GPRS pennetration in Europe to reach 13% by 2004 ( Assuming operators move rapidly to install GPRS) <ggg>
GPRS usage penetration to reach 13% by 2004
More than 40 million Western Europeans (13% of all mobile phone
users) will be using GPRS by the end of 2003, according to a new report
released by Analysys. Assuming, that is, mobile operators move quickly
to offer complete service sets, extend these to the mass market, and
learn marketing lessons from the failure of WAP services.
"Mobile operators must enthuse customers about the added benefits of
GPRS," says Katrina Bond, the report's co-author. "At the very least,
they should review the language they use to brand and promote these
services, drop references to GPRS, WAP and other technical terms, and
engage their customers with something more imaginative."
By the end of 2001, says Analysys, 50 of Western Europe's 76 mobile
operators had launched GPRS networks and around 3.3 million
GPRS-enabled devices had been sold - but, significantly, less than one
third of the device owners were using them to access packet-based
cellular data services. The main reason for the slow growth in GPRS,
according to Analysys, is that operators have not yet developed
complete service sets that effectively address the key issues of network
management, device innovation, user-specific applications, value-based
pricing and billing, and confident, targeted marketing.
Although businesses have been the main target market for GPRS to
date, the report argues that consumer-focused services will be critical
for GPRS to reach its full potential. In particular, it stresses the need
for operators to cater for prepaid customers, which account for 63% of
all mobile subscribers across Western Europe. |
