While most of the surveys and research into the effects of the global recession on the habits of consumers come to the conclusion that telecoms in general and mobile comms in particular are weathering the storm rather well in comparison to other sectors, mainly because many subscribers would - apparently - rather do without food than to be deprived of their cellphones, every now and then a rogue bit of analysis that flies in the face of received wisdom is published.

It's just happened again with a new report on British consumer attitudes to the downturn concluding that subscribers are indeed significantly cutting back on their phone usage, TelecomTV One reports this week. The new research from Booz & Co. shows that 25 per cent of subscribers have already reduced spending on telephony and other media and, rather more ominously, that a further 26 per cent intend to do so over the next six months.

This is not good news for telcos and service providers that are casting around for new ways to persuade and cajole increasingly reluctant customers to increase ARPU and help keep the operators at the level profits to which they have become so accustomed. The survey also shows that 45 per cent of subscribers are considering bundling their telecoms and media services - and will churn away as soon as possible from their current providers and to a new SP offering lower prices.

At the same time, 44 per cent of respondents say they will definitely start to use "free" VoIP services such as Skype and are quite prepared to trade a reduction in service quality for lower bills in a time of general belt-tightening and austerity.

Meanwhile, 23 per cent say times are so hard that they may soon be forced to cancel their broadband and cable TV subscriptions. The only bit of good news is that consumers also indicate that they are turning back to that old standby, the landline phone - mainly because the service is cheaper.

BT, the UK's incumbent telco, that has seen voice revenues collapse in recent years will doubtless benefit from that trend. And if today's figures from the operator are anything to go by, BT needs all the help it can get.

The other side of this coin is, of course, that the mobile operators will suffer and the Booz & Co. analysis shows that 25 per cent of respondents to the survey say that they may stop using mobile phones completely until the economic outlook improves. Unsurprisingly, 45 per cent are delaying the purchase of a new or replacement handset whilst 43 per cent are switching to cheaper mobile contracts.

As is already proven as an established fact, mobile subscribers are a fickle lot with minimum brand loyalty and ever ready to move over to another service provider in pursuit of a better deal.

Furthermore, previous research shows that when they have moved once consumers tend to keep on churning. Michael Peterson, head of Booz & Co's UK CMT practice says, "Operators need to not only review their product and service offerings in the short-term, but also think about their long-term strategy, as customers are becoming more savvy about the way they purchase and use services. The operators that can recognize and adapt to these changes will emerge strongest from the recession.