Early Adopters of Mobile TV Not Keen On Service

Many early adopters of mobile television and video services are not keen on revisiting the technology, according to a survey of 22,000 European mobile users commissioned by Tellabs.

The research, conducted by M:Metrics in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain, showed that on average, former users of mobile TV and video outnumber current users by more than 19%. Users cited price, quality and reliability issues as the main reasons why they do not come back for more.

“If services fall short of user expectations on quality and reliability, [developing content and services] could be money wasted,” said Pat Dolan, Tellabs vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“So 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 mobile TV and video services.”

45% of European mobile video and TV users cited pricing issues as a factor causing them to switch off the services, and nearly a quarter of users who tried mobile video and TV stopped using the services due to concerns about service quality and reliability.

Virgin Mobile recently reported poor sales for its mobile TV service in the UK, shifting less than 10,000 handsets despite a £2.5 million advertising campaign (see Poor Sales For Virgin Mobile TV Handsets), whilst mobile phone company, Nokia, suggests that interactivity and personalisation will be key to the future success of the platform (see Interactivity And Personalisation Key To Success Of Mobile TV).

M:Metrics: www.mmetrics.com