Young Adults Call the Shots on Their Wireless Connectivity

Sprint survey finds that 18- to 34-year-olds value more applications for less on their wireless phone.

Wireless Phone Personalities: 2009 Sprint Mobile Usage Survey.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.-- Leaving home without a wireless phone or stranded on a desert island? For today’s highly connected youth, the feeling is one and the same, as more than 80 percent of young adults (18-34) cite their wireless phone as their “lifeline” to others, according to a recent survey from Sprint (NYSE: S).

In a tech-heavy world, relying on a wireless phone for talking, texting, managing work calendars and monitoring Facebook has become commonplace for young adults ages 18 to 34. More than a third (38 percent) of employed young adults who own a wireless phone strongly agree their mobile phone is essential to managing a work/life balance, compared to only 18 percent of their counterparts ages 55 and older.

Young adults who have purchased a wireless phone also say phone applications, such as e-mail (23 percent), Internet browsing (31 percent), and contact/calendar management (45 percent), are the most important features when purchasing a new phone. This is starting to showcase the importance the younger generation places on their data services vs. their voice experience.

“Young people are increasingly reliant on their wireless phones for everything, and have come to expect more from their phones, especially with their on-the-go lifestyles,” said Lindsey Pollak, a Generation Y expert. “To young adults, wireless phones are their connection to friends, the office, their calendar, social media and games. They want it all, but don’t necessarily want to pay for it.”

While young adults have even greater expectations of what their wireless phone will do, they still remain cost-conscious of phone plans. Nearly 90 percent who have ever purchased a wireless phone say the price of a mobile phone plan influences their purchasing decision.

Price Plans

The price of a phone’s plan is a contributing factor in their purchasing decision for the majority of young adults (88 percent) who have ever purchased a wireless phone.

Nearly 45 percent of adults ages 35 to 44 who have ever purchased a wireless phone strongly agree that the price of their phone plan influences their purchasing decision.

Sprint Everything Data plans for both individuals and families allow consumers to select the number of voice minutes they anticipate using, while including messaging and data services as part of the plan cost – all at a substantial discount over competitors. Sprint’s Simply Everything plan, for example, allows customers to save $1,200 over two years vs. comparable AT&T plans for the iPhone.1 Furthermore, Sprint’s Simply Everything Family plan combines unlimited voice, data and messaging for two customers for one low price, at a savings of more than $1,910 over two years vs. comparable plans from AT&T and Verizon.2

Use of Features

While the majority of those ages 55 and older who have ever purchased a wireless phone (86 percent) report that ease of use is the most important feature when purchasing a mobile phone, their younger counterparts look to what the phone can do for them: 45 percent are more likely to look at the ability to manage contacts and/or calendar easily; one-third (33 percent) are more likely to expect a built-in keyboard; and 23 percent are more likely to consider the phone’s ability to access both work and personal e-mail.

Texting

Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) of young adults who own a wireless phone are more likely to use text messaging constantly/often on their mobiles phones than their older counterparts (9 percent).

More than half (56 percent) of young adults who own a wireless phone and use text messaging report they text “pretty fast,” compared to 26 percent of their counterparts ages 55 and older. At the same time, 46 percent of young adults who own a wireless phone prefer to have a QWERTY keyboard for texting, and 24 percent of those 35- to 44-years-old prefer to have a QWERTY touch screen.

E-mail

More than one in four (27 percent) young adults who own a wireless phone and have access to e-mail on it constantly/often use this application compared to their counterparts ages 55 and older (8 percent).

Social Media

For young adults who own a wireless phone and have access to social media sites on it, 25 percent of them use this constantly/often, compared to only 1 percent of those 55 and older. Younger adults are also more likely to check their social media profiles more often: A quarter (25 percent) of those 35- to 44-years-old check their social media profiles frequently, some of them every day.

Social media access even plays a role in purchasing a wireless phone: 18 percent of young adults who have ever purchased a wireless phone say that having it as a feature is most important.

This survey was conducted online June 24-26, 2009, within the United States by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Sprint among 2,025 adults ages 18 and older of whom 1,855 own a wireless phone. This online survey is not based on a probability sample. Therefore, no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Laura Lisec.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two wireless networks serving almost 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The company’s customer-focused strategy has led to improved first call resolution and customer care satisfaction scores. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.