India demands better Wi-FI; 52% people watch content in their cars

The Consumer Entrainment Index survey by Arris reveals growing demand for Wi-Fi at home, increasing popularity of mobile TV and consumer preference for downloading rather than streaming content

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | July 23, 2015

Arris, a global entertainment and communications technology firm, has launched the Consumer Entrainment Index (CEI) survey report for 2015. The survey was organised across 19 locations in the Asia-Pacific, including India, and shows some interesting and exciting trends that rule the year 2015.

The top five trends revealed by the survey are:

• Good quality Wi-Fi is a necessity at home
• Mobile TV grows in popularity
• Consumers would rather download than stream
• Binge-viewing is largely a solo activity
• Slower than expected growth in OTT/catch-up TV

Interestingly, India outnumbers other neighbour countries in some of these trends.

According to the 2015 Arris Consumer Entertainment Index, 63 per cent of global consumers have issues with Wi-Fi at home. The survey reveals that consumers demand Wi-Fi without limits, and highlights a growing disparity between expectation and reality when it comes to Wi-Fi at home. The findings also point to a connection to the expanding ecosystem of devices and growing popularity of streaming services.

Some of the key findings of the survey are:

Good quality Wi-Fi has become a necessity in homes: 72 per cent of the world thinks it is imperative to have a high-speed Internet connection. 54 per cent of the global consumers want hi-speed Wi-Fi that covers more range. In India, this figure is higher with 61 per cent consumers demanding hi-speed Wi-Fi. Only South Korea (68 per cent) and China (67 per cent) are above India in this regard.

Hampered by poor range, 29 per cent of global consumers use Wi-Fi range extender. In India, 52 per cent of the people use Wi-Fi range extender.

Popularity of mobile TV is maturing among younger demographics, but future growth will rely on older generations: The popularity of mobile TV is maturing among younger demographics, 59 per cent now watch TV on the go.  When it comes to watching content on the go, India with 52 per cent, ranks the highest when watching content in their cars, while the US is placed second with 44 per cent people watching content on the go.

While mobile TV is fine amongst the youth, nearly 41 per cent of the global respondents didn't like the idea of their TV to be mobile. Respondents in Japan, Australia and Canada gave the thumbs down to mobile TV.

Consumers prefer to download rather than stream mobile content: Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of downloading consumers say it is important to be able to download content to a device so they can watch it on-the-go without an Internet connection, rather than having to rely on cellular connections to stream. Also, 73 per cent of the respondents who watch mobile TV use Wi-Fi to do so. This presents an opportunity for service providers to facilitate content downloads to mobile devices.

Binge-viewing has gone solo in 2015: 60 per cent of binge-viewers do so alone, and the average binge-viewing consumer now watches for three hours in each sitting. Thus, service providers have an opportunity to personalise content and services for the individual and deliver a more tailored customer experience.

Slow growth in OTT fails to draw broadcast TV users: The past year has seen a nominal increase in OTT users (from 93 per cent to 94 per cent) and a similarly nominal decrease in broadcast TV users (from 97 per cent to 96 per cent). This highlights a disparity between industry expectation of these services and their actual rate of acceleration and suggests that broadcast TV remains king for now.

Sandy Howe, Senior Vice-President, Global Marketing, Arris, commented, “The Arris CEI research offers our customers invaluable insight into the evolving consumer interaction with entertainment technology and content. It underscores four major trends: 1) Consumer dependence on Wi-Fi and consequent frustration with its quality, 2) The concurrent growth and hindrance of mobile TV adoption, 3) The growing preference for downloading vs. streaming mobile content, and 4) The increasingly personal nature of binge-viewing.”

Howe added, “All of these trends point to a tremendous opportunity for service providers and programmers to customise their offerings to these new consumer trends and to ensure the quality of the home's Wi-Fi network, which increasingly is bearing the weight of this evolution in services.”

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