FILIPINO mobile users switched to a different mobile network operator because of their bad experience in terms of service availability and reliability as well as the intermittent signal they get for 4G or 5G, a report from Opensignal showed.
In its latest report about the Philippine telco landscape, Opensignal said “Filipino Leavers”—those who left their original mobile operator for another without changing their phone numbers—“on average saw a significantly worse mobile experience before they changed operators.”
“Such ‘Leavers’ spent more time without a signal and less time connected to 4G or 5G than the average of all users on their original operator,” the report read.
In terms of signal availability, Dito, Globe and Smart “Leavers” spent significantly more time with no signal than the average reported for all our users on those networks.
“The difference was 1.5 times more time for Globe ‘Leavers,’ 1.6 times more for Dito and 1.7 times for Smart,” the report found.
Similarly, leavers spent less time connected to 4G or 5G than the average across all users on the original operator.
“The difference was highest for Globe Leavers—2.5 percentage points—followed by Dito leavers with a gap of two percentage points. Smart Leavers spent only 1.6 percentage points less time connected to 4G or 5G compared to the average calculated across all of our Smart users,” the report read.
However, switching network operators did not entirely mean better service.
Based off a 30-day analysis after switching to a new operator, Opensignal said: “Our Globe Leavers saw a 4.6 percentage point improvement after they switched to another network, and our Dito Leavers saw an 8.4-percentage point drop in their time on 4G or 5G after they churned or switched operators. This greater difference for Dito “Leavers” is because our users observed the highest time on 4G or 5G on DITO’s network and so when they switched to either Globe or Smart it’s more likely they would see a fall in this measure,” the report read. “Only our Smart ‘Leavers’ did not see a significant change in the proportion of time they spent on 4G or 5G when churning.”
Hence, Opensignal suggested that operators improve their offers and services to retain their customers.
“Even in a rapidly changing market, Opensignal’s analysis shows that mobile network experience plays a key role in customers’ decision to leave their mobile service provider, and that operators must focus on offering a high-quality mobile experience to retain their customers. In addition, there are opportunities to highlight strong mobile experience in acquisition marketing to target rival operator customers that have a poor experience,” the report read.