Telecommunications Today: Consumer choice and preference in adopting services

Introduction ACMA’s research highlights the changing trends in fixed-line, mobile and internet service take-up and use. To provide a deeper analysis of the reasons for these changing trends, ACMA has undertaken research that considers residential and business consumer attitudes to choice, preference and use of particular telecommunications services. This report presents the findings of quantitative (consumer survey) and qualitative (focus groups) research into residential and business attitudes to telecommunication services in Australia. It aims to provide an understanding of why consumers choose certain services in preference to other services, and of their attitudes towards new and emerging services in the communications sector. This report is the fifth in the Telecommunications Today1 series and results from earlier reports in the series are cited throughout. This study has four main objectives: To identify residential and business consumers’ preferences and choice of telecommunication services. To consider consumer attitudes towards their choice of, and preferences for, services. To ascertain the level of uptake and use of new and emerging services such as mobile email, VoIP and 3G. To consider how location, income, family structure, age and profession affect consumer substitution of voice services and take-up of new and emerging services in the telecommunications industry. This research was undertaken to meet ACMA’s statutory reporting requirements under the Australian Communications and Media Authority Act 2005. This requires ACMA to report and advise on carriage services, including consumer satisfaction and benefits.&nbsp