SURVEY: Trust more to Mobile Operators or OTTs?

Taken from Research Paper from OPENET
CONSUMER SURVEY:Who Do You Trust Most?Mobile Operators or OTTs?

“A digital service is defined as any service accessed and supplied via the internet. For example, social media sites, music and video streaming sites, apps and games, financial services, internet calling, instant messaging, and lifestyle apps and services ”.

Consumers trust their mobile operator more than they trust the OTTs. The reason—people see that their mobile operator has always protected their data. As can be seen from the infographic below, 92% of consumers surveyed said that they’d be open to their mobile operator delivering digital services—as long as they are transparent about it.

There is an opportunity for mobile operators to build on this trust to provide digital services directly to their customers. The types of digital services consumers would most trust their mobile operators to provide. This showed that for music, video, messaging and internet calling services consumers would prefer to deal with their mobile operator rather than go direct to the OTT. When asked the reason why someone would prefer to deal direct with their mobile operator than an OTT there was a clear winner—mobile operators have always protected consumers’ data.

Social media is just one type of digital service and it was interesting to see that there has been a knock-on effect on levels of trust for all digital service companies. 83% of respondents were aware of the Facebook data scandal and 34% said that their trust in digital service companies has decreased.

• 86% agree that companies need to be more transparent “Companies need to be more transparent with their practices around data use”

There has also been a change in perception in the use of free services. Consumers know that their data is the ‘product’ and this effects how they view free digital services. Consumers are less likely to share their personal data as a rule, but also more than half said that they are less likely to share their data in exchange for free digital services.

• More than half say they are less likely to share personal data with OTTs since the scandal, and a similar proportion are less likely to share in exchange for free digital services

• Two thirds would prefer to pay for digital services if it meant they had better controls over data

It’s probably fair to say that free services will always be attractive to certain groups, but someone has to pay. When looking at how free services should be funded, advertising came out on top with only 13% feeling that selling customer data to 3rd parties was acceptable.

Summary 

Mobile operators have a level of trust with consumers that can be built on to enable operators to take a stronger position in the digital value chain. Already we’re seeing operators selling Netflix subscriptions and billing for them. Over half of the people surveyed said that they’d be happy dealing with their mobile operator for digital services, such as video and music services. The main reason for this is that they know that their mobile operator isn’t going to abuse their data. The success of Orange Bank in providing mobile banking services is a clear indication that people do trust their mobile operators with very sensitive data. The Facebook data scandal highlighted that OTTs need to be more transparent and open with their customers. It also highlighted the need for regulation. For years, mobile operators have been crying foul that they’re under tight regulatory control and the OTTs had no such restrictions. Maybe being regulated does have benefits after all. 

The results of this survey are clear: consumers trust companies who are open, accountable and regulated. Operators have an opportunity to build on this trust and sell a range of digital services to their customers. This is already happening and we’ll see more content and telecoms mergers in the next couple of years. However, buying content providers isn’t a cost effective option for everyone, so we’ll see increased number of content partnerships. The opportunity for the the mobile operators is to take the lead in these partnerships. This means engaging with the customer for marketing, service delivery and monetisation of digital services. In order to maintain consumer trust they need to be open and transparent about uses of consumers’ personal data.