Nielsen: Consumers Want Their Mobile Data

A survey of 50,000 consumers in the U.S. and Europe shows demand for mobile data services is on the rise, despite the sour economy.

In a survey commissioned by TellLabs, market analysis firm Nielsen has unveiled the results of a new survey of consumers in the United States and Europe that shows demand for mobile data services is rising…even as the economic downturn forces many people to watch their budgets and cut back on their expenses. According to the survey, more than half the respondents who already use mobile data services expect to use the services even more in the next two years. Furthermore, more than a quarter of respondents who didn’t use mobile data services expected to get on the mobile data bandwagon in the next two years.

The survey was conducted in November, 2008, and covered 50,000 consumers in the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Britain. The survey also revealed some differences between U.S. and European service preferences, with the U.S. skewing more toward mobile Internet use, with 49 percent citing mobile Internet as a top service compared to just 34 percent of European users. However, figures for four other services—MMS, photo uploading, software downloads, and email—were more-or-less even between Europe and the U.S., with Europeans leaning slightly toward email and U.S. users showing some preference for uploading photos. In European countries, Italy seems to be the quickest to adopt new services, while Germany shows the lowest adoption rates. Overall, TellLabs forecasts that some 71 percent of U.S. mobile users and 41 percent of European mobile users anticipate daily mobile Internet usage—which means operators will need to ramp up their capacities to meet consumer demand.

Not surprisingly, TellLabs makes equipment used to direct traffic between cellular sites.