Basic Usage Programs of the Current Dispositif

Several quantitative studies conducted over the last five years have given detailed information about the recent evolution of the program frames in the dispositif. The statistical data and surveys have witnessed the continuous growth in diffusion and acceptance of this technology since 2001 (the date when the empirical study of the thesis was initiated). Thus,

Marktbeobachtungsdaten der Regulierungsbehörde für Telekommunikation und Post (2002)

maintains that the volume of mobile spoken communication had increased from 27,3 billion minutes to 32 billion minutes since 2001. Also, SMS usage had expended with more 47,5 Percent, in comparison to the same year of reference. Overall, in 2002, 23,6 billion SMS were sent from the mobile phones. Technologies like GPRS and HSCSD allowed the successful introduction of new data and Internet services. According to BITKOM source, while in the 90‘s, fixed telephony and the Internet grew and developed at the same pace, currently mobile communication strongly intertwined with the Internet, so that 2003 could have represented the starting point of the mobile digital Internet world. Indeed, the last BITKOM research (2005) recognizes that, with the coming of UTMS, information and entertainment frames in dispositif promise to gain in importance.

Various quantitative studies conducted in 2001 an 2002 furnished a more detailed portrait of changes and evolutions in the internal structure of mobile telephony usage.

For instance, the Institute für Demoskopie Allensbach72 collected data about mobile telephony usage in the context of (ACTA) (Computer and Telecommunications Analysis conducted annually, since 1997). Approximately 10,000 Federal citizens between 14 and 64 years were interviewed between January and July, 2001. The 2001 survey results emphasized an increase of written communication, information and orientation functions in mobile telephony usage. In particular, 77 percent of the mobile phone users declared that they used their mobiles

72

Allensbach-Umfrage: Handys sind längst nicht nur zum Telefonieren da, Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach / dpa 22.10.2001.

telephone to send short messages, 43 percent employed the medium as clock and waking alarm, and 37 percent as directory and number listing. Young people particularly enjoyed the value-added functions. Thus, 96 percent of the 14 to 17-aged users sent SMS. For 61 per cent of them, the mobile phone was at the same time clock and alarm. Also, ring tones and call melodies exercised a special fascination: 71 percent of the young people and 44 percent of all respondents were prone to equip their mobile device with them. Another representative survey of the same institute, conducted in 2002 on a national representative sample of 10500 Germans, between 14 and 69, found that the most valued attributes and applications of the technology were: long battery life, value for money device, convenient price and small weight. Only young users considered “games” important. The majority of the mobile users (79%) sent also SMS, additional to voice telephony. Nearly one third of respondents used the mobile in addition as a pocket calculator. A decrease in the attractiveness of call forwarding or mailbox was identified compared to the years before. Ring tones raised the great interest of only 32% of mobile users - a clear drop from four years ago, when 45% of users appeared to be enthusiastic of these gadgets.

In a distinct approach, a quantitative study – joint project of IZT (Institute für Zukunftsstudien und Technologiebewertung), SFZ and IAT carried out in 2001 focused on the way that private and professional users and providers were interested in various applications of mobile communication technology. An online survey was conducted on 586 small and medium-size Internet companies specialized in the Internet, mobile or e-commerce business. In the structured questionnaire, there were two categories of questions: some related to their professional assessment of mobile telephony, and others related to the private experience of the respondents with this technology. Although the results were not representative, they were nonetheless interesting for understanding how experienced experts assessed the benefits and drawbacks of particular wireless applications from a combined private and professional perspective.

The survey also indicated that users accepted the mobile phone as some kind of a constant companion in both private and work spheres. They used it not only for verbal communication, but also for SMS (over 80% in the private sphere, 65% in profession), Organizer (over 60% private, over 65% in profession), indicating that, in the work sphere, PDA functions were becoming increasingly important. However, video-telephony, scanner functions and biometric data were considered of interest only by one third of respondents. Over 70 % of private and 40 % of professional assessments acknowledged the importance of finance applications, like mobile paying. However, brokerage and mobile advice were considered less important. There was a big gap between private and professional responses in terms of mobile shopping; in the private sphere, users were more interested in ticketing and auctions, which were only of small interest for the work area. This fact confirmed the relevance of business-to-consumer M- commerce strategy. More than ¼ of private users enjoyed the entertainment functions, like music chat rooms and games, and considered them to be of interest. As expected, in the professional sphere, users were not very enthusiastic about them.

The most valued healthcare mobile application was the automatic emergency call, considered very important by over 60 % of private responses. Location-based services, like navigation systems and local information, were considered useful in the private sphere by over 60 % of users and in the work sphere by more than 40 % of users.

The main factors which delayed the development of the mobile Internet were, in the respondents opinion: the too exaggerated prices; the poor content; the low service quality; the poor data security; and the opinion of other disappointed customers.

Referring to the price strategies, the majority of users were in favor of the fixed payment tariffs. Interestingly, the usual price timing method, the clock pulse tariffs, had a poor acceptance quote of below 30% in the private sphere and 12 % in profession. Private users were twice as likely to prefer the pre-paid tariff variant, rather than to prefer the Zeittakt tariff. Usually, private users spent, on average, up to 50 DM per month. Although the study identified a group of private heavy callers who spent up to 150 DM per month, in general, users were not so prone to pay more than 25 DM/month for content services. Conversely, one third of professional users declared they paid on average up to 100 DM per month for content services, and another third of them more than 450 DM. There was also a relevant difference between voice and data services in this respect.

The phone as mobile office emerged as an important future usage of wireless technology. As a consumer survey of space2go GmbH (www.space2go.de)73 indicated, more and more Germans used their Handy not only for telephoning, but also to access their personal e-mails (67% of respondents). The study outlined that 62% of respondents used the mobile phone as a directory and appointment calendar. Over 50% of respondents expected from new mobile phones to include an on-line Organizer, through which addresses and dates can be coordinated with the PC at home or in the office. Despite the promising consumer expectations, the study also revealed the immaturity of mobile office applications in wireless technology usage, since 28% of users declared that the mobile phone did not satisfy all their professional needs while traveling. In this situation, they usually carried with them an additional pocket calculator with a big display and more functions.

Interestingly, a XONIO study from 2001 expected that UMTS and GSM would coexist for a long time.74.In more detail, this forecasted that in 2010, 50 % of all mobile users would use UMTS services, continuing in the same time to employ the GSM, because GSM and GPRS would offer for a long time valuable core applications, while UMTS would provide more Premium priced business applications. In its overly optimistic assessment of the success of UMTS mobiles, the study is based on the analogy with the ancestor of GSM (C-Netz), which was deactivated eight years after GSM introduction.