Competition to the Wireless Carriers
Anyone who has a cell phone has experienced moments that just show that the wireless carriers are out of touch with their customers. My personal favorite was when I got charged for spam text messages from local businesses during my visit to Vancouver. I did not even realize that I had gotten the messages until I arrived back in the US.
I read an article today that shows another one of those disconnect moments between carriers and customers. In an article from FierceMarkets, the summary of a marketing report done by market research firm Pioneer Consulting points out that many mobile customers are getting frustrated with trying to share their user generated content over the cell networks and have taken to alternative ways such as Bluetooth, WiFi and WiMAX to distribute it to their friends and family. In a direct quote from the article:
The study suggests subscribers who circumvent the traditional content value chain could rob operators of as much as $16.4 billion in potential annual revenues by 2012, more than a quarter of the projected total revenue for the year in question.
Yes, you read that right. The article says “rob operators“. I love the way that it seems to suggest that the customers use of alternative ways to distribute content are actually stealing from the carriers by NOT using their networks. It suggests that customers somehow owe the carriers to use their slow, crowded and expensive networks. So much for market competition.
I suspect that the customers would prefer to use the cell networks since the other options could be more hassle. The idea that so many customers would go out of their way to find another solutions shows that the carriers may be paying too much attention to their revenue and not enough to their customers’ experiences.
Tags: mobile data, user generated content, Wireless Carriers