We surveyed nearly 21,000 consumers in 42 countries that ...

1 IBM Institute for Business Value

Highlights from the fall 2016 Global Telecom Consumer Survey

We surveyed nearly 21,000 consumers in 42 countries that account for 73 percent of global population and 90 percent of global GDP. What did they tell us?

The primary hurdle telecom companies face today is their low customer experience reputation, which has affected customer loyalty. To find out more about this, the IBM Institute for Business Value conducted a survey based on three specific aspects:

• Consumer experiences with the basic (network) services, in particular video

• The extent to which telecom companies create meaningful connections with their customers

• Digital trust and the willingness of customers to share personal data with their telecom providers.



It’s all about videoThe mobile internet is gradually morphing into a video distribution network for both digital entertainment and social media. As a result, the definition of the consumer experience is rapidly changing.

Telecom companies are adapting to this and experimenting with a spectrum of new services and business models. However, our survey revealed that telecom companies are not highly valued for their video services, compared to other types of providers (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Telecom providers are not highly valued for video Figure 2. Many consumers experience problems while watching video on their mobile device

Figure 3. Many consumers blame the telecom company for bad video experiences

Consumers increasingly watch video on their mobile devices, but many say the experience leaves much to be desired. Sixty-six percent of respondents to our survey said they often or regularly experience buffering problems (see Figure 2). While there can be many reasons why these video problems happen, customers are more likely to blame the telecom company (see Figure 3). More than half of the respondents said they would even switch providers if video quality becomes particularly bad.

27%

18%

Cable company

TVbroadcaster/

satelliteoperator

Telecom (fixed)

provider

Telecom (mobile) provider

Internet video streamingprovider

(e.g. Netflix)

Social media websites

(e.g. Youku Tudou)

22%

12% 13%9%

14%

6%

20%17%

25%

15%

Emerging countries Mature countries

Note: Customers who said they value their video providers

Video buffering/stalling

Waiting too long to start

Video quality problems

Frame freeze

Video/sound stops playing

No able to start video

Out-of-sync video/audio

Other

6% 23% 35% 35%

5% 21% 36% 38%

4% 18% 35% 43%

5% 18% 32% 45%

4% 16% 29% 51%

4% 16% 30% 51%

5% 14% 26% 55%

4% 11% 19% 65%

Very often/all the time Often Regularly Never/rarely

29%

45%

The mobile network

(the mobile operator)

The mobile device

The video app

The internet streaming video

provider/website

(e.g.YouTube)

The wifi network

The location

12%

7% 6%8%

11% 13%

26%25%

5%7%

Emerging countries Mature countries



Call center interactions are not enjoyableThe customer experience and loyalty section of the survey reflected that telecom companies generally have negative “reputational” Net Promoter Scores (NPS), often scoring near the bottom of lists that rank various industries.

Delighting customers involves surprising them with an experience that forms an emotional engagement. Yet telecom companies are falling far short of that ideal. They are generally rated average to good – but that isn’t good enough (see Figure 4). To be competitive, they will need to excel at customer experience.

The fine line of trust in customer relationshipsMonetizing personal data has become the new battleground. The ultimate potential for competitive advantage goes to those companies that can extract insight from personal data and create value for consumers. That requires customers to trust the companies that collect and analyze their data. In that regard, telecom companies actually score on the high end. On our list of different business sectors – including retail stores, social media and others – telecom companies and banks are, globally, the most trusted (see Figure 5).

Figure 4. Rating “customer experience” factors

Figure 5. Consumers’ trust in companies

Prompt and effective responses to queries

Ease and speed of contacting provider

Outstanding customer service

Fair resolution of complaints and problems

Compelling products/services/experiences

App for online purchase/self-service

Enable me to tailor products/services to my needs

Personalized advice to improve experience

Exceeding my expectations

Excellent Good Average Poor (extremely poor, not good)

17% 40% 35% 8%

17% 40% 35% 8%

16% 38% 37% 9%

15% 38% 37% 9%

12% 41% 38% 8%

13% 36% 42% 8%

12% 34% 41% 12%

12% 33% 42% 13%

12% 31% 43% 14%

Communications service providers

Bank and credit card companies

Device manufacturers

Pay TV providers

Internet video providers (such as Netflix)

Physical retail stores

Internet service providers (e.g. Google)

Online retail stores

App developers

Disruptive players, such as Uber and Airbnb

Social media companies

30% 40%

31% 45%

33% 30%

33% 32%

34% 30%

34% 32%

34% 34%

36% 33%

39% 24%

41% 21%

41% 30%

Somewhat to very uncomfortable Rather to very comfortable



If telecom providers are going to manage consumer data in digital ecosystems, trust is imperative. Yet the survey indicated that trust in telecom providers has declined in the last three years in all mature countries surveyed, although it has increased in most emerging markets (see Figure 6).

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GBE03804USEN-01

The biggest concerns consumers expressed about data collection involve companies selling data to third parties (60 percent) and failing to keep it secure (45 percent). Clearly, it is important to consumers, that their providers tell them how personal data is used and allow them more control over their data (see Figure 7).

1%PakistanEgypt 2%

Nigeria 12%

-3%-8%

-11%11%-11%-11%-11%

-13%-13%-13%-13%-13%

-14%-15%-17%

-18%-20%

-21%-21%

-22%-22%

-24%-24%

-25%-26%

-27%-28%

-29%-33%

-34%

11%10%

7%5%

4%4%4%

3%

IndonesiaThailand

IndiaChinaKenyaRussia

BrazilPhilippines

HungaryKSARomaniaNorwayJapanDenmarkCanadaTurkeySlovakiaPolandMexicoItalyCzech RepRSAAustraliaUSNetherlandsUKFranceSpainBelgiumSwedenAustriaIrelandSwitzerlandPortugalGermanyArgentinaSouth KoreaGreece

0%UAE

Figure 6. Change in consumers’ trust in telecom companies in the last three years Figure 7. Importance of telling consumers how

personal data is used and giving them control of data

Not at all important

Not so important

Neutral

Rather important

Extremely important

Do not need control

Need some control

Like moderate control

Like significant control

Like full control

4%

7%

28%

26%

35%

4%

13%

29%

26%

37%

People want to be informed about the usage of their data

People want to have control over the usage of their data

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