Venture Insights performs an annual consumer survey on mobile service and handset purchases across Australia. It asks questions around willingness to pay, intentions to switch service providers and handsets, and key factors responsible for this switching. We also ask which service provider the respondents are switching to, and thus determine the service providers that will gain or lose from this churn. Our latest survey was conducted in March 2020 for Australia, and the key findings have been presented here. In this report, the term MVNO includes resellers such as Belong, Boost, Lebara and Virgin Mobile that are subsidiaries of MNOs or owned by them.

Contents

Key takeaways

Introduction

Price is still a key factor

Renewed focus on MVNOs?

What this means for 5G mobile services

Preference for bundled services

Handset purchase preferences

Conclusion

List of charts/tables

Figure 1. Percentage of survey respondents rating a factor between 4 and 5 on a scale of 1 (not important) – 5 (very important), when deciding their next mobile service purchase

Figure 2. Survey question: In general, do you plan to pay more, less or about the same each year for your mobile phone service?

Figure 3. Survey question: How likely are you to switch mobile phone service providers?

Figure 4. What is the main reason you are thinking about changing your mobile service provider?

Figure 5. Market share of MVNOs in Venture Insights surveys

Figure 6. Survey question: Which mobile phone provider are you thinking about moving to (across all service providers)?

Figure 7. Percentage of current customers planning on churning by service providers in Fig. 3.

Figure 8. Survey question: Which mobile phone provider are you thinking about moving to (by current provider)?

Figure 9. Survey question: Would you pay a premium for a 5G mobile phone service when available?

Figure 10. Survey question: Would you consider purchasing your mobile phone service from a utility company if bundled with your electricity or gas service?

Figure 11. Survey question: Would you change telco mobile providers if another mobile operator offered your favourite sports content bundled with your mobile plan?

Figure 12. Survey question: How old is your current mobile phone (left) and how often do you plan to replace your mobile phone (right)?

Figure 13. Survey question: Would you consider purchasing a recycled/refurbished mobile phone at a lower price than a new phone (assuming it had a warranty)?

Figure 14. Survey question: Would you pay a premium for a 5G mobile handset/phone when available?