A study commissioned by IT and business services company Logica offers some interesting findings about mobile Internet usage in the UK. The results were released last month and were based on a survey of 1,000 mobile users. Here are, verbatim, some of the top-level findings:
There were also these findings:
Grain of salt time:
Beyond what's stated here I know nothing about the methodolgy used or the sample. I'm struck by the finding: "40% of consumers admit 'heavy' usage of mobile internet." What does "heavy" mean exactly? Regardless, this finding cannot be generalized to the whole UK user population -- 40% are not currently "heavy" mobile Internet users.
That makes the rest of these findings suspect on some level. However, all survey data should be seen as directional and not an exact reflection of the larger market.
The finding that states 41% of respondents would be interested in targeted mobile ads is, in that sense, directionally suggestive of greater acceptance of mobile advertising -- especially among more experienced or heavier mobile users. LMS data show this correlation.
The response that the recession would not change mobile usage patterns is generally supported by other third party data. There are indications that in the US some segments of the market are more price sensitive and some people have switched from post-paid to pre-paid offerings -- especially given some of the "deals" that are in the US market (e.g., Boost nd MetroPCS unlimited plans).
Finally, the "77% will switch operator . . ." finding shows the danger that if carriers don't figure out "value-added" offerings they're well on their way to the "dumb pipe" scenario.