Operators are still struggling to develop effective pricing models for mobile data services, a senior executive at mobile data solutions provider Acision says.

 

Bob Hendricks, proposition marketing manager at the firm, says fresh research into quality of service suggests pricing remains a key battle ground for carriers, but notes that abandoning all-you-can-eat tariffs may not be the panacea many hoped for in terms of eking out maximum value from existing networks.

 

“There’s a clear correlation between unbundled [tariffs] and usage,” Hendricks told Telecoms Europe.net, noting that users remain petrified of bill shock and so won’t accept high additional charges for data services.

 

Unbundled pricing models were “a trigger” for people using mobile data services, he said noting that the rapid rise has led to several quality of service issues at major carriers in the US, UK, Australia and Singapore– all countries covered by Acision’s latest mobile broadband report, released this morning at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

 

Its survey of 1,000 users in each market found that 80% hit service problems including coverage, slow speeds and dropped connections between June and November 2010.