Brits Opt for More Choice and Flexibility in 2008

New Years subscriptions demise as Brits choose to Pay-per-work out!

T-Mobile research findings reveal:
- Consumer demand more choice and flexibility in 2008
- Over two thirds who joined a gym as a New Year’s resolution said it didn’t deliver value for money
- Nearly a quarter of respondents (22%) with membership fees and subscriptions wasted more than £50 on unused memberships and a further 12% wasted £26 – £50
- 27% would like pay-as-you-go satellite or digital television services and a quarter opted for pay-as-you-go car insurance

Brits demand more flexibility and the choice to be able to use pay-per-day services such as gym memberships, car insurance and television services. That’s according to new research launched today by T-Mobile.

Research shows that almost half of Brits (45%) felt they wasted money last year on membership, contract and subscription fees that they didn’t use. Not surprisingly, gym memberships are the most popular subscriptions at this time of year, but according to the survey 69% of people who joined a gym with New Year’s resolutions in mind felt they didn’t get value for money because they didn’t use it enough. Nearly a quarter of people with subscriptions felt that they had wasted more than £50 and a further 12% believed that they had wasted between £26 – £50 on unused memberships.

With the credit crunch looming large in everyone’s mind, 2008 looks set to be a year in which value for money is paramount. According to the research, many popular subscription services could do with offering consumers greater choice and the option to use pay-per-day services. Almost a third (30%) of respondents favoured pay-per-day gym memberships, 27% wanted for pay-per-view satellite or digital television services and a quarter would like pay-as-you-drive car insurance.

Richard Warmsley, Head of Internet on the Move, T-Mobile, said: “The research highlights growing demand amongst consumers for greater choice and flexibility when signing up to new memberships and services in the New Year. Now that consumers can have pay-per-day mobile broadband, our research suggests that they also want the same level of flexibility in other aspects of their life.

“We have continued our commitment in giving our customers the choice to control how they spend with pay-per-day deals such as web’n'walk Plus Daily which gives customers unlimited broadband Internet access for £4 a day. Unlimited browsing allows customers to take full advantage of the internet, the way they like at any time, without the constraints of a fixed line or monthly commitment.”

T-Mobile was the first operator to offer unlimited pay-per-day broadband across the UK. Customers can for the first time experience a high speed internet connection via a T-Mobile USB modem and their laptop, for £4 a day.

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About the research
Research was conducted by Ipsos MORI via their online omnibus. 1,000 respondents aged 16 to 64 were interviewed between 14th – 18th December 2007.

Web’n'walk mobile internet timeline:
November 2005 – T-Mobile launches web’n'walk – the UK’s first simple, open Internet experience with the freedom to browse the entire web, just like you use at home and at work
April 2006 – T-Mobile is the first UK operator to charge a flat rate per month plan for unlimited mobile internet browsing and e-mail
August 2006 – T-Mobile launched web’n'walk for pay as you go customers – with a unique new charging mechanism – with browsing costs capped at a maximum of £1 per day, however much you surf
October 2006 – web’n'walk Plus and Max launched providing an enriched web experience via a handset modem or laptop card, and access to the full range of Internet calling services (e.g. VoiP)
July 2007 – T-Mobile announce half a million customers are regularly using T-Mobile’s mobile internet service, web’n'walk
October 2007 – T-Mobile launches web’n'walk 3.0 allowing users to personalise their homepages and have one click access to their favourite websites
November 2007 – T-Mobile becomes the first operator in the UK to offer pay as you go broadband with web’n'walk Plus Daily, offering customers super fast internet access without a contract for no more than £4 per day
November 2007 – T-Mobile announce its 5 Day Pass for £2.50, enabling pay-as-you-go customers access to the whole internet for just 50p per day
January 2008 – T-Mobile integrate free Wi-Fi Hotpots within the web’n'walk price plans.

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Notes to editors

T-Mobile has a great selection of PAYG/ contract deals. Further details can be found at www.t-mobile.co.uk

Contacts:
T-Mobile: Sophia Parviez
+44 (0) 7908 208 417
Brands2Life
+44 (0) 207 592 1200

About T-Mobile UK
T-Mobile is one of the world’s largest mobile operators with more than 112 million customers worldwide and in the UK it is the network of choice for approaching 17 million customers, making it one of the largest networks.

T-Mobile has a range of innovative products and services such as Flext, a unique tariff with flexible pricing; U-Fix, a tariff that combines pay-as-you-go and a monthly contract and web’n'walk, which enables customers to surf websites on the move. T-Mobile’s network coverage is among the best in the UK (over 99% of the UK population) with one of the lowest dropped call rates. It offers the largest worldwide Wi-Fi network, with over 1,000 HotSpots in business-friendly locations in the UK and 21,000 worldwide, and offers the fastest 3G network across the UK with speeds of up to 1.8mb per second.

For more information about T-Mobile UK, please visit www.t-mobile.co.uk