SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 2, 2015) - The importance of mobile Internet performance for smartphone owners is increasing, with expectations at an all-time high. Findings from Vasona Network, Inc.'s® latest annual survey of smartphone owners shows demands continuing to rise. At the same time, there is a trend of gradually increasing satisfaction with the performance of mobile data services, and more consumers are inclined to recommend their provider. While perception of mobile data performance improves, simultaneous trends of data plan upgrades point to constantly moving targets for wireless carriers to continue meeting expectations.
According to the survey:
- The importance of mobile Internet performance when choosing a service provider rose again from 32% in 2014 to 35% this year;
- Users expecting "good mobile data performance all of the time, with no temporary hiccups or outages" remains high at 73% versus 72% last year; and
- 32% of smartphone owners have upgraded their mobile data plans during the past year, with an additional 10% planning to do so within the next year.
While the importance of mobile Internet performance to smartphone owners continues rising, survey results indicate more satisfaction along these lines:
- 35% of respondents believe that their provider offers the best mobile broadband performance available, up from 31% last year;
- 46% would recommend switching to their provider, up from 42% last year;
- 28% now think that they can get better performance by switching, down from 32% last year; and
- 32% say that the mobile broadband experience offered by their provider has gotten better during the past year, while only 15% think that it has gotten worse.
"Mobile operators have made good headway in efforts to deliver solid data experiences," says John Reister, vice president of marketing and product management for Vasona Networks. "This positive trend is notable, but with one third of smartphone owners recently upgrading plans and more planning to do so soon, it remains important that carriers innovate with technologies that are responsive to rising demand and able to efficiently utilize available spectrum."
Additional findings from the survey suggest that operators should focus on improving mobile browsing performance. A majority of respondents (60%) say that "web pages loading slowly or not at all" is the single most frustrating experience when networks are slow. This is up from 54% last year. And when apps don't work, operators still get the most blame at 56%, which is more than app makers, device manufacturers or OS developers combined.
Vasona Networks, which provides network traffic management and visibility platforms for improved mobile data experiences, conducted the survey online August 4 - 5. The questions were fielded by 1,132 U.S. online consumers who indicated that they use a smartphone with a mobile data plan. The company will participate in a session about mobile video optimization at the Tower & Small Cell Summit event during Super Mobility Week, a panel on success stories at Telecom Council's TC3 Summit, a quality of service session at Mobile Edge Computing World Congress, and will present a paper on managing encrypted traffic at the Managing Radio Networks In An Encrypted World event.
About Vasona Networks
Founded in 2010, Vasona Networks, Inc. works with global mobile network operators to deliver better user experiences. The company's pioneering SmartAIR™ edge application controller and the SmartVISION™ analysis suite elevate operator capabilities to overcome congestion on 3G and 4G networks, and to understand network activities for better management and planning. The technology is based on comprehensive perspective of all data activity within every cell at any time. The company has deployments in major networks around the world and has received investments from Bessemer Venture Partners and New Venture Partners. Vasona Networks is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.vasonanetworks.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
Brian Baumley
BLB Communications for Vasona Networks
609-759-0252