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Mobile coverage: Qualitative

research

September 2017

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

Contents

1. Executive summary ................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1. Objectives and approach ............................................................................................................ 1

1.2. A note on qualitative analysis .................................................................................................... 1

1.3. Overview of key findings ............................................................................................................ 2

2. Background, objectives and methodology ............................................................................................. 4

2.1. Background to the study ............................................................................................................ 4

2.2. Research objectives.................................................................................................................... 4

2.3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 4

2.3.1. Overview of participants .......................................................................................... 5

2.3.2. Approach to the research ......................................................................................... 5

2.3.3. Map of locations and sample structure .................................................................... 6

2.4. Introducing the location types ................................................................................................... 7

3. The impact of coverage on phone role and usage ................................................................................. 8

3.1. Usage of phone in good and poor coverage areas ..................................................................... 8

3.1.1. Differences in expectations of and relationship with phone ................................... 9

3.2. Potential issues created by poor coverage ................................................................................ 9

3.3. Demographic differences in issues caused by poor coverage .................................................. 11

4. Experiences of using core phone services in areas of poor coverage .................................................. 12

4.1. Core phone services in detail ................................................................................................... 12

4.1.1. Contactability.......................................................................................................... 12

4.1.2. Security ................................................................................................................... 13

4.1.3. Navigation ............................................................................................................... 15

4.1.4. Information on the go ............................................................................................. 16

4.1.5. Social inclusion ........................................................................................................ 17

4.1.6. Work/life administration ........................................................................................ 19

4.1.7. Entertainment ......................................................................................................... 20

4.1.8. Sales and marketing ................................................................................................ 21

5. Prioritisation of services: essential versus nice-to-have ..................................................................... 22

5.1. Levels of mobile phone coverage ............................................................................................. 22

5.2. ............................................................................................. 25

5.3. ......................................................................................................................... 25

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

Page 1

1. Executive summary

1.1. Objectives and approach

Ofcom's primary duty is to further the interests of consumers and citizens in relation to communications matters. Part of this duty is to ensure that consumers have access to the communications services they need, when they need them. One such service is mobile communication in all its forms: voice, text and internet. At present, some areas of the UK are well served, with consumers having a choice of network operators they can use and each of which provides a good level of coverage. However, there are still many areas of the UK that do not benefit from such good coverage, and often have patchy or no coverage at all. Therefore, Ofcom wished to understand the experiences of consumers in these areas, to obtain some indications of the kinds of improvements to their experiences which consumers would value most, and to identify locations where these improvements would be most welcomed. This report provides feedback on qualitative research carried out in June 2017 across all four nations of the UK, which explored the experiences and impact of poor mobile phone network coverage among residential consumers and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) consumers of mobile phones. The research consulted with participants in two types of areas. Participants in poor or no coverage experience generally poor mobile phone signal coverage at home and/or when out in surrounding areas to where they live or work. Participants in experience generally good mobile phone signal coverage at home and/or when out in surrounding areas to where they live or work. The principle objective of the research was to establish which coverage issues were the most problematic for consumers, the impact of each of these issues on affected consumers and the types of geographical areas and use cases where these issues are most likely to occur. The research consisted of 18 ninety-minute focus group discussions. Thirteen of the groups were with participants in areas of poor or no coverage, out of which eight were with residential consumers and five were with SME consumers. The remaining five groups were with participants in areas of good coverage, out of which three were with residential consumers (including one group of Holidaymakers who regularly visit certain National Parks for weekends and holidays) and two were with SME consumers. Each group typically consisted of between six and eight participants and contained a mix of men and women, all of whom were mobile phone users with a mix of different mobile phone network operators (in areas where a choice of network with adequate coverage is available).

1.2. A note on qualitative analysis

This report is based on the views and experiences of 136 participants, consisting of 92 residential consumers and 44 Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) consumers of mobile phones. The research was qualitative in nature and findings included in the report are indicative and are not intended to etc. in the report are relative to the size of this sample of participants. Where the views and experiences of residential consumers and SME consumers differed, we have made this clear, . Where we have

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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d they are from, the reference is to all types of participants.

1.3. Overview of key findings

Owning a mobile phone is no longer just about phone calls and texts. Instead, it has become a source of joy. In areas of good coverage, consumers were able to fully utilise this functionality, meaning they could use their phone for a wide range of functions almost wherever and whenever they want. They

valued the phone most for its abilities beyond basic calls and text messages; specifically, providing

connection with loved ones, fun and entertainment, spontaneity/life on the go, information and becomes available. In areas of poor coverage, consumers were much more limited in how they are able to use their phones. Issues with coverage were experienced on a daily basis which means that consumers could not rely on even basic functionality, namely the ability to make and receive calls and to send and receive text messages. Often, calls and text messages could not be made or received; calls were dropped; and text messages or messages on Instant Messaging (IM) platforms, including missed calls notifications, could take hours or days to be received. Utilising the functionality of their phone beyond this was largely restricted to occasions and locations where consumers have access to Wi-Fi (or have travelled to an area of good coverage). The reported impacts of poor coverage were wide-ranging, as follows:

Social

Poor mobile coverage hindered connectedness, both in terms of contact being made to others and contact being received. Consumers felt socially excluded in an immediate sense as they miss out on contact and social plans with loved ones. They also felt excluded from society in the wider sense, as society increasingly works on the assumption of good connectivity. For example, social media was described by many participants as an important way of disseminating news, updates and mmediate social circle.

