Press Release - EPSI Baltic Countries 2005
 Telecom - Mobile providers (B2C)
 

• ?? European customer are satisfied with mobile telecom performance in 2005: scoring is higher than 65 from 100 in all observed markets, this is true for Baltic also;
  
• ?? The result of EPSI Rating indicates that there are three main groups of European customers:
  a. Customer with highest satisfaction with mobile telecommunication are presented by Lithuania and Russia;
  b. Second group with medium level of satisfaction refers to markets in Estonia, Latvia and Finland;
  c. Sweden, Norway and Denmark create a third group of countries where the satisfaction with mobile providers performance is comparably lower.
  
• ?? Consumers in Baltic are happier with some brands of mobile telephones than with mobile providers performance;
  
• ?? Nokia is an unbeatable by now leader in Baltic in respect to market penetration and satisfaction (like in Sweden and Denmark) both;
  
• ?? Siemens has a strong position as mobile phone supplier in Lithuania.

These are some of the results from the recently conducted studies among mobile telecom service consumers in the three Baltic countries and in Russia. The study has been conducted as an integral part of the Pan European Performance Satisfaction Initiative (EPSI Rating). This is the second wave there in the Baltic States. It is done in order to support the development of customer oriented and driven services throughout Europe.

The study is based on interviews with more than 2,500 individual customers representing all three Baltic States and great Saint Petersburg, second biggest city in Russia that counts more than 4,5 Million inhabitants. The data collection company Hermelin Research conducted it through telephone. EPSI Rating using the same approach and model as in the 20 countries that are part of the initiative does all analysis. Thus, the results can be compared with those available on an annual basis from many other European countries.

Main results

(a) European customer are satisfied with mobile telecom performance in 2005: scoring is higher than 65 from 100 in all observed markets; this is true for Baltic also;
(b) The result of EPSI Rating indicates that are three main groups of European customers:
   1 Customer with highest satisfaction with mobile telecommunication present Lithuania and Russia;
   2 Second group with medium level of satisfaction refers to markets in Estonia, Latvia and Finland;
   3 Sweden, Norway and Denmark create a third group of countries where the satisfaction with mobile providers performance is comparably lower.
(c) It is interesting that satisfaction level extremes (Sweden and Norway lowest satisfaction and Lithuania highest satisfaction index in 2004) are growing in 2005 while other indices are reducing or stable;
(d) Baltic countries and Russia hold upper and middle positions in the rating (see Table 1 and Graphs 1, 2).

Table 1: Satisfaction by country, 2004-2005 according to EPSI

Graph 1: EPSI by country,
Mobile telecom, 2004-2005

Graph 2: EPSI Rating consumer market, 
Mobile telecom, 1999-2005

Research has shown that in satisfaction with mobile telecom in Baltic countries is higher than in other European countries.  In particular, it is comparably very high in Lithuania while customers in Estonia and Latvia are very similar in their assessment of mobile telecom provider's performance with each other and with Finnish customer.  In 2005, index is decreasing for Estonia and Latvia and slightly growing for Lithuania (see Graph 3):

Graph 3:  Mobile telecom, EPSI Baltic, 2005 vs. 2004

This fall - at 6 points almost - is a significant change. The satisfaction index is reported on the scale 0 - 100. The higher score the more satisfied customers. Averages usually fall in the region 60 - 75. Any company receiving a score above 75 has a strong position among its customers, while those below 60 face risks of loosing the customer base. The statistical precision is good for the overall results, and a difference of 2 units or more for the country average is significant.

Besides external benchmarking, banks should follow up situation and trends in their own EPSI /Loyalty. This monitoring gives useful additional background information for tactics and decision-making when it comes to company value assessment and regional marketing strategies.

For Baltic there is a strong positive relationship between Satisfaction - Loyalty as showed at Graph 4:

 
Graph 4: Loyalty and Satisfaction, EPSI Baltic, 2005

At company level it is important to have a general picture describing consumers attitude towards its service in different countries. For example, below is the Graph 5 where Tele 2 demonstrates different perception of consumers. The following conclusions may be done:

Graph 5: Tele 2 in the Baltic states

As to mobile phones, the following results have been obtained regarding satisfaction of mobile phones:

- Consumers in Baltic are happier with some brands of  mobile telephones than with mobile providers performance;
- Nokia is an unbeatable by now leader in Baltic in respect to market penetration and satisfaction (like in Sweden and Denmark) both;
-  Siemens has a strong position there in Lithuania (see Graph 6).

Graph 6: Mobile phones in Baltic. EPSI Rating 2005.

Generally speaking, the Customer Satisfaction measure functions as a leading indicator capturing crucial information about future trends and market development. There is also a strong positive relationship between Satisfaction - driving Loyalty - towards Profitability.

 
The EPSI Rating

EPSI Rating is an integrated system for the collection, analysis and dissemination of information about what customers expect, how they perceive quality and how they value the products and services they buy.  Measurements provide information about customer satisfaction, the reasons for it and its effects on loyalty, trust and repeat purchases.

In partnership with the leading European quality organizations EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) and EOQ (European Organisation for Quality), EPSI Rating has developed a common European standard for measuring customer satisfaction. This common standard, EPSI Rating (European Performance Satisfaction Index), has been developed to offer European organizations a common frame of reference in order to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty independently and to analyze improvement measures. EPSI Rating is based on the EFQM