Yahoo Finance 4G: Lack Of Access Could Cost Economy £120m
Another Christmas without a universal 4G service will cost the UK economy £120m in lost sales, according to a new study.
Slow connection speeds are set to pose a barrier for many consumers wanting to shop via their mobile phones.
And the report by online auction site eBay claims a nationwide roll-out of 4G would have boosted sales from £373m to £493m.
More than half of consumers (55%) plan to use their mobile to browse the web this Christmas, while 39% say they will use their device to get gift ideas and check prices.
And eBay.co.uk said it expected to see around a third of items in its Christmas campaign bought through a smartphone.
It said the top three barriers preventing consumers from shopping on their mobiles were slow connection speeds, payments timing out and network reliability - all problems effectively eliminated by 4G.
EE, formerly known as Everything Everywhere, has started to launch its range of 4G products and services in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Southampton and Manchester (Other OTC: MNCSQ.PK - news) .
The network, which offers speeds up to five times faster than 3G, will be available on the Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) iPhone 5 as well as devices from HTC (Other OTC: HTCXF.PK - news) , Samsung, Nokia (Stockholm: NOKI-SEK.ST - news) and Huawei.
Clare Gilmartin, vice president of eBay Marketplaces Europe, said: "Mobile devices have become virtual stores in our pockets, giving us the ability to shop anytime, anywhere.
"But for consumers, it's critical that the experience is quick, seamless and simple.
"While we welcomed the move by Ofcom to bring the 4G spectrum auction forward to early 2013 there's no doubt, as this research shows, that for the UK economy the cost of another Christmas without universal 4G is huge."
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