Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2015 – March 2020, Average 12 monthly sample, n=12,227. Base: Australians 14+ main users of a mobile phone.
New data from the Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Report on Mobile Phone Service Providers shows pre-paid mobile phones have overtaken their post-paid counterparts in customer satisfaction, gaining a higher rating for the first time.
The change in the market has come over the past year, with satisfaction for pre-paid mobile phones increasing to 76.8% in March, up 3.7% points from a year ago in April 2019. Over the same period satisfaction with post-paid mobile phones declined 2% points to 75.6%.
The increasing satisfaction with pre-paid mobile phones goes hand in hand with more Australians choosing this type of phone: 33% of Australians now use pre-paid mobiles, up from 30.3% in 2017.
Pre-paid mobile phones are a big part of the business plan of third-party providers such as ALDImobile, TPG and Boost, which fill the top three spots for the latest monthly Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction awards. ALDImobile leads the other providers, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90%.
A majority of Australians still use post-paid mobile phones, at 56.8%, but this is down 0.7% points from 57.5% in 2017.
Trends in Mobile Phone Service Provider Satisfaction – 12 monthly moving averages
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source Australia, April 2015 – March 2020, Average 12 monthly sample, n=12,227. Base: Australians 14+ main users of a mobile phone.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the COVID-19 induced recession may accelerate the trends the company has identified in Australia’s mobile phone market:
“We highlighted the trend of Australians turning to pre-paid mobile phones
a year ago and this trend has continued. Now 33% use this type of mobile plan and, importantly, satisfaction with pre-paid mobile phones has overtaken the more widely used post-paid for the first time.
“Pre-paid mobile phones offer consumers greater control over their spending. The onset of COVID-19 has plunged Australia into its first recession for nearly 30 years and this economic contraction will force many to cut costs and closely watch their spending – including on mobile phone plans.
“The high customer satisfaction with third-party mobile phone providers such as ALDImobile, TPG and Boost, which rely primarily on a pre-paid model, puts these providers in a prime position in a financially constrained environment.”
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