The online survey, conducted by BrainJuicer, which targeted 1,000 consumers in each of six leading European markets -- Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom -- concludes that a UMA-enabled service would be positively received.
The results showed that the cost of any potential UMA converged service has a major impact on a consumer's possible adoption of the service. If mobile calls in the home were priced the same as fixed-line calls then over 50 per cent of respondents said they would be likely to sign up to a UMA service within 12 months. Of the respondents who would probably buy the service, a third would make most or all of their calls at home on their mobile.
A significant number of respondents also stated that the need to install broadband or switch suppliers would not be a barrier to adopting UMA services. Overall, only 17 per cent would definitely or probably not switch mobile supplier, just 22 per cent would be unwilling to switch fixed line operator while only a quarter would want to avoid changing their broadband provider.
Margaret Rice-Jones, corporate vice president and region management, Motorola Networks EMEA comments: "This research clearly demonstrates that the European market is ready to embrace UMA-enabled services, which in turn has considerable implications for Motorola's vision of Seamless Mobility. Motorola's consistent investment in technology infrastructure, mobile devices and R&D means we are in a leading position to offer a seamless and complete fixed mobile convergence experience. I look forward to working with all our operator customers and continuing to offer new integrated solutions, based on UMA and future IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architectures, to meet the requirements of consumers in the European marketplace."
Carrie Pawsey, wireless analyst, Ovum added: "This confirms our own research indicating that fixed mobile convergence is a major strategic market opportunity which operators would be unwise to ignore. The findings also suggest that end users have a good understanding of the potential benefits that could be derived from FMC [Fixed Mobile Convergence] technologies such as UMA."
Country Differentials
The research shows there are no major barriers to the adoption of UMA in these six key territories and that respondents across all countries show a good comprehension of the technology and fundamentally find it credible. The overall results demonstrated Swedish respondents were in general very enthusiastic about UMA, with Italian and Spanish respondents also demonstrating clear interest in a UMA service. As consumers in both Italy and Spain make a high number of mobile calls in the home, they are in a prime position to benefit from the introduction of FMC technologies.
While France demonstrated a strong degree of enthusiasm for UMA, especially with its existing broadband users, UK and German consumers were less responsive, despite a relatively high up-take of new technologies, including broadband, in the UK. In Germany, a comparatively low uptake of broadband, or intention to install broadband, may have had a considerable impact on the outcome.
