CHRISTMAS CARDS BYTE THE DUST - RISE OF VIRTUAL CHRISTMAS CHEER DRIVES MOBILE DATA UP BY 65 PER CENT

Optus research into holiday greeting traditions has found almost a third of Aussies won’t be posting any Christmas cards this year. Instead we will turn to virtual greetings to save time, reduce costs and avoid a perception of being ‘daggy’ or out of touch.

The ‘Optus Virtual Cheer[1]’ survey polled more than 1,200 Aussies across the nation and found that ‘virtual cheer’ will be the order of the day as 64 per cent of Aussies opt to send a Christmas email, e-card or social media message instead of the traditional Christmas card.  This is in line with Optus network forecasts that predict a massive 65 per cent[2] rise in data use on Christmas Day compared to the same time last year. Claire Wong, Optus spokesperson, said, “Optus research found Aussies are keen to spread Christmas cheer, but they’re looking at new ways of doing it. Forty-three per cent of Australians told us they’re now sending digital cards instead of paper, and almost a quarter of us will shoot off a “Merry Christmas” email along with a yearly recap and updated family snaps.” Get ready for your close-up, Christmas turkey It’s not just Chrissie emails and e-cards bumping up data use, Optus research shows increased data use will also be driven by:

• 26 per cent of Aussies plan to blast out holiday messages to family and friends via social media;
• 12 per cent will include overseas family and friends in the present opening frenzy via video calls;
• Nearly 10 per cent plan to share happy snaps of the Christmas dinner on social media; with
• Female foodie photographers almost twice as likely to share a pic of the turkey on Christmas day as male (11 per cent of women vs. 6 per cent of men).

The top three reasons for the demise of the Christmas card were:

• Time pressures: a third of Aussies feel they don’t have time to write out and send traditional cards (31 per cent).
• Cost-cutting: just over a third feel it’s too expensive (36 per cent).
• Out-of-touch: Men were more than twice as likely to think it old fashioned (35 per cent) than women (13 per cent).

The network numbers: It’s not just the humble Christmas card that’s on the decline this year – Optus network forecasts also predict a decline in more traditional connections like SMSs and mobile, local and national calls in favour of data-led connections such as social media, video calls and digital cards. “Despite the flurry of virtual Christmas cheer, plenty of Optus customers will still be making calls and sending texts on Christmas day, particularly to international friends and family,” Ms Wong said. “Collectively, Optus customers are expected to spend more than 5 million minutes calling overseas on the big day, a 10 per cent rise on last year.” On Christmas Day, Optus expects our customers will:

• Use nearly 280 terabytes of data (65 per cent increase year on year)
• Send more than 58 million SMSs (down 9 per cent year on year)
• Make over 31 million mobile calls (down 4 per cent year on year)
• Make more than 23 million local and national calls (down 5 per cent year on year)

Preparing for the holidays If you’re visiting the family or setting out on holidays over the summer, Optus wants to let you know, we’ve prepared our network throughout the year for the holiday season. We’ve conducted 3G upgrades, 4G site rollout and capacity improvements in holiday hotspots and metro areas across the country such as Victoria’s Mornington and Bellarine Peninsulas’, the New South Wales North, Central, and South Coasts’, South Australia’s Yorke Peninsula and Victor Harbour and towns up and down the Queensland Coast.   Media contact Optus Corporate Affairs media@optus.com.au (02) 8082 7850 [1] The study was conducted by Galaxy Research among 1,255 Australian respondents, aged 18 and over between 22^nd – 26^th November, 2013