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Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

Ofcom helps protect customers against unexpected roaming charges

UK service providers must notify customers when they connect to a different network

New rules from UK telecoms regulator Ofcom will protect customers when they use their mobile phone on a foreign network. In addition, customers will be alerted if they are inadvertently roaming, perhaps because they're near an international border.
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Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
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Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
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UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
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Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
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Opinion Articles

Thursday, August 19, 2010

When it comes to mobile network coverage, the customer isn't always right

Mark Bridge writes:

The adage that “the customer is always right” has apparently been disproved by a recent survey of mobile phone users.

Mobile News reports that virtual networks Virgin Mobile and Tesco Mobile outperformed their network partners in a recent customer satisfaction survey carried out by research firm YouGov for price comparison website uSwitch.

Now, when it comes to customer service, tariffs and value-for money, it’s not implausible that a virtual network might perform better than the ‘parent’ network it’s using. After all, the MVNO will have created its own charging structure and price plans… and it’ll have its own customer service team.

But it won’t have a different network. It’ll be using exactly the same cables, base stations and switching equipment as its wholesale partner. Therefore the coverage it provides will be identical.

However, that’s not what customers seem to think.

72% of Virgin Mobile customers said they were satisfied with network coverage. Only 66% of T-Mobile customers were satisfied with exactly the same network.

Over at Tesco Mobile, a mere 5% of customers were unhappy with their network coverage – yet 8% of O2 customers weren’t happy.

So – what’s going on?

Well, I’m certain you’d be wrong to blame customers for ‘being stupid’. Cost is likely to play a part, along with usage patterns and brand loyalty. Consumers on a budget MVNO may be less inclined to complain about a ‘cheap’ network – and, with 99% population coverage available across the UK for calls and texts, it’s data services that could well be affecting those judgements about network quality.

Which means the customers in that survey aren’t wrong about network quality. They’re just comparing completely different things.
 

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