Consumers cutting back on mobile content spending

The worldwide economic downturn is prompting a growing number of subscribers to limit their monthly mobile spending to voice and messaging services according to a new study published by research firm Direct2 Mobile. After polling 1,000 subscribers in the U.K. about their changing mobile spending attitudes and habits, Direct2 Mobile reports 53 percent of respondents said the economic climate will have no affect on their mobile phone spending behavior, but more than 7 percent of consumers--close to 4 million subscribers in all--said they have or plan to stop spending on mobile content and services until the financial forecast takes a turn for the better. In addition, about one-fifth of respondents (17.8 percent of men and 16.3 percent of women, respectively) said they will not subscribe to content and services like mobile web access, mobile TV and mobile music until the economic environment changes.

"The glass is half full for the mobile operators and half empty for the mobile content and service industry," said Direct2 Mobile chief researcher Nick Lane in a prepared statement. "Over 50 percent of mobile users are unaffected by the recession and a sizable chunk of mobile data users reverting to talk-and-text only usage will protect mobile operator revenues during this period of financial hardship. As almost half the advanced data users are reverting to talk-and-text only usage, the mobile entertainment companies should remain vigilant for the foreseeable future. And with 20 percent of the U.K.'s mobile population unlikely to subscribe to mobile data subscription services during the recession, it threatens to seriously impact on growth in the mobile content and services sector."

For more on the Direct2 Mobile study:
- read this release

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