Wednesday, July 22, 2009

India: 3/4 of mobile customers base their choice of provider on price

[nielsen] More than three-quarters of Indian consumers base their choice of mobile service on network or price, according to a new study from The Nielsen Company India. While CDMA technology has an edge over GSM in both voice and data network performance in India, more than a third (33%) of respondents with CDMA service are likely to consider a GSM brand should they choose to switch carriers. Meanwhile, 62 percent of CDMA customers said that they would consider staying with their existing service provider.

Nielsen also studied CDMA and GSM network performance in 39 key markets, including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Delhi, Kolkatta, Chennai and Bengaluru. CDMA technology was found to have a distinct edge over GSM across all six of the top data network performance metrics, particularly in HTTP download data rate. Ahmedabad, the largest city in the state of Gujarat, took top honors in two key categories: average connect success rate and average data rate. Mumbai was the poorest performing metro area in the first category, while Bengaluru fared worst in the latter category.

“The first phase of our survey found stark variation in data network performance between market leaders and market average, creating opportunities for differentiation in key cities,” said Shankari Panchapakesan, Executive Director of the Telecom Practice Group at Nielsen India. “Meanwhile, our consumer insights found that overall satisfaction is a function of network coverage. Initiatives such as 3G and mobile number portability will further catalyze market sentiment. CDMA operators should leverage their inherent network advantage to drive consumer perception of their network.”

Grading India’s Wireless Providers

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