Consumers’ 5G Wish List Outlines Action Plan for Operators
Consumers outline six calls to action for telecom operators regarding mobile broadband offerings now and in a 5G future
Consumers predict majority of 5G-enriched services will go mainstream within three to four years of 5G launch
44 percent of smartphone users worldwide are willing to pay for
5G-enabled services, but consumers envision an end to paying for each
gigabyte consumed in a 5G future
What will it take for operators to gain consumers’ trust as they gear up for a 5G future?
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) presented Towards a 5G consumer future
– its Consumer and Industry Insight report that discusses the six calls
to action from consumers that operators need to act upon to provide a
foundation for adoption of 5G technology.
The report, the biggest 5G consumer expectation study to date, represents the views of 800 million smartphone users worldwide.
Jasmeet Sethi, Senior Advisor, Ericsson Consumer & Industry
Lab, says: “Our latest study does not look at a consumer view on 5G in
isolation, but rather uncovers unmet consumer needs that must be
fulfilled by operators on the way to 5G. From offering an effortless
buying experience to focusing on real network performance, consumers are
demanding changes they would like to see already made.”
Here are the six consumer calls to action:
Provide us with effortless buying experience
Consumers perceive the telecom market to be too complex. With
six in 10 smartphone users grappling with the complexity of mobile data
plans, there is considerable misalignment between what users buy and
what they use. With only three in 10 smartphone users satisfied with the
way their operator presents plans online, the digital telecom
experience is neither simple nor effortless.
Offer us a sense of the unlimited
Consumers aren’t counting on unlimited data plans, but they are
looking for a sense of the unlimited. Peace of mind rather than actual
use is the main motivator behind buying unlimited data plans and
operators are urged to explore alternative ways to offer this feeling of
freedom.
Treat gigabytes as currency
The average smartphone user has 31 gigabytes of unused mobile
data left over per year, enough to make 65 hours of video calls, spend
517 hours streaming music, or binge-watch six seasons of a TV show like
Game of Thrones, equating to as much as 1.5 terabytes over their
lifetime. Two in five consumers would like to use this excess as
currency and expect to be able to save, trade or gift unused data.
Offer us more than just data buckets
Faster broadband speeds and fair wireless contracts are
considered more important than the data buckets that currently dominate
the market. As bundled video content and innovative data plans play an
increasingly important role in the choice of operator and service
bundle, consumers want operators to innovate, evolve and personalize
data plans.
Give us more with 5G
Contrary to the belief that consumers are uninterested in 5G,
globally the idea of 5G services appeals to 76 percent of smartphone
users; 44 percent are in fact willing to pay for 5G. Consumers expect
most 5G services to go mainstream within 3 to 4 years of the launch and
over 50 percent expect to be using 5G-enriched services within two years
of the launch.
Over a third expect 5G to offer capabilities beyond speed,
network coverage and lower prices: improvements such as better battery
life and the ability to connect not only devices but also the Internet
of Things. Consumers also predict an end to paying for gigabytes
consumed and instead expect to pay a single fee for each 5G service or
connected device.
Keep networks real for us
Moving towards a 5G future, consumers are calling on operators
to avoid baseless marketing slogans and instead focus on real network
experience, increasing the honesty of their marketing. The report shows
that only four percent trust operators’ own advertising and network
performance statistics.
The insights in the report are based on Ericsson ConsumerLab’s global research activities
of more than 20 years, and draw on data from a survey of 14,000 iPhone
and Android smartphone users aged between 15 and 65. The views expressed
in the survey are representative of 800 million consumers across
Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia,
Ireland, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the UK and the US.
