Leading messaging company, Acision, today revealed in market research commissioned by the company that over 90 per cent of postpaid mobile phone users in Singapore have experienced ‘bill shock’ locally or while roaming, especially when using mobile data services.
According to the survey, over 60 per cent of respondents use their mobile internet and mobile applications regularly. When asked what bundle they would choose if a service bundle was offered at a lower rate, the mobile broadband data bundle, at 65 per cent, ranked first in terms of priority for the users, ahead of voice minutes (61%) and text messages (58%).
With a high consumer preference towards mobile data, surprisingly over 60 per cent of users do not know how much mobile data actually costs. With this lack of understanding of spend in relation to data downloads, users will inevitably experience bill shock, which can startle them into drastically reducing their consumption of mobile services. Over 90 per cent of respondents surveyed have indicated that they would welcome a notification feature that would help them to monitor and manage their mobile spend. The breakdown was:
- 90% have experienced bill shock locally or while roaming
- 60% do not know how much mobile data actually costs
- 60% do not know when they have reached the limit on their bundled plans
- 90% would like to receive notifications when limits are reached, with an option to extend limits on demand
- 60% use their mobile phones for mobile emails, internet and application
Surprisingly, being on a capped plan does not necessarily help customers as the cap applies only to local usage. Over 60 per cent of respondents who happen to be on a capped plan still do not receive any notifications when their limits are reached, and would like to be notified when this happens. Currently, only 9 per cent of the respondents receive such notifications.
The research was carried out for Acision, by Toluna, the online market research panel provider between the 11 September and the 22 September amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Singapore postpaid mobile phone users aged 18 to 45 years and with a gender split of 50 percent female, 50 percent male.