It is an “increasingly stronger” trend that is accentuated in an inflationary context
MADRID, 5 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
41% of Spaniards who change mobile phone companies in the next 12 months will leave a traditional operator for a ‘low cost’ one, according to the study ‘Telco: Mobile and Fixed broadband connectivity’ prepared by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman and in the which also provides data from France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The percentage in Spain is in line with the intention of abandoning a traditional operator for a low-cost one on the part of Italian consumers (46%), but above that registered in the French market (35%), in that of United Kingdom (32%) and Germany (28%).
Thus, price is the most determining factor for consumers in all the countries analyzed when deciding to change mobile service providers, but also fixed broadband.
In the case of Spain, the second element that most influences when changing mobile operators is the performance (speed and quality of the network) and the amount of data, while in fixed broadband, customer service is another important factor.
“The possibility of bundling and combining the offer with other services (security, energy, financial services or gaming) and ESG policies (environmental, social and corporate governance factors) are factors that are less taken into account when changing mobile and fixed provider,” the report adds.
In this context, the authors of the study conclude that the customer abandonment rate (‘churn’) from traditional mobile telephone operators to low-cost ones is an “increasingly stronger” trend.
In fact, the data from the report indicates that traditional operators account for the highest percentage of customers willing to change companies in the next 12 months.
Specifically, 77% of Spanish consumers who intend to switch are customers of traditional operators, while in the United Kingdom the figure is reduced to 65%, in Italy to 64% and in France and Germany to 61%.
In contrast, only 12% of Spaniards who intend to change mobile operators in the next 12 months consider the possibility of switching from a low-cost operator to a traditional one.
“This data shows a tendency towards customer captivity by ‘low cost’ operators since, when a consumer changes from a traditional operator to a ‘low cost’ operator, the return to a traditional operator and even the change to another provider of ‘low cost’ is not very significant,” highlights the study.
In a presentation to the press, the partner of the Telecommunications, Media and Technology industry at Oliver Wyman, Beatriz Lacave, emphasized that this situation is accentuated in an inflationary context in which some operators have raised their rates and in which Households seek to contain their expenses.
“The report shows a clear European trend in favor of low-cost mobile operators that is accentuated in Spain. Although this is consistent with the larger market shares of traditional operators, it also indicates greater exposure of their customer bases,” Lacave has emphasized.
Regarding the mobile customer retention capacity of convergent packages, that is, those in which the same operator offers mobile and fixed broadband services, the study concludes that the binding effect in Spain is “increasingly more moderate” because the convergent ‘low cost’ offer is “very widespread”.
“In the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy, convergence is ineffective in linking mobile operators’ customers since, often, these consumers are not in a converged package,” said the Telecommunications industry partner, Media and Technology by Oliver Wyman Lorenzo Milans from Bosch.
“On the other hand, in France and Spain, where more than 70% of consumers have mobile and fixed products provided by the same operator, it continues to have a binding effect, although increasingly moderate,” he added.
