Mobile workers reluctant to pay cost of broadband services

Teleworkers would pay £15 per month for mobile services, but this is far short of their cost

mobile phone

Mobile workers are willing to pay up to £15 per month for mobile broadband services, still way short of what mobile operators are actually charging, according to research just published.

An online survey of over 5,000 UK mobile users was conducted by YouGov and Point Topic. It found that 37 percent considered the high cost of sending and receiving data as the biggest disadvantage of using mobile applications such as email and web browsing on smartphones.

Point Topic chief analyst Tim Johnson pointed out that operators still make most of their money from mobile voice calls, and may not want to use scarce network bandwidth on data services.

"What this is, is an opportunity for WiFi which has a much different data structure. WiFi operators do not have the burden of providing a voice network, so they can provide a fat pipe at a relatively low cost," he said.

Some mobile data bundles can offer good value for money, but users tend to get punished when they step over their monthly limit, added Johnson.

Whilst lowering their tariffs may attract more mobile data customers, there is an associated network cost for mobile operators which may temper additional profits, however.

Whilst 38 per cent already use email, another 37 per cent said they would like to. Around 30 per cent of those questioned said already browse the Internet from their mobile device, but another 33 per cent expressed an interest.