A study from the Austrian regulator suggests mobile operators will struggle to compete on anything other than price, and that interoperability could be key when it comes to switching between messaging services
Austrians are “lazy” when it comes to switching communications services: A new study from the RTR finds that habits play an important role in choosing services such as browsers and search engines. However, there is a striking difference in the percentage of users who switched mobile providers in the last two years (19%), as opposed to those who switched messaging service (6%), browser (8%), and search engine (5%). This shows how much easier it is to change connectivity provider compared to online services – perhaps not a surprise since regulators core focus has been telecoms providers, whereas online services have been able to establish and exploit network effects for years.
Unsurprisingly, consumers want cheaper mobile plans: The study offers important insight into what motivates Austrians to change mobile provider. Price was by far the most common consideration for those who switched – it was mentioned by 57% of all respondents, and by 76% of those who switched to a smaller operator. Quality considerations such as better customer service or better coverage were mentioned by far fewer respondents (19% and 15%, respectively) and the attractiveness of a bundle as a whole was only mentioned by 21% of respondents. This suggests that Austrian operators will have a hard time competing on anything other than price when trying to tempt customers away from other providers.
Messaging services lock users in: 65% of respondents use online messaging services because most of their contacts do i.e. a network effect. This ends up further favouring services that are already popular such as WhatsApp (by far the most used, with 78% of respondents saying they use it regularly). Among the few respondents who considered switching, difficulties in convincing other people or in exporting messages and group chats are the main obstacles. Strikingly, security and privacy are the least important aspects when first choosing a service (only 9% of respondents said it was the reason for their choice) although those who did switch between messaging services said privacy was their main consideration.
Do consumers want interoperability? The RTR notes that interoperability requirements such as those of the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) could address the barriers to switching messaging services. End users tend to agree (55% see either great advantages or tend to see advantages from interoperability), although many do not yet have a clear idea. 29% see neither advantages nor disadvantages, about 5% see disadvantages, and 10% don’t know. The RTR compares these results to the findings of BNetzA in Germany, where 60% of users of online communication services do not want to be contacted by users of services other than those they use themselves. This means at the very least that policymakers need to focus on getting interoperability right, and on communicating its advantages to the public in a clear and effective way for the DMA to have a positive impact.
Source: https://www.rtr.at/TKP/presse/pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen/pinfo19052022tkp.de.html
