New Report: The Connected Consumer Survey 2013: Voice and Messaging

© Analysys Mason Limited 2013

The Connected Consumer Survey 2013: voice and messaging

Research Report

The Connected Consumer Survey 2013:

voice and messaging

June 2013

Stephen Sale



Contents

6. Executive summary

7. About this report

8. Executive summary: IP-based communication services, particularly

messaging, are gaining traction in the smartphone customer base

9. Executive summary: the success of unlimited SMS plans suggests that

operators urgently need to expand their adoption

10. Executive summary: voice remains the major marker of value for mobile

subscribers, but is losing out to data among younger users

11. Executive summary: fixed–mobile line substitution is stable – very few

fixed voice users intend to give up the service

12. Implications and recommendations

13. Implications and recommendations [1]

14. Implications and recommendations [2]

15. The impact of IP-based voice and messaging services

16. Traditional operator-provided services face competition from a wide

variety of communication services

17. IP-based communication services, particularly messaging, are making

strong inroads into the smartphone customer base

18. Skype is successfully migrating to the smartphone, but a new generation

of messaging apps is displacing the old IM services

19. Mobile VoIP has inherited fixed VoIP’s inclusive usage profile, but

mobile IP messaging usage is heavily concentrated among younger age

groups

20. Despite a modest overall penetration of IP messaging services, the

German and UK messaging markets are highly vulnerable to

substitution

21. Why almost 90% of smartphone owners do not actively use mobile VoIP

apps

22. iPhone users are more likely to use VoIP services but penetration of IP

messaging services is high across all major operating systems

23. Usage of traditional mobile services

24. The vast majority of mobile users continue to use traditional services in

volume, despite gains made by IP-based alternatives

25. Operators are using hybrid deals to attract profitable prepaid users, but

there is still more ‘low-hanging fruit’

26. Unlimited mobile voice bundles are relatively rare, but the success of

unlimited SMS suggests that operators need to expand their adoption

27. Operators still have work to do in right-sizing contract customers

28. Minimising mobile churn

29. Most customers claim to be generally satisfied with their mobile

services, particularly those with hybrid tariffs – flexibility is valued

30. Longer contracts may have had only a short-term effect on mobile

handset churn rates – lack of flexibility is contributing to dissatisfaction

31. Price followed by customer service are the major drivers for churn in

mobile services

32. Voice remains the major marker of value for mobile subscribers, but is

losing out to data among younger users

Slide no. Slide no.

2



Contents

33. Bundling with fixed services may help reduce mobile churn rates

34. Trends in fixed–mobile substitution

35. Reported penetration of fixed voice services is markedly down in some

countries suggesting that it is irrelevant to many people

36. Young people are more likely to use mobile voice services than older

people, and this disparity continues to increase year-on-year

37. Fixed–mobile line substitution is stable – fixed voice users are satisfied

and very few intend to give up the service

38. All-inclusive voice service bundles may help fixed operators to counter

the risk of mobile usage substitution

39. Panel information and methodology

40. Methodology

41. Panel information: UK

42. Panel information: France

43. Panel information: Germany

44. Panel information: Spain

45. Panel information: Poland

46. Panel information: USA

47. About the author and Analysys Mason

48. About the author

49. About Analysys Mason

50. Research from Analysys Mason

51. Consulting from Analysys Mason

Slide no. Slide no.

3



List of figures [1]

Figure 1: Countries covered individually in this report

Figure 2: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by country

Figure 3: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by age

Figure 4: Voice minute allocations within mobile contract bundles, by

country

Figure 5: Penetration of unlimited voice and messaging bundles, by country

Figure 6: Top-six criteria for choosing next mobile service

Figure 7: Selected criteria for consumers choosing their next mobile

service, by age

Figure 8: User satisfaction ratings for fixed voice services, by country

Figure 9: Reasons given by fixed voice users planning to give up the

service

Figure 10: Penetration of selected communication activities across all

devices

Figure 11: Penetration of selected communication activities across all

devices, by age

Figure 12: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by country

Figure 13: VoIP and IP messaging services, penetration of installed base

Figure 14: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by device

Figure 15: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by device and age

Figure 16: IP-based messaging penetration, by age and country

Figure 17: VoIP service users’ reasons for not using VoIP on a mobile

handset

Figure 18: VoIP and IP-based messaging penetration, by operating system

Figure 19: IP-based messaging services, penetration of installed base for

selected operating systems

Figure 20: Estimated monthly mobile voice usage, by country

Figure 21: Estimated monthly mobile SMS usage, by age

Figure 22: Estimated monthly mobile voice usage, prepaid users, by country

Figure 23: Penetration of monthly minimum spend plans, prepaid users, by

country

Figure 24: Voice minute allocations within mobile contract bundles, by

country

Figure 25: Penetration of unlimited voice and messaging bundles, by country

Figure 26: Reported utilisation of voice minutes in a mobile contract, by

country

Figure 27: User satisfaction ratings for mobile voice services, by country

Figure 28: Average user satisfaction ratings for mobile voice services, by

type of tariff

Figure 29: Intentions of users, by country

Figure 30: Intentions of users to change network provider, by type of tariff

Figure 31: Reasons given for wanting to change network provider, by

country

Figure 32: Top-six criteria for choosing next mobile service

Figure 33: Selected criteria for consumers choosing their next mobile

service, by age

4



List of figures [2]

