Mobile Broadband Gains Popularity

Thursday April 14, 2011


BY DALJIT DHESI

daljit@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Mobile broadband in Malaysia is fast gaining popularity among Internet users and has overtaken fixed broadband in market share.

Market share of for this channel of Internet connection had more than doubled to 54% last year compared with 20% in 2009, according to the Nielsen Mobile Insights Survey 2010.

“Fixed broadband, however, decreased by 23 points to 42%. Dial-up is close to obsolete with only 2% of subscriptions,” The Nielsen Company director of customised research client services Luca Griseri said at a press briefing on the findings of the survey.

The Nielsen Mobile Insights Survey was conducted between October and December 2010. Almost 4,000 consumers across the nation were polled about their usage of mobile phones and the Internet.

As the mobile broadband gains more market share, Griseri added, it was not surprising that laptops and netbooks were the devices most frequently used to access the Internet (55%).

Accessing the Internet on mobile phones has increased significantly to 11% (up nine points compared to 2009).

As for large screen access to the Internet, uploading on social networking is the most common activity across all age groups.

Almost half of the respondents aged 20-34 own a 3G phone.

“Over the last year, advanced phones have become more available and more affordable, with many new models and many more data plan options being launched. This is important because, as our data show (and as observed in most countries in South-East Asia), increased ownership of advanced phones does gradually change users' behaviours.

“For example, smartphone owners are more likely to access the Internet on their mobile phones, and in general use more data,” he noted.

But Griseri said there were still almost half of the respondents (at 48%) in the age group of 20-34 years who had not been using the 3G functions even though they owned a 3G phone, as cost was the main barrier.

For this year, he said he expected it to be another exciting and dynamic year for mobile phone and Internet usage in the country.

“The main trends started last year, such as the uptake of smartphones, and the increasing usage of data will continue. At the same time, new trends, for example the success of tablet computers, will further change the market and affect consumers' expectations,” he added.

Internet usage stood at 41% last year compared with 25% a year ago, he said, adding that the highest usage was among the youth group aged 20 to 24 years old.

Griseri said with the rapid changes in the Internet and mobile broadband space, telecommunications players, besides offering the latest products and services, should also focus on the customer experience, i.e. delivering what really matters to users, with a strong emphasis on the quality of service.

“Even more than in the past, flexibility and simplicity will be key success factors: allowing users to do what they want, where and when they want to, and avoiding confusing them, by ensuring that simplicity really permeates all aspects of the propositions offered, from product to service and price,” he added.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/14/business/20110414110328&sec=business