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British 3G Phone Users Not Reaping Full Benefits of 3G Wireless
9 November , 2005

Europe UK : A recent survey by Harris Interactive(R) shows that although 3G (i.e., third generation) mobile phones have reached a nine percent (9%) share of the mobile phone market(1) in Great Britain, 41 percent of 3G users are only using their phone for talking and texting. Furthermore, some users are not even aware of their phone's 3G capabilities.

This is highlighted by the 14 percent of GB adults who currently have their mobile phone service provided through '3' (a provider which offers only 3G phone service), who say that their mobile phone is not 3G.

A substantial number of 3G users (44%) felt it was not important at all that the model they chose to buy was a 3G phone and so it is perhaps not surprising that the full extent of services are not being used. However, those who use 3G are more than twice as likely to use their mobile phone for more than talking and texting (59% compared to 24% of non-3G users).

In terms of brand dominance within the 3G market, '3' still leads the way (37% of the market), followed somewhat behind by Vodafone and O2 (21% and 17% of the market, respectively), even though 3G is now widely available on the high street via the main service providers.

Derek Eccleston, technology research director at Harris Interactive, states, "There is a danger in 3G being given away without effectively marketing 3G services to consumers. Service providers are seeding the market with the product and then relying on above and below the line marketing to generate momentum for key 3G services." Eccleston goes on to say. "If 3G consumers do not begin to utilize the full range of 3G services, the return on general operator investment in 3G may not be realized-and this can have a negative impact on their profitability.

Methodology

Harris Interactive(R) conducted the online survey between 4th and 8th August 2005 among 2,104 adults aged 16 and over in Great Britain. Base sizes for sub-samples are listed within the tables. Figures for region, age, sex, education and income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire population of GB adults aged 16 and over had been polled with complete accuracy. Sampling error for the various sub-samples is higher and varies. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. This includes refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample.
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