Churn The other incidental churn occurs when the customer moves outside of your service area. This happens more often in countries such as the U.S. or China where people can easily move between carrier boundaries without leaving the country. In countries that are less geographically dispersed change in location churn is much less likely. Change in Life Situation Churn Finally, the change in life situation churn covers most other reasons that might cause customers to terminate service when it isn't their idea. Customers die, their parents take away their phones, or any other of a variety of causes. DELIBERATE CHURN For the most part, incidental churn occurs only in a very small number of cases and is usually nothing more than a natural part of any business. More important are the many kinds of churn that happen when customers deliberately leave your company. Deliberate churn happens for reasons of technology (customers wanting newer or better technology), economics (price sensitivity), quality factors, social or psychological factors, and convenience reasons. TECHNOLOGY-BASED CHURN In our technology-based society and with the high technology, new and improved profile that wireless telephones offer it should come as no surprise that wireless customers are sensitive to technology issues and will switch carriers in response that. Technology-based churn can be divided into three major categories: handset churn, feature/function churn, and network churn. Chapter 4 Handset Churn Handset churn is an especially pervasive type of churn that has been significant in many markets, especially in Asia. Basically, customers decide that their handset is not new enough and that the easiest way to get a newer one is to simply change carriers. Figure 4-4: Handset Churn What is especially nefarious about handset churn is that the carrier who provides the phone service loses a customer, not because of the phone service, but as a result of the technological or psychological obsolescence of the handset the customer uses. Handset Churn C