Sky Business Study Claims Two Thirds of SME Businesses Run Out of Mobile Data

A new OnePoll survey of 1,000 small and medium-sized UK businesses (leaders and decision makers), which was commissioned by broadband and mobile provider Sky Business, has claimed that 66% of them have “run out of mobile data in the last two years“, resulting in missed sales and lost productivity until resolved (i.e. an estimated average revenue loss of £3,462 a year).

The survey also found that 73% experience a “Fear of Running Out” (FORO) of mobile data, rising to more than 8 in 10 among millennial-led businesses. At the same time, some 56% of SMEs that have run out of mobile broadband data say they have lost business to the tune of £3,462 on average a year in missed sales, bookings and opportunities.

Similarly, 45% said running out of mobile data would be worse than running out of stock, while more than a third report being unable to process payments when data runs out. The disruption is so severe that 49% say losing mobile data would be worse for their business than losing Wi-Fi for an entire day.

On the flip side, businesses were said to spend an average of £477 a month on mobile data, yet 33% of that data is said to go unused – equivalent to nearly £1,900 per business each year. Mayuresh Thavapalan, Commercial and Marketing Director for Sky Business, said: “UK businesses are effectively paying twice – once for data sat unused across their team, and again if someone unexpectedly runs out. Mobile connectivity should flex around how a business actually operates.”

Suffice to say that Sky Business has a vested interest in all of this as their new SIM-Only mobile service, which launched last year (details), has partly been designed to tackle this sort of problem. So, take with the usual pinch of salt.