Big drop in fixed-line revenues
Australians are dumping their fixed-lines at an alarming rate, 10% in the last six months to be exact. Local call volumes are down 13% for the same period and total PSTN revenues dropped by 6.9%. The decline was far greater than that forecast by CEO, David Thodey, only six months ago and could be indicative of what is certainly becoming a trend in most developed markets.
Pure fixed-line service providers are likely to be hardest hit as customers consolidate on mobile networks for in country calls and VOIP for long-distance and overseas traffic.
Asians take to mobile advertising
Flowing on from a brilliant presentation at MW Asia by Anushka Ranasinghe of Dialog Telekom in Sri Lanka, on his company’s success with mobile advertising, comes a report that Singapore based BuzzCity has delivered 27.4 billion ad impressions in 200 countries.
Its Global Mobile Advertising Index for 2009 reported that mobile advertising grew by 41 per cent in 2009 compared to 2008 with countries such as Turkey, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Mexico seeing growth of 300 per cent or more. It added that 33 countries now deliver monthly traffic exceeding 10 million impressions.
Data to continue its mercurial rise, but voice to remain the ‘killer app’
Ovum reports that mobile data services are set to grow in prominence, particularly in developed markets. In 2009, estimated mobile data revenues were $203.19 billion, growing at a CAGR of 11% to $340.31 billion in 2014. This will mean that, on average, 33% of operators’ revenues will be derived from data in 2014, compared to 23% in 2009. Increased data usage will mean greater focus on spectrum during this period, as well as other capacity-increasing mechanisms such as traffic management solutions.
However, it is vital that operators do not forget more traditional services. Messaging will still contribute 45% of data revenues in 2014, despite the rapid price erosion currently being seen. Voice will also continue to be the ‘killer app’, contributing 67% of operator revenues globally in 2014 and no less than 60% in each region. However, voice margins will be difficult to maintain in the face of intense price pressure.
‘Greedy’ carriers will fail in apps space
Telecommunications analyst Paul Budde has predicted the demise of Premium SMS, and doesn’t expect mobile carriers to fare well in their attempts at building mobile app stores to take on the likes of Apple and Google.
In a blog posting, Budde predicted that the revenue derived from carrier-independent app stores will have trumped the content businesses of mobile carriers within two years. “They had ten years to develop a business model that would suit both users and content providers, and because of their greed they failed miserably”, the hard-hitting Budde said.
Microsoft rumors rife
Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, is set for a very busy week at the GSMA’a Mobile World Congress in Barcelona if all the rumors flying about are true.
The first is the imminent announcement of the actual, real, physical, non-virtual arrival of Windows Phone 7, previously known as Windows Mobile, Windows CE, Pocket PC, etc. That would be the same one many pundits expected at last ear’s event, but they got an interim 6.5 version instead.
The other more exciting, and arguably more relevant for Microsoft’s smartphone future, is the acquisition of RIM, maker of the famous BlackBerry. Ballmer has not exactly denied the rumors but has categorically rejected the notion of Microsoft buying Palm. RIM would represent a large bite for Microsoft to swallow as it currently commands a $36 billion market cap. But it would go a long way in recovering Microsoft’s lost ground in the smartphone stakes.
Delhi delays 3G auctions, really.
In a not so surprising move, (tipped by The Insider) the Indian government has postponed its 3G spectrum auction.
According to senior officials in the Department of Telecom the auction should he held when the spectrum is available which is now expected in August-September this year. It is pertinent to mention that the Ministry of Defence had only agreed to vacate the spectrum only during middle of this year.
iPhone now performs miracles, may be granted sainthood
An American filmmaker who was injured and trapped under rubble in the devastating Haiti earthquake credits a first-aid iPhone application with helping him get out alive after sixty-five hours. The iPhone first-aid app taught him how to fashion a bandage and tourniquet for a compound fracture of his leg and to stop the bleeding from a wound to his head.
I have already reported that using a mobile phone can prevent and even cure Alzheimer’s disease (at least I think I did). Now I can report that the iPhone was responsible for making a woman pregnant!
The Sun newspaper in the UK has reported that 30-year-old Lena Bryce downloaded the ‘Menstrual Calendar’ to find out when she was most fertile. She got pregnant two months after downloading the app, and gave birth on the exact day that it predicted.
However, we cannot verify that Steve Job’s liver transplant was actually a cover for an iPhone implant.