LONDON, U.K. — Canadian wireless customers who changed their carrier tended to have a worse mobile experience right before they switched, compared to the typical experience of users on their original network, says a new report from U.K.-based mobile analytics company Opensignal.
Opensignal analyzed mobile users in Canada through 2020 to investigate the experience of subscribers who switched mobile carriers — “Leavers”, as Opensignal calls them. Opensignal looked at users’ mobile experience during the 30 days before they made the switch and compared it against the average experience of all users on their respective networks during the entire period.
While it might not be surprising a bad mobile experience will lead some customers to switch carriers, Opensignal emphasizes in the report that mobile experience matters to subscribers and is a critical driver of churn in Canada.
Looking at Canadian users’ experience before they switched carriers, Opensignal found Leavers connecting in urban areas spent more than twice the amount of time without a mobile signal (3.3%) than network users in general (1.6%). In rural areas, on average, Leavers spent 1.7 times more time without a mobile signal (6.7%) than the average scores on their networks (4.1%).
In addition, before switching, Leavers also experienced lower 3G and 4G availability compared to the average experience of all network users, in both urban and rural areas. (Please see the chart above.)
When it comes to the mobile experience of Leavers on their new wireless network provider, Opensignal found they enjoyed a better mobile experience than they had on their previous network. As can be seen in the chart below, after changing mobile operators, Leavers in urban areas spent less time without a signal (2.1%) on their new network than their previous one (3.3%). In rural areas, Leavers also spent less time without a mobile signal (5.5%) than they had previously on their old network (6.7%).
In terms of availability, Leavers in rural areas experienced significantly better 4G availability on their new mobile network, a full 4.4 percentage points higher after switching their provider, according to Opensignal. In urban areas, there was no significant improvement in 4G availability for Leavers after changing their mobile carrier.
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