Only 21% of Consumers Paying for Online Backup From Mobile Operators

Funambol, Inc., in white-label personal cloud solutions for mobile providers, published the results of a global survey of consumers asking about their views on personal cloud storage (PCS) services.

The survey asked 42,500 consumers about PCS services and whether they would use a PCS service from mobile operators.

74% said they would use a PCS service from their operator. 71% responded that if they used their operator’s PCS service, this would make them less likely to switch operators. 74% indicated that if they used an operator family cloud, this would make them less likely to change operators.

The findings underscore the importance of operators providing a PCS service and how their window of opportunity is limited to deploy a PCS service before others capture their subscribers’ content.

The free survey report can be downloaded (registration needed).

The survey results was presented during a free webinar entitled Personal Cloud Crystal Ball: What’s Next for Users & the Industry? on Thursday, August 23. The webinar also discussed a Funambol forecast of how the number of PCS service accounts is expected to reach one billion by 2016.

"Operators face mounting pressure to reduce churn and increase loyalty, and many are considering personal clouds to do both," said Hal Steger, Funambol VP Marketing. "This report provides further proof that operator personal clouds can significantly increase loyalty and reduce churn and that the financial benefits can be enormous. Based on these results and market conditions, operators need to move quickly before it’s too late."

The PCS market is changing rapidly and offers consumers more choice than ever. The survey polled consumers on a range of personal cloud questions.

In addition, it found:

• 94% were aware of PCS services such as iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive and Funambol OneMediaHub
• 68% reported being satisfied and 24% said they were very satisfied with their PCS services
• The top 3 most desired attributes of a PCS service are remote access, backup and multiple device sync
• 21% said they are paying for a PCS service
• 86% reported using more than one PCS service
• The top 3 suggested improvements are more storage, better security and higher performance; and
• The average number of mobile devices and computers used was four