Ovum: "Mobile Operators in Asia will Increase Focus on QoS in 2012"; Hong Kong Carriers Lead

   
A survey by Nicole McCormick (pictured), Senior Analyst Telco Strategy, Ovum finds that " .. For the first time in four years, QoS topped Ovum’s Mobile Broadband Industry Survey, Asia-Pacific (conducted jointly with Telecom Asia) as the “most important differentiator in the mobile broadband market”. In comparison, last year’s survey found that coverage was the top issue .. the gap between incumbents and challengers has narrowed, putting more onus on QoS .. However, unlimited data tariffs remain a major barrier to improved QoS in a number of markets"

McCormick added: “Ovum was surprised to find that approximately 40% of respondents in this year’s survey believed that unlimited plans were the most effective way to charge for mobile data. As data usage increases, unlimited plans will only lead to the degradation of customer experience. Operators will need to abandon these plans if they are to differentiate themselves based on QoS .. As the findings from our survey show, many operators will increase their focus on QoS in 2012. Those that don’t may well face the wrath of regulators”.

See "Quality of service is more than just a buzzword in Asia-Pacific"- here.

In related news, CIO Asia reports that "Three Hong Kong mobile service operator -- CSL [here], SmarTone, and 3 Hong Kong -- announced Monday [13/2] that they will continue to offer unlimited local data service plans to customers in Hong Kong, but will apply network priority management in real time to ensure fair network access .. Another mobile carrier PCCW Mobile however has ceased all unlimited mobile data service plans on Monday". 

See "Hong Kong mobile carriers apply priority management to unlimited data usage" - here.