Global consumer spending on operator messaging services, including text messaging (short message service, or SMS) and miultimedia messaging service (MMS) has peaked in 2012 and will begin to decline in 2013, says Strategy Analytics.
In other words, you now can definitely add mobile messaging to the list of legacy services that now have passed their peak adoption and are declining.
According to the latest Global Mobile Messaging Forecast from Strategy Analytics, consumers will increase their spending on SMS and MMS by 2.5 percent in 2012.
That will reverse in 2013, as mobile service providers globally will see a 12 percent fall in global consumer spending on operator messaging revenue over the "next five years," Strategy Analytics predicts.
The decline in messaging revenue will be more pronounced in regions with the greatest penetration of smartphones and data users, like North America and Western Europe, where SMS and MMS expenditure will decline by 18 percent and almost 25 percent, respectively.
Growth in U.S. text message volume fell to nine percent in 2011, significantly down from 30 percent in 2010. In 2011 both T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless noted low single digit growth in total messaging revenue, Strategy Analytics says.
"While RCS and RCS-e enables mobile operators both to evolve mobile messaging beyond SMS and MMS and keep operators relevant in mobile messaging, it will not offset the current decline in messaging revenue," says David MacQueen, Strategy Analytics director.
"We forecast that by 2017, 293 million users of RCS/ RCS-e based services will generate $370 million in revenue for mobile operators," he says.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Text Messaging Revenue Has Peaked, Starts Decline in 2013
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
One Example of How Verizon is Monetizing "Big Data"
The whole idea behind "big data" is the ability to analyze and then apply insights gleaned from examining the structured and unstructured data any organization generates in the normal conduct of its business. In principle, large mobile service providers generate lots of data a marketer might find useful.
"One vertical is a venue--like a sports stadium, a college campus or ski area," says Colson Hillier, Verizon vice president of precision marketing. Colson says Verizon worked with a professional sports team. The objectives were to help the client identify which types of customers attended the sports team's events, and when, Verizon says.
Among the findings was the insight that customers attending this sports team's events also attended events from other teams within a certain league, so that helped them deliver joint promotional opportunities and ticketing packages with other teams in the league.
"One vertical is a venue--like a sports stadium, a college campus or ski area," says Colson Hillier, Verizon vice president of precision marketing. Colson says Verizon worked with a professional sports team. The objectives were to help the client identify which types of customers attended the sports team's events, and when, Verizon says.
Among the findings was the insight that customers attending this sports team's events also attended events from other teams within a certain league, so that helped them deliver joint promotional opportunities and ticketing packages with other teams in the league.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
FreedomPop To Target Fixed Broadband Providers
FreedomPop, the mobile broadband supplier that has launched a nationwide wireless broadband service with a “freemium” model, is planning to introduce a service tier that it will market against cable and telco wireline operators.
A different cost structure might ultimately be key to the firm's possible success. For starters, FreedomPop is using leased service from Clearwire, not building its own network. That isn't terribly unusual, as Freedom is a mobile virtual network operator, like any other.
The difference is that FreedomPop focuses on data access only, not voice. EarthLink will try that approach as well.
The business model will build heavily on a "web distribution" model, with social elements that encourage users to sign up their friends. All that has implications for retail distribution costs and overhead.
The mobile access plans feature 1 GB of data for $10 a month, 5 GB for $35, and 10 GB for $60 a month. But FreedomPop says prices for fixed access might be different.
A different cost structure might ultimately be key to the firm's possible success. For starters, FreedomPop is using leased service from Clearwire, not building its own network. That isn't terribly unusual, as Freedom is a mobile virtual network operator, like any other.
The difference is that FreedomPop focuses on data access only, not voice. EarthLink will try that approach as well.
The business model will build heavily on a "web distribution" model, with social elements that encourage users to sign up their friends. All that has implications for retail distribution costs and overhead.
The mobile access plans feature 1 GB of data for $10 a month, 5 GB for $35, and 10 GB for $60 a month. But FreedomPop says prices for fixed access might be different.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Cisco cuts ties to China's ZTE after Iran Sales
Cisco Systems Inc. has ended a longstanding sales partnership with ZTE Corp after an internal investigation into allegations that the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker sold Cisco networking gear to Iran, Reuters reports.
That news comes as the The U.S. House intelligence committee is releasing a report that raises national security questions about Huawei, the Chinese firm that many say the the largest telecommunications equipment supplier in the world, with sizable share of the market for fourth generation networks.
The report does not have immediate consequences for private sector purchases of Huawei gear, but could point to future issues, especially if U.S. government agencies are barred from buying Huawei equipment. Those rules will tend to migrate to state purchases as well, and all of that could lead to pressure on leading U.S. telecom firms not to use Huawei gear.
Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) said U.S. telecommunications networks would be at risk of cyber attacks if Huawei gear were used. "We simply cannot trust such vital systems to companies with known ties to the Chinese state," Rogers said.
Huawei executives deny the charges.
