A stark warning for advocates of mobile TV and video - ex-users outnumber current users by 19 per cent according to new research.
A study of 22,000 mobile users in Europe carried out by M:Metrics and Tellabs shows that early adopters of mobile TV are tuning out due to pricing, quality and reliability issues.
Forty-five percent of mobile video and TV users in the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Italy cited pricing as a factor causing them to switch off, while 24 per cent stopped using the services due to concerns about quality and reliability.
A split between perception and reality was most pronounced in the UK. Only six per cent of those who had never used mobile video and TV cited quality and reliability as reasons not to try such services, but 29 per cent of users had stopped using services for the same reasons.
M:Metrics and Tellabs both cite strain on backhaul networks caused by high-bandwidth services like mobile TV as partially responsible for the downbeat survey results.
Paul Goode, senior analyst at M:Metrics, said: "Pricing has already been highlighted as a stumbling block for recurrent use of mobile video and TV services, but we were surprised by just how much value users place on quality and reliability. Once the basic requirements of quality and reliability are good enough, the focus will rightly shift to issues of programming, brands and marketing in addition to price."
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Pat Dolan, Tellabs VP for EMEA,said: "At 3GSM we will be treated to a feast of new mobile TV launches with millions of dollars being spent on development, marketing and distribution. But if services fall short of user expectations on quality and reliability, it could be money wasted. While we share our industry’s enthusiasm for mobile TV, the detailed results of this survey provide important food for thought for the global operator community, who want to address network backhaul issues to improve these services."
