Automatic Mobile Phone Public Hotspot Access?

Some 37 communications companies around the world have signed up to test Hotspot 2 Wi-Fi roaming and billing. 


Aircel, AT&T, Boingo Wireless, BT, BskyB (The Cloud), China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, DOCOMO InterTouch, Everything Everywhere, FON Wireless, Gowex, Indosat M2, HK CSL, KDDI, iBAHN, KT Corporation, Meteor Network, NTT DOCOMO, Oi Wi-Fi, Orange, PCCW Mobile, Portugal Telecom TMN, SK Telecom, Shaw Communications, Smart Communications, Softbank Mobile, StarHub, Swisscom, Talk Talk, TeliaSonera, Telefonica, TIM Brasil, Time Warner Cable, Tomizone, True Corp., Trustive and TTNET are among the firms participating. 


The Wireless Broadband Alliance says the trials of "Next Generation Hotspots" will test interoperability and performance of new gear that will give users easier access to a far greater number of public Wi-Fi access points around the world.


The trials will take place in the fourth quarter and employ the first generation of Wi-Fi "Passpoint" equipment which the Wi-Fi Alliance today announced it will start approving. The WBA expects the first NGH deployments to take place in H1 2013.


Next Generation Hotspots will allow users to gain access without the need for user names and passwords, while also allowing operators to establish relationships with each other so their users can access a wide variety of hotspots in their own country and around the world. 
HotSpot 2 might also have the potential to be disruptive, though, some might argue.


It has  been some time since anyone seriously argued that public Wi-Fi hotspots could be a  viable alternative to mobile infrastructure. But at least to some extent, HotSpot 2 could create WiFi networks extensive enough, and easy enough to use, that some contestants could offer Internet access either as a non-mobile but outside the home service, or simply offload mobile traffic to the hotspots, as most of the mobile operators hope to do. 

The Difference Between Operating System and Device Share

There's an important difference between "smart phone" device share and operating system market share. Operating system share arguably tells you less than device share. Apple and Samsung, for example, are winning handset share.


Operating system share arguably tells you less, since Android and Microsoft operating systems are multi-vendor, while Research in Motion and Apple iOS are single vendor. 


That could change if Research in Motion succeeds in splitting its services business from its handset business, or if Nokia's ownership changes. 

PayPal Goes "Mobile First"

PayPal has decided to consolidate all PayPal product groups into one global product organization led by Hill Ferguson, who was previously in charge of the mobile organization. "Mobile is simpler by definition," says David Marcus, PayPal president.


Some of us would say PayPal is only the latest application provider to go "mobile first" in its product strategy. That's sound thinking.


Consider that many mobile users prefer mobile Internet access and apps to fixed network usage. Hispanics in the United States, for example, "over-index" for mobile application usage. Almost 50  percent of U.S. Hispanic Internet traffic is driven by mobile devices, for example, according to Troy Brown, one50one founder and president. 


According to industry research firm Nielsen, in the US, Hispanics on average spend 20 percent more time on streaming video over mobile than the rest of the population (four hours and 20 minutes per month versus three hours and 37 minutes).

Research from Google indicates that African-Americans over-index versus other segments in accessing video-sharing websites via their smart phones (49 percent versus 43 percent).

Anecdotally, we at one50one see a much higher percentage of African-American and Hispanic audiences watching live performances on their mobile devices, says Brown.

Smart Phone Sales Could Drop $40 Billion by 2016 if People Use Their Own Phones at Work

Paradoxically, what is good for enterprises and small businesses might not be so good for mobile handset providers or mobile service providers.


The growing number of workers that bring their own smart phones into the mobile workplace means enterprises and other businesses do not have to buy devices for their workers. And if employers reimburse workers for service charges related to their personal devices, employers do not have buy additional mobile subscriptions.


So ARCchart estimates smart phone sales could drop by $40 billion by 2016. The ARCchart study shows the complex impact of people using their own devices for personal use and work, instead of using one device for work and another for personal use. 

17% of Mobile Owners Do "Most" of Their Online Activities on the Mobile

About 17 percent of mobile phone owners do most of their online browsing on their phone, rather than a computer or other device, the Pew Center Internet & American Life Project reports.


Most do so for convenience, but for some their phone is their only option for online access. That has obvious implications for the evolution of the broadband access business in the United States. What might now be only a convenience could later change into a preferred behavior, particularly for some users who have access to fourth generation networks and do not watch much online video. 


Some 88 percent of U.S. adults own a cell phone of some kind as of April 2012, and more than half of these cell owners (55 percent) use their phone to go online. That, the researchers say,  represents a notable increase from the 31 percent of mobile device owners who said that they used their phone to go online as recently as April 2009.


Also, 31 percent of these current cell internet users say that they mostly go online using their cell phone, and not using some other device such as a desktop or laptop computer. That is a significant number, since adoption of most products and services often assumes a faster adoption curve once 10 percent of users are reached. 

Virgin Mobile USA to Offer iPhone on June 29, 2012

Virgin Mobile USA announced today it will offer iPhone to its prepaid customers beginning Friday, June 29. Virgin Mobile USA will offer iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S with its "Beyond Talk" unlimited data and messaging plans as low as $30 per month on the Sprint Nationwide Network.

Here's why the move is important. Up to this point, the "prepaid" mobile service providers have been unable to sell the Apple iPhone, with some obvious implications for customer attraction and retention. Since Virgin and MetroPCS now sell the iPhone, some of that disadvantage is removed.

To be sure, consumers at Virgin Mobile USA and MetroPCS will have to pay full retail for their devices, but as some will note, at $50 a month, a consumer sort of "breaks even" after six months of service.

The more-important implication, though, will be seen in consumer willingness and ability to pay full retail for devices, getting service providers out of the device subsidy game. Virtually all global mobile carriers would prefer to be in that situation, and we might now get a true test of consumer willingness to pay full retail for their coveted devices.

The iPhone will be available without a contract and with no fees for activation or roaming. New and existing customers can purchase iPhone atwww.virginmobileusa.com, RadioShack, Best Buy and select local retailers.

Gaming Revenues Shifting Away from Consoles

U.S. video game sales totaled $24.75 million in 2011, mostly on traditional content to be played on dedicated gaming consoles, NPD Group data indicates. 

But spending is slowly migrating from console games to non-traditional and more-casual game formats, according to eMarketer.

Between 2009 and 2011, revenues for computer and console games shrank from $10.6 billion to $9.3 billion, for example. 

Games delivered by mobile apps, social networks, downloads and other channels were the newer formats.