioned by Horsebridge Networks Systems to support the development of Next Generation Sync indicates that more than one third of mobile users in the UK on average experience call drop-off at least once per day and an alarming one in five more than three times per day.
All respondents indicated that poor quality of service (call drop-off) was amongst the top three considerations that cause them to consider changing their mobile service.
“Interworking between 2G and 3G is essential as networks evolve,” said Geoff Smith , senior partner and technical director at Horsebridge. “Operators have found that current synchronisation methods are insufficient for 2G, let alone 3G. This is hampering quality of service and if it's not addressed, this could result in operators failing to control customer churn. As consumers switch to using more data-centric services, the risk becomes higher. Poor transmission could result in consumers not receiving services they have paid for or operators being blamed for lost data such as emails. This is the first time operators have a cost-effective solution enabling multiple deployment of network synchronisation technology across the network to its edge – not just focusing on the core.”
Telecommunications networks are increasingly packet- and data-based as 3G proliferates, meaning that network synchronisation requirements have drastically changed. The Next Generation Sync product portfolio delivers synchronisation for 3G mobile networks, Wi-Max and HSDPA networks, Mobile Network Radio backhaul links and Triple Play applications. It is available as a stand alone solution for mobile operators or as an OEM card solution for next generation network equipment manufacturers.
Horsebridge Enters Reseller Agreement with Fibre Technologies Ltd for Pandatel Fibre Optic Modems and Multiplexers - 4th November 2005
Horsebridge Network Systems Ltd have entered into an agreement with Fibre Technologies Ltd, to act as a reseller for their carrier-class Pandatel Fibre Optic products for data transmission and telecommunication solutions.
Pandatel manufacture a wide spectrum of fibre multiplexers, converters and modems.
Pandatel`s products are always applicable when:
- New ranges of capacity are to be implemented, or the efficiency of the existing resources needs improving
- The costs of operating the current network require optimisation
- Expandability, flexibility, adaptability, high performance and reliability are greatly required.
Pandatel is one of the few worldwide suppliers that offers an enormous diversity of products and systems applied for data transmission via optical fiber and copper lines. Moreover, Pandatel products support the possibilities of combining both these technologies in single applications. Pandatel manufactures a broad range of fibre optic connectivity solutions including copper-to-fibre and fibre-to-fibre Media Converters, Network Interface Devices and intelligent Ethernet demarcation points.
Horsebridge selected Pandatel's comprehensive line of fibre optic connectivity products to meet the growing demand for secure, manageable and cost-effective fibre optic connectivity from their Network Operator, Service Provider and Enterprise Network clients.
For more details on the fibre optic modem products click here and fibre optic multiplexer products click here.
