Beware ‘smartphones’ and huge company phone bills

06 May 2011

New research shows that companies providing their staff with ‘smartphones’ need to be aware of how ‘data hungry’ these devices are and the danger of spiralling mobile phone costs.

Research undertaken by Efftel, the independent telecom cost management specialists, has revealed the serious cost implications for companies that provide their staff with iPhones and other ‘smartphones’.
Efftel analysed usage among 1800 UK corporate users, of which 1430 were on Blackberry and 370 on iPhone or other data-driven mobile devices. The average data use over a month of each Blackberry user was 15 Mb, while for the iPhone (and the like) it was 96 Mb. The average data ‘call’ was only 0.38 Mb for Blackberries against 5.5 Mb for iPhones.
The lower Blackberry usage is because they are more efficient in the way they compress and transfer data, and partly because the iPhone makes it easier to use data ‘apps’ and other forms of data transfer.
Commenting on the research David Rosenthal, Managing Director of Efftel, said, “With employers encouraging staff to always be in touch whether travelling or working from home, the number of company mobile phones in use has seen a huge rise in recent years – increasingly staff are now being supplied with Blackberries, iPhones and other ‘smartphones’ but what most employers perhaps don’t realise is that whilst national traffic is generally included within the fixed cost of the contract, roamed usage is not, and the average iPhone user is likely to cost significantly more that a Blackberry user when roaming, leading to substantial additional charges.
“While our research shows that the Blackberry still dominates the corporate sector we are seeing a rapid expansion in iPhones, iPads and other smart devices, as the latest executive ‘must-have’. The downside of this is that these devices are much more data hungry than the Blackberry”.
Rosenthal concludes, “What this trend means is that companies need to be fully aware that the more they equip staff with data hungry smartphones the more likely it is they will incur soaring mobile phone bills, so it is important to have adequate controls in place to monitor this”.
Efftel provide mobile and other telecom cost management services to many of the UK’s largest employers – for more information contact the company on 01256 345545 or visit their website CLICK HERE