Seventy four percent of smartphone-with-Wi-Fi owners would be interested in an application that uses Wi-Fi to improve indoor 3G coverage at home or in the office, according to a YouGov online omnibus survey of nearly 2,200 respondents in the United Kingdom. The survey also showed 80 percent of these users would be interested in a service from their mobile operator that would give discounted calling when the phone was connected to Wi-Fi.
Additional highlights from the online survey conducted in June 2010, include:
• 50 percent of people in the United Kingdom who own smartphones with Wi-Fi capabilities use the Wi-Fi every day;
• 40 percent of smartphone owners who use the Wi-Fi say they do so because it is faster for accessing the internet; 50 percent say because it is easier;
• One in five respondents (22%) say the most annoying aspect of Wi-Fi is that it only works in some locations, reflecting a desire to use Wi-Fi more broadly.
• The most widely owned smartphone (with or without Wi-Fi) in the UK is the iPhone (33 percent) followed by Nokia (20 percent).
“Consumers in the UK are clearly interested in taking more advantage of the Wi-Fi on their smartphones in order to improve mobile service and save them money,” said Mark Powell, vice president and general manager of Kineto’s Client Business Unit. “Mobile operators have distinct market opportunities to reduce churn, improve service quality and keep customers satisfied by enhancing their use of Wi-Fi.”
These survey numbers are in line with a January 2009 survey of more than 2,700 Wi-Fi users in the UK and Europe conducted by Decipher, Inc. on behalf of Devicescape. According to those reported results, the overwhelming majority of smartphone users (81 percent) prefer using Wi-Fi over 3G for browsing Web sites, downloading data, Google searches and sending e-mail; and 82 percent of respondents want their service provider to provide an overall 3G/Wi-Fi data package.