Over 70% of Spanish Mobile Users Risk Losing Valuable Content on Their Devices

New findings release by Critical Path, Inc., provider of messaging software and services, reveals that information stored on mobile phones is becoming more important for Spanish consumers – seven out of ten would be willing to pay for a service to back up their information.

Critical Path went to the streets of Madrid and surveyed Spanish consumers to discover what kind of content they store on their mobiles and what they are doing to protect it.

Key findings:

• 98.5% of Spanish mobile users consider the address book saved on their mobiles as ‘Important’ or ‘Very Important’
• However, only 28.6% of consumers said they would be able to recover all this information if they lost it
• 64.7% lose content due to damaged mobiles

The findings indicate that the content people save on their mobile phones is not backed up despite its importance to the users. In fact, only four out of ten users have transferred some of the information to their PCs, and 15% of these people found it very complicated, meaning that they probably will not do it again.

Also evident from the survey findings is that some Spanish operators could be missing an important revenue opportunity. The survey reveals that 45% of consumers would be willing to pay for a phone back-up solution or would agree to receive advertising on their mobile phones in exchange for the service (23%). Approximately 70% would look to their mobile operator to offer storage/back up services.

"Spanish consumers are changing their mobile habits. Today, the mobile phone is more than simply a communications tool – it is a camera, an MP3 player, an organizer, and a device that allows people to stay in touch with their social networks," said Jesús Calderón, Critical Path country manager for Spain, Portugal and LATAM. "Our research reveals that consumers are demanding next generation services now and, through our Phone Back-Up solution, operators can offer an easy way for consumers to save and protect their content no matter where they are."

The results also indicate that more than half of those interviewed consider their SMS/MMS history (59%) and photos (57%) as very important. However, only 2.3% would be able to retrieve all their SMS/MMS history and just 23% of consumers would recover their photos.

Broken mobiles were identified as the main cause of lost information. Almost two thirds (65%) of consumers have lost their content at least once for this reason. This could explain why six out of ten Spanish mobile phone users are afraid of losing their content and why 70% would be willing to pay for a service to keep their music, photos, contacts, videos, SMS/MMS and other content safe and backed up.

Approximately two thirds of men (62.8%) are afraid of losing their mobile information versus 37.2% of women. However, when comparing who has actually backed up their content in some way, the percentage of males drops to 58.3% but the female percentage rises to 41.7%.

"Today, access to personal information is essential. But accessibility isn’t the only issue. Consumers’ information needs to be protected and backed up. Our survey results demonstrate that consumers are looking for these types of services and will pay for this peace of mind. With Critical Path’s Phone Back-Up solution, operators can offer a simple, reliable solution that will be highly valued by their subscribers," added Calderón.

Critical Path offers a range of phone back-up solutions to protect subscribers’ contacts and content stored on their mobiles – regardless of the device. Phone Back-Up helps to provide peace of mind for consumers, increasing subscriber loyalty and driving revenues for operators.