Churners three times more likely to join Vodafone

That's three times the number who would move to MMO2 (11 per cent) or Orange (10 per cent). Another of the key findings is that it is the smaller operators such as E-Plus in Germany or WIND in Italy who appear most vulnerable to churn.

David Kerr, vp for Strategy Analytics' global wireless division, says that this points to potential danger for the newest entrant - Hutchison's 3. Strangely, he argues that 3 has failed to attract customers on price - which is amazing since 3 has almost single-handedly started a price war in the UK.

He also describes 3 as "data-centric". Are we talking about the same 3, the INQ wonders?

3 is notoriously video-centric and unlike Vodafone has yet to launch a 3G data card.

Less surprising is the company's finding that 10 per cent of Brits and 20 per cent of Italians are thinking of jumping ship to churn to 3. Two other operators which the report says should watch out are T-Mobile and TIM (in Italy) whose users are unhappy with the customer care they receive. µ