Consumers unsure of costs of mobile IM

Consumers are wary about using instant messaging (IM) on mobile phones because of perceived costs.

According to IM systems provider Process One, if this form of communication is to grow in popularity, network operators need to educate their customers about the price.

Although text messaging remains the dominant communications medium, with an average of 6.5 billion text messages sent per month in the UK, the company found increasing consumer frustration with the medium's limitations.

A survey of 2,000 UK mobile phone users showed that as phones become more sophisticated, people are getting fed up with limitations such as character restrictions and the lack of real-time communication and multimedia capabilities.

One in six of those surveyed said they would make more use of IM on their mobiles and send fewer text messages if they knew the actual costs.

Mickaël Rémond, chief executive officer of Process One, said: “Despite remaining very popular, text messaging hasn’t evolved with users’ communication habits.

"With today's mobile devices consumers are wanting a much more real-time and interactive experience, in order to better communicate with friends and colleagues.”

“There definitely needs to be better clarity as regards mobile IM pricing. It is apparent that people are willing to use services if they are priced correctly so there is plenty of room for mobile operators to develop innovative pricing options, whether it is a flat-rate fee or micro billing.”

The average cost of an IM message is about 10p but data bundles offered with many mobile services reduce this significantly. However, interestingly the majority of users (40 per cent) said that they would prefer to pay for mobile IM on a pay-per-message basis, as opposed to a low-cost monthly subscription.

The success of mobile IM will also depend on interoperability, said Process One. Just over two thirds of respondents stated that they would use mobile IM more if their network operator provided them with a single IM service that would connect with contacts on other networks.