PricewaterhouseCoopers has a new report titled “Change is in the Air: 2009 North American Wireless Industry Survey” highlighting the trend of the mobile industry in the U.S. Here are the highlights:
- Retention: Large carriers invested more than $160 per subscriber in the 2009 survey, which is 30% more than in 2008.
- Prepaid: Due to bad economy, consumers are moving towards prepaid plans. Use of prepaid minutes increased more than 147% in the past four years, from 270 minutes in 2006 to 667 minutes in 2009.
- Smartphones: As of June 30, 2009, 21% of all mobile device sales were smartphones, and an average of 12% of overall subscribers use smart phones. The ARPU for smartphones is $74 compared with total postpaid average revenue of $54.
- Network investment: On average, capital expenditures as a percentage of service revenues increased to 21.5% in the 2009 survey from 18% in the 2008 survey.
- Electronic payments (ecology): Percentage of postpaid subscribers receiving paper invoices decreased from 81% in the 2008 survey to 72% in the 2009 survey, and the average percentage of subscribers that received electronic invoices increased from 6% to 14% during the 2008 to 2009 survey period.
PwC’s analysis concludes carriers should:
- Gain more clear insights across the customer base into who contributes to (and detracts from) profitability.
- Adopt targeted and scaled strategies to “go the extra mile” for high-performing customers and to more carefully mitigate the costs of unprofitable customers.
- Develop customized tools that ensure every touch point keeps the bottom line of every unique customer in mind.
- Craft tiered pricing options based on the cost profiles of different customers.
And you can get additional details from PwC’s website.