Price most critical factor when choosing telecom services: report

Telecom service subscribers who consider switching providers but ultimately don’t follow through are generally waylaid by it being too much of a hassle, suggests public opinion research commissioned by the CRTC. The December report, recently made available by the federal government, was authored by Quorus Consulting Group “to better understand the triggers, resources and types of information relevant to Canadians as they switch, subscribe or consider a telecommunications, Internet or television service provider.” It also said the “insights will help the CRTC redesign an existing online tool called Service Providers Near Me.” When asked to think back “to the last time you looked into subscribing but decided not to follow through, what where the main reasons you decided not to switch,” a response of “too much trouble to switch providers” led the way for 44 per cent of pay TV subscribers, 31 per cent of Internet subscribers, and 31 per cent of home phone subscribers. The outlier was cellular service subscribers, who cited being on a contract as the biggest barrier (28 per cent) over it being too much of a hassle (27 per cent of respondents). The report suggests monthly price is the most important piece of information Canadians look at when choosing a service provider, ranked as critical for 93 per cent of pay TV customers, 76 per cent of Internet subscribers, 75 per cent of cellular service customers, and 71 per cent of home phone subscribers. “Regardless of the service, most respondents are aware and willing to switch providers if they feel the service or price is not meeting their needs or expectations,” the report said. “It is clear communication services users are vigilant of their expenditures towards these services and the value for their money is the most important subscription driver, and therefore the most important type of information that needs to be readily available to them.” The cost or an increasing bill for a service was cited as the reason most often prompting either a selection or a switch in providers, according to the report, for 32 per cent of pay TV subscribers, 30 per cent of Internet subscribers, 28 per cent of home phone subscribers, and 36 per cent of cellular service customers. Survey participants also said they generally found information about service providers was either very or fairly easy to find, and indicated they most often relied on looking at specific service provider websites or “spoke with friends, family or coworkers” as the main sources of information. When at home, survey respondents said they were likely to use every device at their disposal to do research about telecom services, with 80 per cent or more of the participants indicating they’ve used a laptop or Alphabet Inc.'s Chromebook (87 per cent), desktop computer (85 per cent), tablet (81 per cent) and smartphone (80 per cent) to carry out the activity. Crucial information about services and plan details “also needs to be accessible on all types of devices as there seems to be equal use of devices when conducting research,” the report said. The report was based on an online survey of 1,200 Canadian adults between the ages of 18 and 55 with an Internet connection and a smartphone, desktop, table or laptop computer. Conducted between Oct. 3 and Oct. 17, 2016, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Quorus was awarded the $38,457.86 contract for the work on Aug. 18. — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Price most critical factor when choosing telecom services: report

News | May 10, 2017

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Price most critical factor when choosing telecom services: report

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