IDC Report: American Mobile Users Unwilling to Sign Up for Content Services

FRAMINGHAM, December 11: A new report by research firm IDC
says that 72.5 percent of American wireless subscribers had not accessed any
content services on their handsets, as of the third quarter of this year.

The survey of more than 2,500 U.S.-based wireless
subscribers found that most did not use any data services, outside of text
messaging. Pricing was found the be the main reason: 47 percent of respondents
in the key demographic age group of 18 to 24 year-olds complained that mobile
data services are “too expensive.”

"The fact that four out of ten survey respondents feel
they are overpaying for data services does not bode well for the future of this
market," says Lewis Ward, the research manager for IDC's Mobile Consumer
Services: Entertainment program. "The survey also revealed a small group
of U.S. consumers that believes data services are a bad idea, or worse,
degrades the calling experience. Education may help this issue, but it's clear
from the survey results that many people just want to use their mobile phone to
make calls."

SMS services are considerably more popular—47 percent
of survey respondents indicate that they sent or received at least one SMS
message in the third quarter. American consumers spend an average of $3.70 per
month for data services.