Businesses and consumers are willing to pay a premium for high-speed mobile data services such as VoIP , interactive video and video sharing, according to research conducted by Lucent.
Lucent surveyed 900 U.S. consumer mobile-phone users and 800 enterprise buyers to determine which applications and services would be of most interest on emerging mobile high-speed broadband networks such as those based on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A and HSDPA. As part of the enterprise research, Lucent gauged interest in five applications — VoIP, video conferencing, communicate and collaborate , multicasting and business continuity.
VoIP, consisting of basic VoIP and IP PBX features, generated the greatest willingness to buy amongst enterprises and was the top driver for switching carriers. Lucent research also found that enterprises would be willing to pay a monthly premium for “a new cellular broadband service that offers higher speed, simultaneous voice and data along with reduced latency performance.”
The willingness to pay the premium is much higher for companies that use an existing mobile high-speed data service, such as EV-DO Revision 0 or HSDPA as compared to enterprises that don’t. The research indicated that 76 per cent of companies using EV-DO Rev. 0 are willing to pay a premium over current spending for premium mobile broadband and that 34 per cent of the companies that are not using EV-DO Rev. 0 are willing to pay US$60 or more per user per month for premium mobile broadband.
Among consumers, Lucent evaluated interest in video calling, video sharing, multimedia ringback, content sharing, and “share and discuss.” Video calling and video sharing were the two most popular applications.
The research also indicated that nearly half of all consumer-survey respondents are willing to pay extra for “a cellular broadband service with DSL-like speed and simultaneous voice and data.” As with businesses, the willingness to pay for premium mobile broadband data service is much greater for those who already spend money on services beyond basic voice, such as SMS text messaging, video/TV, ringtones, games and Internet access: More than 60 per cent of respondents who spend money for such services are willing to pay extra for premium mobile broadband compared to 40 per cent who do not spend any money on such services.
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