The mobile industry is changing at an exponential rate as new influences shape the way consumer expectations rise and the competition, new and old, pile on advances such as artificial intelligence, Deloitte’s ‘South Africa Mobile Consumer Survey 2017’ shows.

Deloitte global telecoms, media and entertainment leader Mark Casey explained in a release last month that the potential to monetise the anticipated data explosion had driven operator investment strategies for many telecommunications operators, and that the competitive intensity had heightened.

Operators, Casey pointed out, had been focused on reaching the underserved markets in rural areas with faster broadband offerings and upgrading to third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) or long-term-evolution (LTE) networks.

Telecommunications operators in South Africa have laid the foundations for the roll-out of 4G/LTE networks in about 63% of urban areas and a significant portion in rural areas.

According to the survey, about 37% of rural areas in South Africa now have access to a 4G/LTE network.

Against this background, Deloitte identified four themes that the industry faced, providing consumers and mobile operators with a unique guide to the evolving landscape. These were choosing an operator, smartphone use reaching a pinnacle, growth in mobile commerce and device ownership in South Africa.

Casey noted that the quality of the network with respect to Internet provision, the availability of 4G/LTE coverage and use of a network by family and friends were found to be the key drivers for consumers choosing a mobile operator.

“The game has shifted from having kilobits per second to having gigabits per second.”

Deloitte further found that South African mobile subscribers were looking for cheaper data prices to the extent that large-scale consumer activist movements had formed, such as the recent #DataMustFall and #SocialMediaBlackout campaigns.

Such, and other, campaigns have had some influence on the industry to lower data tariffs, with the greatest impact being in the network technology layer, which is owned by telecommunicators, vendors or other technology players.

“Based on our findings, we found that the price of data is the most important factor influencing churn. Other factors such as the quality of the network for Internet access, the availability of 4G, the quality of customer service and device price are also important,” Casey added.

The operator landscape, he explained, was facing a difficult challenge to balance consumer perceptions with respect to the price of data and the need for further network investments, including the anticipated move towards fifth-generation technology and the inevitable need to satisfy the demand for data.

The scenario was not all that gloomy for new smartphones entering the market, as consumers preferred new phones to used ones, Casey added.

The percentage of consumers owning new phones increased from 78% in 2016 to 86% in 2017, he said.

About one in ten consumers own a used phone, regardless of whether it is a feature phone or smartphone.