Safety

Mobile phones provide a safety net for consumers by enabling them with the ability to deal with emergency situations of varying degrees of seriousness, from the inconvenient (for example, running late) to the life threatening (for example, involvement in a serious accident). Poor coverage reduced the effectiveness of this safety net, thereby potentially increasing the harm that consumers were exposed to when an emergency situation arises.

Economic

Consumers in areas of poor or no coverage expressed considerable resentment towards paying the same amount for their mobile phone services as those in areas of good coverage while receiving a

far inferior level of coverage. In addition, they described being restricted in their choice of mobile

phone provider and/or contract as commonly there was only one viable provider in the area. They also expressed annoyance at the fact that they were not getting value from the contracts they had; they were unable to use their data allowance or to fully use their call allowance. This annoyance

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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was magnified among those who felt forced to have a landline for making and receiving calls. Finally, a minority of consumers would have preferred to rely totally on their phone and dispense with their fixed line broadband contract; their feeling of umbrage that poor coverage forced them to retain fixed broadband was considerable. For SME consumers, a lack of connectivity prevented or hampered contact, be it phone calls, emails or social media interactions, with potential and existing customers and suppliers. Therefore, the majority of them felt that this creates a loss of potential and actual sales. Some SME consumers also believed that this damages their credibility as a business, because poor and inconsistent communications is unprofessional. Time Consumers had developed workaround solutions to help them mitigate against the impact of poor coverage. However, these were often highly inconvenient and time-consuming, as well as ineffective.

1.3.1. Priorities for Improvement

For both residential and SME consumers in areas of poor coverage, the first priority is to be able to

rely upon a basic level of connectedness. This is defined as being able to reliably make and receive phone calls and to send and receive text messages at any time. These functions would be in the locations where they spend most time; that is at their home/place of work, in the village/town where they live/work and on the routes which they commonly use in their day-to-day life. For SME

consumers, being able to reliably send and receive emails in key locations is also a priority as this is

a primary method of communication in business. Taking it a step further, consumers aspire and feel entitled to what is seen as an acceptable level of connectedness. This is defined as having access to wider functionality (IM, social media, maps, browsing the web, online banking, etc.), at any time, in the locations where they spend most time. This would facilitate feelings of immediate and wider social inclusion, give the ability to be more

For SME

consumers, this would enhance their ability to run an efficient and professional business.

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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2. Background, objectives and methodology

2.1. Background to the study

Ofcom's primary duty is to further the interests of consumers and citizens in relation to communications matters. Part of this duty is to ensure that consumers have access to the communications services they need, when they need them. One such service is mobile communication in all its forms: voice, text and internet. At present, some areas of the UK are well served, with consumers having a choice of network operators they can use and each of which provides a good level of coverage. However, there are still many areas of the UK that do not benefit from such good coverage, and often have patchy or no coverage at all. Ofcom identified locations where coverage is reported to be poor. The requirement from the research was to understand the experiences of consumers in these areas, to obtain some indications of the kinds of improvements to their experiences which consumers would value most, and to identify locations where these improvements would be most welcomed.

2.2. Research objectives

The primary objectives of the research were to establish: Which coverage issues are most problematic for consumers; The impact that each type of coverage issue has on affected consumers; The types of geographical areas where these coverage issues are most likely to occur. More broadly, this included the need to establish: Which mobile services are currently used in each type of geographical area; Which mobile services consumers experience problems with and where these problems occur: Which mobile services that consumers would like to be able to use but are unable to due to poor mobile coverage; Which mobile services are considered absolutely essential and which are less essential in each location type and thus whether anything less than a complete service may suffice in areas where it will be difficult and/or more expensive to provide a full range of mobile services; What are consumer expectations of service levels in different types of geographical area.

2.3. Methodology

The project was qualitative in approach and was carried out across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland between 15 29 June 2017. The research consisted of 18 focus group discussions, where each group lasted 90 minutes and typically contained between six and eight participants. Thirteen groups were held with participants in , meaning they experience generally poor mobile phone coverage at home and/or when out in surrounding areas to where they live. Out of these groups, eight were with residential consumers and five were with SME consumers. The remaining five groups were held with participants in , meaning they experience generally good mobile phone coverage at home and/or when out in surrounding areas to where they live. Out of these groups, three were with residential consumers

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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including one group of Holidaymakers, who are regular visitors to certain National Parks for weekends and holidays and two were with SME consumers.

