Research from Service Adoption Management (SAM) company Olista  suggests that up to 55% of potential 3G users abandon value-added services due to basic usability issues, such as difficulty navigating through menus, inability to find downloaded content, or a forgotten password. The findings came from live trials conducted by Olista and European mobile operators to identify the common barriers to potential 3G portal and content users.
Further statistics showed that users are confused over the difference between streaming and downloading, an issue exacerbated by the bad billing experiences affecting 10 – 25% of users who receive multiple downloads of the same content. This makes disappointing reading, says Olista, and shows that the gap between the number of customers who could use value-added services, and the number who actively do, is huge. 
OlistaSAM was implemented at a number of European mobile operators and from the combined findings of these trials it has been possible to identify revenue generation opportunities and remove usability, training, pricing, interest and other experience barriers. OlistaSAMs problem investigation and resolution process is ongoing and allowed the mobile operators to see how value-added services were performing, how campaigns were working and the experience of both individuals and larger groups of users. This level of detail allows operators to make value-added services more effective and attractive, and provides them with the opportunity to proactively contact customers who need training or an upgrade to use a service successfully.
Ultimately, OlistaSAM allows the mobile operator to understand its customers better and successfully manage service adoption, the company says. For example, if OlistaSAM discovers a user had tried to download the same MP3 to the same phone several times, it will automatically send an explanatory text and waive the charge. In another example, OlistaSAM is able to monitor campaigns effectiveness in real-time and alert if results are lower than expected due to barriers such as usability, pricing and configuration.
One of the key issues affecting the adoption of mobile data services is ease-of-use and building confidence amongst users that the service will work first time, every time says Olista CEO Oren Glanz. Customers enjoying a positive first experience become more likely to use them again. If services do not work or perform properly, operators should proactively work to solve the problem and either offer resolution or a refund. By treating customers positively, operators can enjoy the reward of loyal customers using value-added services again.