Figure 34: Six-month plans for fixed broadband, mobile broadband and

mobile voice service, by time with service provider

Figure 35: Voice service penetration, by country, 2010–2012

Figure 36: Voice service penetration, by age and service type

Figure 37: User satisfaction ratings for fixed voice services, by country

Figure 38: Reasons given by fixed voice users planning to give up the

service

Figure 39: Type of monthly fixed voice subscription, by country

Figure 40: Survey respondents’ demographic data: UK, 2012

Figure 41: Survey respondents’ demographic data: France, 2012

Figure 42: Survey respondents’ demographic data: Germany, 2012

Figure 43: Survey respondents’ demographic data: Spain, 2012

Figure 44: Survey respondents’ demographic data: Poland, 2012

Figure 45: Survey respondents’ demographic data: USA, 2012

5



0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

18

–2

4

25

–3

4

35

–4

4

45

–5

4

55

–6

4

65+

Pe

ne

tration

of

de

vic

es

VoIP (PC or laptop)

VoIP (smartphone)

IP messaging (PC or laptop)

IP messaging (smartphone)

Mobile VoIP has inherited fixed VoIP’s inclusive usage profile, but mobile

IP messaging usage is heavily concentrated among younger age groups

The age profile of mobile VoIP users supports the argument

proposed in slide 17 that the service remains marginal for

most users and has not yet gone mass-market as a fully

substitutive voice service.

Our results show quite even usage across age groups, which

is consistent with fixed VoIP and suggests that usage

patterns are similar on both fixed and mobile platforms. It is

likely that VoIP services such as Skype are being used for

specific kinds of calls. These are typically pre-arranged

longer calls among friends and family.

Penetration rates of IP messaging services are much higher

across the age groups, particularly on smartphones. The

service is very well suited to mobile devices. The age

distribution of IP-based messaging users is much more

heavily biased towards younger age groups suggesting

concentrated usage among peer groups (friends, rather than

family).

As we saw on slide 16, IP messaging has a similar usage

distribution to SMS, which is also popular among younger

age groups. Younger users are leading the use of IP-based

alternatives to SMS, but high adoption levels among older

users will also create concern among operators that are

aiming to secure the mass market with their own services.

Figure 15: VoIP and IP messaging service penetration, by device and age

[Source: Analysys Mason, 2013]1

1 Questions: Various; n = 6610.

19



0% 50% 100%

Total

65+

55–64

45–54

35–44

25–34

18–24

Percentage of respondents

0

1–50

51–100

101–200

201–500

501–1000

More than 1000

0% 50% 100%

USA

UK

Spain

Poland

Germany

France

Total

Percentage of respondents

No calls

1–50

51–100

101–200

201–500

501–1000

More than 1000

The vast majority of mobile users continue to use traditional services in

volume, despite gains made by IP-based alternatives

Reported voice usage varies significantly from country to

country. Respondents in Germany continue to report

relatively low usage volumes (for both voice and messaging).

Surprisingly, French users reported low volumes, too, but

there is little evidence of this on a national scale. The highest

usage levels were reported in the USA.

Voice usage did not vary significantly across age groups,

except for the over 65s who reported lower levels. Each of

the other age groups included a significant proportion of low-

volume users – younger age groups had more very high

volume users (31% compared to 14%).

Younger users were much more likely to use high volumes of

SMS and MMS, and also to be able to estimate usage levels.

Of 18–24 year olds, 47% claimed to send over 500

messages per month, compared to only 5% of over 65s. We

have already seen that SMS penetration is much higher

among the young, but the reported volumes underline the

age bias in the market.

Only 6% of 18–24 year olds claimed not to use SMS or MMS

services and only 26% said that they sent fewer than 100

messages per month. Despite high penetration levels of IP-

based alternatives, full messaging service substitution has

not yet occurred in most countries. The persisting relevance

of SMS gives operators some leverage in the messaging

market.

Figure 20: Estimated monthly mobile voice usage, by country [Source:

Analysys Mason, 2013]1

2 Question: “How many text messages (SMS or MMS in total) do you send per month?”;

n = 4776; respondents with a mobile phone, excluding those answering ‘unsure’.

Figure 21: Estimated monthly mobile SMS usage, by age [Source: Analysys

Mason, 2013]2

24

1 Question: “How many minutes of calls do you actually make per month?”; n = 4206;

respondents with a mobile phone, excluding those answering ‘unsure’.


The Connected Consumer Survey 2013: voice and messaging 47

Executive summary

Implications and recommendations

The impact of IP-based voice and messaging services

Usage of traditional mobile services

Minimising mobile churn

Trends in fixed–mobile substitution

Panel information and methodology

About the author and Analysys Mason



About the author

Stephen Sale (Principal Analyst) is the lead analyst for Analysys Mason’s Voice and Messaging research

programme. His primary areas of specialisation include consumer VoIP, OTT player strategies, fixed–mobile

substitution and pricing strategies. Before joining Analysys Mason in 2004, Stephen worked in a number of research

and marketing roles within the telecoms industry and has several years’ experience in VoIP and broadband access.

He has a degree in economics and an interdisciplinary MRes from the University of London.

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