A survey of U.S. and U.K. consumers confirms what many in the industry already know: Complexity is preventing uptake and use of mobile apps and services.

A survey commissioned by mobile device management (MDM) specialist Mformation shows 95% of consumers surveyed would be more likely to try new mobile phone services if the set-up were easier. The research was done by Coleman Parkes.

Set-up issues also prevented 45% of people from upgrading to new, more sophisticated phones, and 61% said phone set-up is as frustrating as changing a bank account. The survey involved about 2,000 people in the United States and 2,000 in the United Kingdom. Participants were screened so that they had a history of using more than just voice on the mobile phone. For the most part, results did not differ substantially between the U.S. market and the U.K. 

A range of snazzy new devices are being released and a lot of work has been done to support mobile data services, noted said Matthew Bancroft, vice president at Mformation. “We really wanted to understand through the research to what extent are people finding it easy to use,” he said.

On average, people said they would like to the new phone set-up to take no longer than 15 minutes, but it usually takes closer to an hour. Basic services such as e-mail (46%), Internet browsing (40%), instant messaging (30%) and picture messaging (29%) are among the top applications and services that people find don’t always work when they first switch on their phone. As a result, 61% have stopped using mobile applications because they can’t solve problems with them.

The survey also highlighted that even though services are available to move data/contacts from an old device to a new one, a lot of people aren’t aware of it.

Standards are being developed in a number of areas, including defining a protocol for how over-the-air (OTA) management gets carried out and around activation and monitoring, he said.