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etisalat emerges as most recognised mobile telecom operator in UAE
Company obtains 79% share in customer satisfaction survey compared with 60% for du.
- By Naushad K. Cherrayil, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:33 January 26, 2008
Dubai: A major regional Mobile Syndicated Study conducted by Maktoob Research, the online research unit of Maktoob.com, reveals how customers feel about the services offered by telecom operators in the region.
The report shows etisalat, with 79 per cent, has the highest brand recognition in the UAE followed by du with 60 per cent.
Elsewhere, Jordan's Umniah with 77 per cent, Egypt's Vodafone with 76 per cent, Saudi Arabia's Mobily with 73 per cent and UAE's etisalat with 52 per cent have once again beat competitors to become the highest scorers in overall customer satisfaction in their own countries.
The previous study had recorded satisfaction ratings of 75 per cent for Umniah, 74 per cent for Vodafone and 70 per cent for Mobily, respectively.
The online study canvassed the opinions of 4,618 cellular subscribers of various nationalities, aged 18 and above, across four countries with 1,009 respondents participating from the UAE, 1,182 from Jordan, 1,264 from Egypt and 1,163 from Saudi Arabia.
The study sought to obtain insight into the psychographics of mobile users, perception of mobile users with regard to brand visibility and brand personality of telecom operators, satisfaction levels with mobile services and mobile value-added services, influences on choice of mobile operators, mobile spending trends, churn trends and mobile handset preferences.
"While we have covered a few key areas from the previous survey, we have also sought to explore many different and equally important areas this time that will prove indispensable in helping telecom operators and mobile companies understand and respond to the needs and concerns of their customers," Tamara Deprez, Director of Maktoob Research, said.
Jordan's Zain/Fastlink with 80 per cent, Egypt's Vodafone with 59 per cent and Saudi's Mobily with 65 per cent have the highest brand recognition in their respective countries.
A majority of mobile users expressed interest in using a mobile handset with two SIM card slots. Egypt had 75 per cent, Jordan 68 per cent, UAE 64 per cent and Saudi Arabia 60 per cent.
"Customers have begun to continuously expect more for less," said Ahmad Al Assad, regional research manager, Maktoob Research.
Al Assad said respondents expect more mobile features, a significant increase in the quality of service accompanied by competitive pricing. In cases where expectations haven't been met, customers might select the next best telecom operator.
Report shows 18 per cent of respondents in Jordan, 24 per cent in Egypt, 35 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 24 per cent in UAE use their mobile phones to browse the internet. 69 per cent of mobile users in Jordan, 63 per cent in Egypt, 72 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 72 per cent in UAE might be willing to change their current mobile operators.
If given the choice to keep their mobile numbers and move to a different telecom operator, 30 per cent of Jordanian respondents chose Umniah, 40 per cent of Egyptian mobile users chose etisalat Misr and 34 per cent respondents in Saudi chose Mobily. 34 per cent of mobile users in UAE chose du, 18 per cent chose etisalat, 22 per cent said that they did not know, while 26 per cent said that they were satisfied with their current operator.
Phone manufacturers
Among the most preferred mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia leads the table with 79 per cent followed by Samsung with six per cent, Sony Ericsson with four per cent, and Motorola with four per cent.
An overwhelming majority of respondents in all four countries were not comfortable with the idea of watching live television on their mobiles (Jordan: 78 per cent, Egypt: 88 per cent, Saudi Arabia: 82 per cent and UAE: 58 per cent)
Conversely, a majority of mobile users were interested in receiving advertisements on their mobiles (Egypt 52 per cent, Saudi 57 per cent and UAE 57 per cent). 49 per cent of Jordanian respondents were open to mobile advertising.
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