Smartphones users demand better quality to stick to networks

These findings agree with a recent report by GSMA that showed smartphones will increase at a rate of 40 per cent annually over the next five years.

According to the GSMA sub-Saharan Africa Mobile observatory report South Africa is expected to have 50 per cent of the subscriber base using smartphones followed by Nigeria’s 29 perc ent and Kenya’s 28 per cent.

A headache for operators according to Anders Kalvemark, senior advisor consumer insights at Ericsson’s ConsumerLab, is the need for more bandwidth to be made available.

“Our analysis shows that network performance is currently the prime driver of consumer loyalty to an operator brand, followed by value for money,” Kalvemark said.

“That is almost three times the impact of the handset/device offering, for example. Consumer satisfaction with these factors has to be improved to affect loyalty in a positive way.”

He says that consumers are impatient of delays such as content appearing on the screen quickly.

Kalvemark adds on top of good quality, operators will have to invest in good communication to let consumers know what is happening rather than expect them to notice changes in quality.

“Generally, consumers expect more from the services than what they receive. When service requirements such as reasonable waiting times and sufficient coverage are not met – especially when people are in transit – it is natural that consumer loyalty suffers,” he adds.

Above all the report says that it is more worthwhile for the operator as satisfied consumers will yield more revenue as they are unlikely to switch operators.

Nigeria finally joined Kenya and South Africa in April by launching mobile number portability (MNP) allowing customers to switch networks while keeping their number, in a bid to improve competition and increase service quality and value.