2.3.1. Overview of participants

Participants were drawn from and grouped, where possible, into more affluent ABC1 and less affluent C2DE groups. However, the logistics of the project meant that groups were inevitably weighted to C1C2D audiences, therefore the sample was not truly nationally representative of the locations and form focus groups in areas with especially poor mobile phone coverage. This has been taken into account in our report. Each group featured a mix of men and women, all of whom were mobile phone users with a mix of mobile phone network operators (in areas where a choice of network with adequate coverage was available). Where possible, groups were split along different life stages and household compositions: younger, pre-family individuals or those with young children (up to 13 years old),

families with older children (13 years old and above, still living at home) and older and post-family

consumers. All participants travelled in and around their local area (including commuting) on local road networks, by car or public transport, on a regular basis. Groups in areas of poor or no coverage consisted of a mix of participants who used local paths/bridleways, recreational areas and beaches, lakes and rivers on a regular basis.

2.3.2. Approach to the research

Each participant completed a pre-group diary in which they recorded their experiences of mobile coverage throughout the week before their focus group. Participants recorded each occasion when they used or attempted to use their mobile phone, where they were, what they were trying to use their mobile for, how well this worked (including problems with coverage/signal) and how this impacted them. The diary also enabled participants to record how frequently they conducted a range of activities using their phone, how frequently they experienced difficulties carrying out these activities and the extent to which each of these difficulties impacts them. In each group, participants were asked to outline their daily mobile phone usage in more detail, including the types of problems they experience, where these tended to happen and how they dealt with these issues. Participants then discussed the impact that these issues have on their day- to-day and/or working lives, and shared the coping mechanisms and workarounds they used. Participants were then shown a schematic map of different types of locations (including A-roads, B- roads, C-roads, the local village/town, the neighbouring village/town, etc) and, for each relevant location type, asked to explain the typical coverage they experience, what services or functions could and could not be used there, what impact this had on them and if/how this was mitigated. Participants were then split into smaller groups to complete an exercise about essential mobile phone services. Each group was given a table with different core services outlined in each column and different types of locations outlined in each row and twenty plain tokens. They were asked to imagine that there was no mobile phone service available at all in their local area and they were in charge of what services they could provide, but they needed to prioritise what these services would be. Each token they placed in the grid equated to one mobile service in one type of area. After assigning up to twenty tokens and discussing their rationale with the wider group, each smaller

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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group had to reduce the number of tokens down to ten and then down to five, discussing after each revision their reasons for prioritising these particular locations and services for improvement.

2.3.3. Map of locations and sample structure

The areas detailed on the map below were the main locations of the research. Typically, two groups were held per location, with participants from within the same or neighbouring postcodes.

Fig. 1. Map of locations used in the research

1. Helmsley

2. Keswick

3. Leeds

4. Guildford

5. Crianlarich

6. Inveraray

7. New Quay

8. Builth Wells

9. Carrickfergus

10. Donemana

The detailed breakdown of the group locations and sample structure is outlined in Table 1.

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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Table.1. Detailed breakdown of the research sample Focus group

Nation Location Good/poor

coverage area

Consumer type

1 England Helmsley Poor/none Residential consumer

2 England Helmsley Poor/none SME consumer

3 England Keswick Poor/none Residential consumer

4 England Leeds Good Residential consumer

5 England Leeds Good SME consumer

6 England Leeds Good Holidaymaker

7 England Guildford Good Residential consumer

8 England Guildford Good SME consumer

9 Scotland Cranlarich Poor/none Residential consumer

10 Scotland Cranlarich Poor/none SME consumer

11 Scotland Inveraray Poor/none Residential consumer

12 Scotland Inveraray Poor/none SME consumer

13 Wales New Quay Poor/none Residential consumer

14 Wales New Quay Poor/none SME consumer

15 Wales Builth Wells Poor/none Residential consumer

16 Northern Ireland Carrickfergus Poor/none Residential consumer

17 Northern Ireland Donemana Poor/none Residential consumer

18 Northern Ireland Donemana Poor/none SME consumer

2.4. Introducing the location types

The use of mobile phones, and related needs, varied by location. Residential and SME consumers categorised key locations into the following types: Home/place of work/holiday home the house or premises where one lives or is based for the majority of their time. The village or town where they live/work/stay this includes nearby recreational areas and footpaths.

More major/frequently used roads

could be A-roads or B-roads depending on the area (for example, a village where the main road is a B-road because there are no A-roads around). Remote areas this includes more minor roads (for example, C-roads), national parks/trails and footpaths in remote areas. Villages/towns on the main roads or in the local area these could be relatively close or far away, depending on the rurality of the surrounding area.

Mobile coverage: Qualitative research

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3. The impact of coverage on phone role and usage

3.1. Usage of phone in good and poor coverage areas

Owning a mobile phone is no longer just about phone calls and texts. Instead, it has become a facilitator of a range of activities and services, more like a personal source of joy. This can be broken down into three elements, outlined below: Fig. 2. The elements of using a mobile phone for residential and SME consumers In areas of good coverage, the typical usage of mobile phones was able to cover all three of these elements. On a day-to-day basis, mobile phones were often valued most for enabling spontaneity and fun, notably for avoiding boredom as and when needed and/or enabling the completion of work/life administration tasks throughout the day to free up time for other, more enjoyable pursuits. Patchy mobile coverage was sometimes experienced in certain areas and the main areaquotesdbs_dbs7.pdfusesText_13