As consumers become more tech savvy and upgrade to digital homes, operators face an interesting challenge. Not only do consumers want to use their mobile phones to secure their residences, monitor their health, work from home, record TV shows, access home videos, and take courses on line - they also want to have to pay only once.

In its Digital Home Study, business consulting firm Accenture surveyed 10,170 digital technology consumers in eight markets: China, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Germany, the United States, and Japan. Gathering data across such basic demographic factors as age, gender, and education, the results from each country were then aggregated globally.

The study sought to develop an awareness of consumer preferences for digital technologies; understand current levels of consumer satisfaction, as well as factors that drive or discourage adoption; determine current and future usage of digital home solutions  such as imaging, video, and education; and to uncover weak delivery links in the consumer experience chain - from R&D, to marketing, sales, service, and support.

Accenture found that only one in three respondents believed that manufacturers understood how they used technology. Eighty-two percent said they would not go to a manufacturer to fix a problem. Opinions of telecom providers were only slightly higher: just half of the respondents said telecom providers were committed to providing quality services. Churn is high: 35 percent would cancel their services within two years of purchase if they found better or cheaper services.

However, consumers did display interest and willingness to pay for services that they saw as valuable and on which they could rely. Almost three in four respondents said good service made them more likely to be repeat customers.

The bottom line? Customers want a whole host of services that are both effective and easy to use, and they do not want to be their own IT support. They are not interested in bearing the burden of having to monitor, maintain, or trouble-shoot their systems. They want new services that are easy to set up, easy to use, and will not break down. If telecom operators offer attractively packaged products, consumers are willing to pay for services that will improve their work and enhance their lives.

Mikael Eriksson-Björling, from Ericsson ConsumerLab, says operators need to think about new business models, context, strong competition, new types of set-ups, and the variety of products and services consumers want available in the home.  He says the most successful pricing models are bundling, flat rate, and triple play (in which broadband, fixed telephony, and TV are all in one package.)

He agrees with the study's recommendations that future services need to be delivered through bundled packages, and that operators can achieve this by providing better consumer education, enhancing post-sale use and enjoyment, and ensuring the technology works.

Eriksson-Björling says: "Just think of the blinking clock on the VCR flashing 00:00. It was a constant reminder that people didn't know how to set them up."