The Mobile Traffic Explosion

If Cisco's projections for mobile data consumption are anywhere near correct, some changes in end user retail pricing for access, or some other new revenue streams based on such traffic, will be needed. Smartphones represent only 13 percent of total global handsets, but 78 percent of total handset traffic.

And if the predictions for tablet growth are anywhere near correct, demand is going to grow even more than projected for smartphones. In 2010, three million tablets were connected to the mobile network, each generating five times more traffic than the average smartphone.

Mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold between 2010 and 2015, as a result. In fact, there might be 788 million mobile-only Internet users by 2015.

To be sure, bandwidth and cost-per-bit do not scale linearly. In the global backbone network, additional capacity can be purchased at lower prices "per-bit" of capacity. New fourth-generation networks are helpful in the access network, where most of the actual cost of end-to-end service lies. But it stands to reason that an order of magnitude increase in bandwidth consumption, with matching investment in facilities, must be accompanied by some increases in retail pricing, even if the increases are not linear.

The likely way such increases could be avoided or limited is if significant new revenue streams can be created that are not the result of end-user subscription fees.

The Mobile Traffic Explosion and its Impact

Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty

Of the nearly 131 million housing units in this country, 112.5 million are occupied. There were 18.4 million vacant homes in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2010, 11 percent of all housing units vacant all year round.

That is bound to have a depressing effect on all services and products sold to "home dwellers," ranging from fixed-line voice and entertainment video to home furnishings, household goods, remodeling and so forth.

Home Ownership—Nearly 11 Percent of US Houses Empty - CNBC

Brands See Mobile Social Channels Growing in Importance

U.S. marketers surveyed by PRWeek and MS&L Group believed mobile social would have important consequences for their brand.

Asked which social media efforts would have the greatest effect on their company, 17 percent said more usage of social media on mobile platforms and a further 12 percent cited uptake of mobile location-based social networking.

The Influence of Mobile on Social Marketing’s Future - eMarketer

Tablets Driving Higher Interest in Video Advertising

Bigger screens on tablets seem to be driving consumer interest in video-based advertising, a Nielsen report suggests.

Nielsen’s research among connected device owners suggests that iPad owners are more receptive to ads than other mobile device owners, particularly when the ads contain video and other interactive features.

These findings square with the general purpose of the device. After all, the iPad shines when it comes to video and multi-media consumption.

What the Tron iAd Means for the Future of Tablet Advertising

"Financial Reforms" Lead to More Unbanked Americans

All well-intentioned bits of regulation have unintended consequences. Some of those consequences are foreseeable, in fact. Consumer protection legislation provides a good example. "The number of Americans who have bank accounts is likely to drop in the coming months as financial institutions seek to make up the costs of additional regulation with greater fees," says the Credit Union Times.

In response to new limits on fees, banks are setting new minimum balance requirements in order to avoid paying fees for checking services, while others have begun charging fees for debit cards and debit card use.

All financial institutions have faced increased regulations, but financial institutions with more than $10 billion in assets also face a cap on their debit card interchange which has been proposed as low as 12 cents per transaction. That is going to slice the profitability of the credit card business, and in some cases could put issuers under water, says Philip Philiou, partner at Selwanes Philliou.

The unintended consequence is a likely increase in the number of U.S. citizens and residents who do not use bank accounts. Ironically, that is going to increase the opportunity for mobile payment and money transfer services that do not require linking mobile payments to credit or debit accounts or checking accounts.

Interchange Cap Likely Leading To More Unbanked Americans

Remote Deposit for Mobile Banking: Potential "Killer" App

You might have encountered remote deposit capture at an automated teller machine, where the ATM scans a check, or takes a picture of the front and back of a check, and sends it into the cloud for deposit, giving you a copy of the photo? Some think that sort of feature, available on a mobile phone, could be a "killer" app for mobile banking, which today in the U.S. market mostly offers ability to check balances and conduct other simple operations from a mobile device.

But what if banking services also included the ability to snap a picture of a check, send it into the cloud, determine validity of check and get instant funds deposited to a mobile account. That might not be so valuable in the U.S. market, but could be quite useful in many parts of the world where the banking system is undeveloped.

Is Remote Deposit Capture the Killer App for Mobile?

All the Super Bowl Commercials in One Place

I admit, I liked "Carma" and the Volkswagen ads.....