According to primary market research by Lucent Technologies, businesses and consumers are willing to pay a premium for next-generation mobile high speed data services such as voice over IP, interactive video and video sharing.
Lucent said that it surveyed US consumer mobile phone users and enterprise communications technology decision makers to determine which applications and services would be of most interest on emerging advanced mobile high-speed broadband networks such as those based on 3G technologies such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A and HSPA.
Lucent said the research, part of the company's ongoing primary market research program, will help service providers identify new opportunities to grow revenue and reduce subscriber churn.
'Our mobile high speed data research identified consumer and enterprise services and applications that will enable service providers to 'monetize' -- or obtain a return on -- their investment in advanced mobile broadband infrastructure,' said John Marinho, Lucent Technologies corporate strategic marketing vice president. 'This research is an example of marketing tools that Lucent makes available to its customers through the Market Advantage Program.'
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 enterprise communications technology decision makers 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 (Rev. 0) or HSPA as compared to enterprises that do not.
The research indicated that 76 percent of companies currently using EV-DO Rev. 0 are willing to pay a premium over current spending for premium mobile broadband.
It also said about 34 percent of the companies that are not currently using EV-DO Rev. 0 are willing to pay $60 or more per user per month for premium mobile broadband.
Among the topics covered with consumers, Lucent evaluated interest in video calling, video sharing, multimedia ring-back, 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 (SMS text messaging, video/TV, ringtones, games, Internet access, etc).