The House intelligence committee has conducted a year-long investigation of potential national security threats posed by Huawei and ZTE.
Huawei is now the world's second-largest provider of telecommunications equipment, and it does 70% of its business outside China.
The report also recommends that the U.S. government avoid using equipment from the firms, and that U.S. companies seek alternative vendors for telecommunications equipment.
That news comes as the The U.S. House intelligence committee is releasing a report that raises national security questions about Huawei, the Chinese firm that many say the the largest telecommunications equipment supplier in the world, with sizable share of the market for fourth generation networks.
The report does not have immediate consequences for private sector purchases of Huawei gear, but could point to future issues, especially if U.S. government agencies are barred from buying Huawei equipment. Those rules will tend to migrate to state purchases as well, and all of that could lead to pressure on leading U.S. telecom firms not to use Huawei gear.
Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) said U.S. telecommunications networks would be at risk of cyber attacks if Huawei gear were used. "We simply cannot trust such vital systems to companies with known ties to the Chinese state," Rogers said.
Huawei executives deny the charges.
The House intelligence committee has conducted a year-long investigation of potential national security threats posed by Huawei and ZTE.
Huawei is now the world's second-largest provider of telecommunications equipment, and it does 70% of its business outside China.
The report also recommends that the U.S. government avoid using equipment from the firms, and that U.S. companies seek alternative vendors for telecommunications equipment.
Both moves suggest growing unease about ties between the two Chinese firms and the Chinese government.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Apple Samsung Patent Dispute Affects Reputations, Maybe not Sales
The patent war between Apple and Samsung probably is having the impact you might expect, boosting Apple's reputation and harming Samsung's reputation. Whether that will affect sales of Samsung devices remains to be seen. So far, there is evidence the patent dispute has not had material effect on sales of Samsung devices.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
Tablets Will Reduce Smart Phone Data Demand, Ultimately
Life, and business or technology markets, rarely work out precisely as expected. Unexpected and unforeseen developments are common. Consider mobile data demand. There is little question that volumes of data consumed by smart phone owners will keep growing. The issue is how fast that growth occurs.
And some might already argue that growth will not continue as strongly as some hope or fear, because demand will shift from smart phones to tablets, and from the mobile network to the fixed network, using local Wi-Fi.
Tablets are different from mobile phones; they are portable rather than really mobile, as compared to "always-with-me devices," Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson notes.
The behaviors for which people use tablets are more similar to PC usage than mobile phone usage, Husson notes. And that is an important observation.
For now, tablets are mostly being used as Wi-Fi-only devices, most frequently in the living room, next most frequently in the bedroom, and often as second-screen devices. From a network planner's perspective, that is important, as it means tablets drive fixed network consumption, not mobile network load.
For the growing percentage of consumers who will own both a tablet and a smart phone, tablets get used within the home, and in ways more similar to use of PCs than phones.
This will, over time, cannibalize the time spent on smart phones at home. And that has clear implications for network planners, as most studies suggest as much as much as half of mobile data usage occurs inside the home, where a tablet arguably provides a better experience.
And some might already argue that growth will not continue as strongly as some hope or fear, because demand will shift from smart phones to tablets, and from the mobile network to the fixed network, using local Wi-Fi.
Tablets are different from mobile phones; they are portable rather than really mobile, as compared to "always-with-me devices," Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson notes.
The behaviors for which people use tablets are more similar to PC usage than mobile phone usage, Husson notes. And that is an important observation.
For now, tablets are mostly being used as Wi-Fi-only devices, most frequently in the living room, next most frequently in the bedroom, and often as second-screen devices. From a network planner's perspective, that is important, as it means tablets drive fixed network consumption, not mobile network load.
For the growing percentage of consumers who will own both a tablet and a smart phone, tablets get used within the home, and in ways more similar to use of PCs than phones.
This will, over time, cannibalize the time spent on smart phones at home. And that has clear implications for network planners, as most studies suggest as much as much as half of mobile data usage occurs inside the home, where a tablet arguably provides a better experience.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
How Do You Make Sense of Unstructured Data?
"Big Data" is getting so much attention because nearly everybody recognizes the value of structured and unstructured data that isn't being used in a formal way to advance an organization's goals. Most of the attention tends to be going to structured data, rather than unstructured data, a survey suggests.
About one in eight organisations fully exploits their its data while an even smaller fraction does so for unstructured data, the study by Freeform Dynamics surveyed 502 IT professional readers of The Register.
That's no surprise. Up to this point, it has not been easy to "mine" unstructured data in a systematic way.
About one in eight organisations fully exploits their its data while an even smaller fraction does so for unstructured data, the study by Freeform Dynamics surveyed 502 IT professional readers of The Register.
That's no surprise. Up to this point, it has not been easy to "mine" unstructured data in a systematic way.
Gary Kim has been a digital infra analyst and journalist for more than 30 years, covering the business impact of technology, pre- and post-internet. He sees a similar evolution coming with AI. General-purpose technologies do not come along very often, but when they do, they change life, economies and industries.
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