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Ease of Use Still a Major Problem for Mobiles

TelecomTV reports that new research conducted by Tickbox on behalf of Sicap, demonstrates that mobile operators are failing more than a quarter of their young adult subscribers.

One out of every four high-spending UK mobile consumers in the 16-34 year-old age range say they are considering changing mobile operators because their handsets are faulty -- despite also acknowledging that service operators (58 percent) and handset manufacturers (53 percent) are equally to blame for usage problems.

The survey of 1,859 British mobile phone users reveals that operators are also under intense pressure not only to deliver compelling services that actually work, but also to make them much more straightforward and easy to use.

The report says that with advanced services, 80 percent of all users value 'ease of use' as more important than the service working first time, indicating that many people find advanced services far too complex to access and manage.

This is compounded by the fact that 54 percent have experienced problems with advanced mobile services such as Web browsing and photo or video messaging, and 43 percent of users of all ages say they have had the same trouble.

As 27 percent of this crucial target audience say they currently have 'unresolved problems' with their mobile handset or mobile service provider, operators should do something quickly to meaningfully address their customer's concerns.

Equally worrying for mobile operators is the revelation that a very significant minority of subscribers say they are 'dissatisfied with the customer service.' A massive 33 percent express themselves as generally unhappy with customer service levels while 14 percent have had the experience of being instructed to contact another department or company.

In addition, 12 percent have been directed to an operator website and then 'left to themselves' to download software upgrades while 6 percent say their issues and complaints are never properly addressed by call center staff.

An astonishing 48 percent say that they have 'given up' contacting the customer service group to report a fault or complaint, but instead simply churn away to another operator as soon as they are able to do so.

IMHO, the most troubling part of the study results is that this age group is recognized as the tech-savvy early adopter segment. Meaning, if they are dissatisfied with the quality of customer care, then the notion of supporting more mainstream late-adopters with the same approach is truly inconceivable.

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