The majority of US smartphone users now expect good mobile data performance all the time, without even brief hiccups in performance.
A survey conducted by mobile performance equipment and software vendor Vasona Networks suggests that 63.6% of smartphone users expect uninterrupted quality mobile data access.
While the survey was conducted in the US, it could potentially provide some indication of the expectations of smartphone owners in other mature markets.
The majority of respondents consider price the most important factor when choosing a mobile data service provider, but nearly 30% cite performance as the top priority.
Perhaps unfairly, US mobile data subscribers are also most likely to blame the mobile operator (40.4%), not the app developer (38.9%) when apps do not work as expected. The remainder are most likely to suspect their device or mobile OS.
“Our findings indicate that it is no longer sufficient for mobile operators to offer a good experience most of the time across most of their network. Today, if every cell isn’t delivering great performance, subscribers are being let down,” Vasona Networks vice president of marketing John Reister said.