The boundaries between mobile and fixed services are becoming increasingly blurred

Germans surf in the same way on the move as at home: Six out of ten consumers no longer distinguish whether they use the Internet while mobile or in their own home – they move without compromise in the digital world, anywhere, any time. That is the result of a representative study conducted by Telefónica Deutschland.¹⁾ For as much as 72% of the 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed, it is irrelevant today whether they use the Internet while on the go or at home – it does not affect their Internet usage. For 30- to 49-year-olds, it is 71%. This is possible on the one hand thanks to modern smartphones, tablets and wearables with a variety of applications. On the other hand, it is because the LTE expansion is making progress continuously and mobile high-speed surfing is a key driving force of digitalisation. And finally, tariffs with high data allowances such as O₂ Free Boost or convergent offers such as O₂ my All in One give customers the opportunity to take advantage of digitalisation without compromise. The idea that stationary Internet is cheap and mobile Internet is expensive has been outdated for a long time and is vanishing from peoples’ minds.

This is particularly evident when streaming videos or TV programmes. In your home or on the go: Almost half of the 18- to 29-year-olds stream their favourite series or the latest blockbuster from anywhere. This applies to four out of ten of those surveyed aged 30 to 49. Six out of ten of those surveyed (62%) said they find it enriching that they no longer have to think about when or where they are when streaming. This applies to as much as 82% of those surveyed aged between 18 and 29 and 71% of those aged between 30 and 49. Even popular online games such as Fortnite and the like are now no longer only played on the PC at home. More than half of the 18- to 29-year-olds and the 30- to 49-year-olds surveyed game on the move (both 54%), although a large high-speed data volume is needed for this. A lot of data is also used by cloud services, for example. Nevertheless, five out of ten of those surveyed store files on the World Wide Web and download them from there. The results of the study make it clear that it is not just young people who are taking advantage of digitalisation opportunities – no matter where or when. The 30- to 49-year-old age group does not distinguish whether they surf via DSL or LTE. And this trend continues in the over-50s, for example, when using messaging services (67%) or when sending and sharing pictures and videos (64%).

It is important for most users of telecommunications users to make their access to the digital world as easy and convenient as possible. That means: mobile, fixed and Internet services from a single provider. One tariff, one bill, one service contact. In the survey, all age groups indicated that they found it easier to just take care of one contract for mobile, fixed and Internet services (83%). In particular for young people (up to 29 years old), easy access to the Internet and telephone is crucial (91%). It is still 79% for the 30- to 49-year-olds and even 81% for those over 50. It is almost just as important to all those surveyed to receive only one bill for all telecommunications services (76%). The same goes for service: 77% of users appreciate having one contact person for all telecom issues instead of having to contact different providers for mobile, fixed and Internet services. Today, the self-service approach is no longer important to only young people: 81% of 18- to 29-year-olds find it helpful to have central access to self-service and therefore have to remember only one password. This is 80% for those aged between 30 and 49 and 72% for the over 50s.

Since August 2018, the O₂ brand has had a real convergent package in its portfolio: The unlimited tariff O₂ my All in One applies for both mobile and fixed services. On 5 February 2019, O₂ is launching another combination product: For mobile surfing, O₂ my All in One XL includes a high-speed LTE data volume of 60 GB. If this has been used up, customers can continue surfing without interruption at up to 1 Mbit/s thanks to the O₂ keep-surfing guarantee.²⁾ The tariff also includes a full VDSL connection, allowing users to surf at home with unlimited volume and a download speed of either 50 or 100 Mbit/s.³⁾ All O₂ my All in One customers receive one bill for mobile and fixed services and central access to their personal “my O₂” self-service area. All contractual data can be seen at a glance and can be modified if necessary.