SME Conferencing Up 50% Next 12 Months

More than 50 percent of European small and mid-sized businesses plan to increase use of conference-calling and video-conferencing technologies over the next 12 months, a survey conducted by Skype reveals.

That finding corroborates with other data suggesting that Web-based collaboration, for example, is growing much faster than air travel, and replacement of such travel costs is a generally accepted value conferencing services provide.

A third of companies surveyed already use conference calls while a further 40 percent see the potential. Two thirds of companies already using conference calling do so at least once a week and 60 percent predict that they are likely to increase use over the next 12 months.

There is a similar pattern to video-conferencing use. Despite being a relatively new feature, more than 40 percent can see the potential of video-conferencing use in business. Skype’s internal data also suggest that 30 percent of all Skype calls now involve video.

There is also strong evidence to suggest that small businesses are embracing conference calling and video conferencing as a method of communicating both internally and with their customers and new prospects, Skype says.

In fact, many of the SMEs questioned who were not current users of video conferencing said they would be more likely to use it if it was better quality and not expensive.

Mobile Ads Still Largely Text Based

Global mobile advertising will grow from $2.7 billion in 2007 to $19.1 billion in 2012, mainly on the strength of text-message campaigns, according to a new eMarketer report.

Mobile spending in the U.S. market will jump from $878 million in 2007 to $6.5 billion by 2012, but will be eclipsed by the more mobile-centric Asia-Pacific market by then.

U.S. mobile spending is projected to nearly double to $1.7 billion in 2008.

Because text-messaging will remain the dominant non-voice mobile service over the next several years--especially in big markets like China and India that lack 3G networks--that's where most ad dollars will flow, eMarketer argues.

Advertising linked to SMS and MMS text-messaging, mobile instant messaging, and mobile e-mail will collectively account for more than $14 billion of the $19 million total projected in 2012--up from $2.5 billion in 2007.

Display and search advertising will lag because those formats work best on higher-speed broadband networks. But $99 smart prices and unlimited use mobile plans are going to expand market potential in North America.

3G Data Card Sales to Quadruple

Sales of mobile data cards are forecast by Infonetics Research to nearly quadruple between 2007 and 2011, when they will reach $2.9 billion globally.

Of course, mobile data cards could threaten some portion of the Wi-Fi hotspot market, as a logical consequence.

“Currently, mobile data services are generally too expensive for mass market adoption, but that will change with the increasingly extensive roll out of high speed HSDPA, the launch of new data plans offering increased download limits, and better subsidies for mobile data cards," says Richard Webb, Infonetics directing analyst.

There is another possibility, though. Broadband-equipped smart phones that double as access devices will become more popular. And some significant part of the Wi-Fi and data card use case is being subsumed by mobile email devices and Web-capable smart phones.

Still, it is hard to envision any scenario where "personal broadband" does not ultimately become as ubiquitous as "personal voice" now is. It will take a while, but the same convenience values that have transformed "voice," which once was a shared service provided to "places," and now is provided to "people," will occur in the mobile Web area as well.

Why Mobile is a Better Business than Wireline or Internet

From a service provider's point of view, the Internet has proven to be an important driver of new service revenue in the form of broadband access and dial-up access, in its day. So far, though, mobile data has been a far-better business, despite moves toward openness that will render much wireless data a business uncomfortably similar to wired data (access dominated revenues, in other words).

The reason is that mobile services have been much more a walled garden that the Internet has been, so customers have gotten used to the idea that applications cost money in a mobile context where equivalents might not, in a broader Internet context.

”It’s not lost on mobile users that they still pay for almost everything on mobile,” says John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer senior analyst.

Analysts at Telephia, now a part of Nielsen Mobile, point out that a typical monthly charge for location-based services in $9.23. Music services might add $4.99 while weather services might cost $2.82.

That's likely to change as more users switch to smart phones with Web browsing capabilities, though. It's hard to see many people paying for general purpose weather, sports, news or map-related information when they can just pull that information from their mobile browsers.

Fuze: Mobile Video Collaboration

Fuze is CallWave's new mobile-centric collaboration service, browser-based and featuring what it calls "high-definition synchronized video collaboration". Fuze offers what CallWave calls "a sophisticated audio/video collaboration experience with remote access from any computer and from 3G or Wi-Fi enabled phones."

Fuze participants can use Skype as well as landline or mobile phones when participating in conferences.

The service also allows 3G or Wi-Fi connected users to view business documents like PowerPoint and videos as part of a conference call.

Additional services include high-definition audio conferencing, collaboration, voice-to-text transcription, local and long distance calling, Internet fax, visual voicemail, text and instant messaging. Many of the applications and services on an a la carte basis.

Get ready for lots of mobile-related news: CTIA is coming.

Growing Interest in Mobile Transactions

A new Harris Interactive study suggests 25 percent of users with mobile Internet access now use their devices to buy goods and services online with a credit card, and nearly one in five saying they would like to someday use cell phones as a "mobile wallet," where charges would be billed directly to their mobile accounts.

In addition, ten percent of the survey participants said they would consider wire transfers and stock trading via their mobile phones.

About 16 percent of mobile phone subscribers already use mobile banking services, with 60 percent of these people using the services at least once a week, Harris Interactive says.

About 35 percent of respondents say they are "open" to checking bank account balances and transferring funds using their mobile devices. A third of those surveyed also said they would like to receive text message alerts from their financial institutions.

The survey also found that smart phone users exhibit this behavior more than other mobile users, but that finding doesn't mean much. By definition, smart phones can access the Web, and smart phone users are more likely to buy data plans.

Still, the new survey simply indicates that mobile banking and other transaction services are slowly gaining awareness and usage.

Cox Mobile Broadband?

In the recent U.S. 700 Mhz auctions, Cox Communications won 14 Block A and eight Block B licenses in areas where it also has cable TV systems. Cox hasn't said what it might do with those assets, but the most logical choice are local mobile broadband networks that allow Cox customers to unify fixed and wireless mobility access, at least within a metro area.

Long term, it remains to be seen how effective such combined access will prove to be, compared to services that additionally add national access.

There is at least some evidence most consumers do not value mobile broadband all that highly, when they already have fixed broadband. And lots of users who do value mobile broadband are business travelers who really need national access, and in some cases international access that Cox won't be able to provide.