79% of mobile users think mobile devices are getting more complicated

According to Netonomy, 79% of respondents believe mobile phone services are getting more complicated to understand and configure, compared with 71% of respondents in a similar survey carried out in January 2005. Furthermore, 73% of the early-adopters that already own 3G phones rarely use the 3G services and applications available to them. 28% never use them at all. Of those that did not already own a 3G phone, less than half (47%) were confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use and only 8% of respondents are considering upgrading to a 3G phone.

The number of users confident that they would find 3G phones and services easy-to-use has grown slightly from 45% in the previous survey to 47% today. In addition, the percentage of respondents planning to upgrade to a 3G handset has doubled from 4% to 8%, but unfortunately it still remains in the single digits. 59% of 18 to 29 year olds - the early adopters with high disposable incomes that are being targeted for next-generation mobile services - think that quality online customer self-service facilities (such as the ability to set up new services, resolve problems or analyze bills yourself) will make 3G services easier to understand. In fact, it looks like self-service is set to become the primary channel for mobile customer service with around 60% of survey respondents indicating self-service as the preferred way to manage their account - compared to 13% opting for the call center and 9% for going to a high-street store - and 90% of self-service users finding it "quite useful" or "very useful" for managing their accounts.