A million mobile users online daily (Switzerland)
A report has revealed that almost one in three users of Small Screen Devices (SSD) in Switzerland in the mobile network. SSD devices to include the categories of mobile phone / smartphone, MP3-Player/iPod/PDA and personal organizer with Internet function.
21% percent of the users already access internet via SSDs on a daily basis growing by 27% for SSD users or 56% of heavy SSD users. This compares to 1 million Swiss accessing internet with their smartphones.
The study also found that e-mail is used the most by Swiss SSD users with 71.6% of SSD users and 83.6% of heavy SSD users, followed by mobile browsing with 68% and 73% and mobile apps with 62% and 78% respectively.
Mobile users to benefit from rate cuts: Ofcom (UK)
Ofcom is all set to reduce the calling cost from mobile phones to other networks and landlines.
A termination charge which is the fees that the mobile phone firms charge from the rival network for handling calls from their networks will fall by 80% over the next four years.
Mobile operators charge between 4.18p and 4.48p to the cost of delivering a call to another network. Ofcom wants this reduced to 0.69p by 2014-15, and claims that it expects the cuts to be passed on to customers.
The phased reductions will begin on April 1 this year with the termination rate for the big four operators – O2, Everything Everywhere, Vodafone and 3UK. The new charging structure should benefit smaller mobile phone operators, which will be able to offer more competitive prices. Lower termination rates will also reduce the cost to landline companies of passing calls to mobile phones.
According to regulator, while mobile phone companies will lose money from the reduction in charges, they are earning more revenues from the rapid growth of data services, such as text messaging. Termination rates only apply to voice calls.
Nokia, Samsung see low-end cellphone threat from Indian OEMs
A recent survey has revealed that Nokia enjoys dominant market share in India, but a majority of low income Indian mobile users would prefer their next phone to be made in India. Indian brands – such as Lava, Micromax, and Spice – will benefit from this preference.
As per the survey, international brands that do not enjoy Nokia’s brand equity- vendors such as Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson may have difficulties in the low-end handset market.
The Indian brands have only been on the market for a few years, and have gained a modest market share. However, 63% of the respondents who primarily live in rural villages and secondary cities with average monthly household income of about $130 say they would prefer their next phone to be manufactured in India citing the reasons as:
* Lower cost and greater value for money
* Greater ease of repair and availability of parts.
According to sources, national pride is a factor, but when people spend almost 4% of their annual income on a mobile phone, they are going to make purchase decisions based on what will get them the most for their money.
Researcher projects that the bulk of new mobile users in India over the next five years will be the low income consumers, particularly in rural areas. Affordable mobile phones with an appealing set of features will be the key to success in this market.
1 in 5 Mobile users to use mobile money services in 2013
A new research report has revealed that the array of financial services possible via mobile phones are proving so attractive that some developing countries are seeing unprecedented penetration levels of up to one in two mobile subscribers within two to three years from launch.
Regionally, the report identifies that some developing regions will achieve a rate of 1 in 5 money service users over the next 2 years which is a remarkable level of adoption for such new services.
According to research analysts, research found that, money transfers, bill payments and airtime top-ups constitute the typical top three mobile money services in an operator’s portfolio. Increasingly though merchant payments are being offered and operators can, via partnerships with supermarkets for example, enable people to pay for their shopping this way.
However, report also warns that prospective users can be discouraged to join such services if the KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements are too onerous, or simply not achievable.
The report also found that domestic transfers, airtime top-ups and bill payments account for at least 60% of all applications. Also, following the recession international mobile money transfer users will more than double by 2013, driven by migrant workers, with services launched by MNOs and remittance hubs for country specific migration corridors.
Sachin Pilot appeal to verify active mobile users (India)
A decision has been taken by the Department of Telecommunications that an exercise should be done on pilot basis in a representative area to know the actual number of active users {Visitor Location Register (VLR) based} as against number of active Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) in that area, subsequently information be collected from all areas for the same month.
Accordingly, Delhi and Haryana Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells of the Department of Telecommunications have been asked to obtain the information on the same.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications & Information Technology, Shri Sachin Pilot in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
African mobile users surpass 500 million in Q3
As per the reports by Informa Telecoms & Media Mobile, subscriptions in Africa surpassed half a billion during the third quarter of 2010 a figure expected to rise to 842 million in the next five years.
According to the research firm, the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 506 million by the end of September, up 18% on last year, meaning the continent now accounts for 10% of the global total.
According to Thecla Mbongue, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, although the rate of growth in mobile subscriptions in Africa will slow as markets mature, the continent continues to offer great opportunities for investors.
It is said that Nigeria is Africa’s largest mobile market, through 16% of mobile subscriptions, with Egypt and South Africa making the top three. Additionally, Nigeria and Egypt, together with Morocco, Tanzania and Zimbabwe together accounted for 48% of the 54 million net subscriber additions during the first nine months of the year, highlighting that even Africa’s more established mobile markets are still showing strong growth.
As per Mbongue, demand for voice services will remain vigorous in under-penetrated markets, while non-voice services such as mobile broadband and mobile money services will continue to gain traction. Connectivity into and out of Africa has improved dramatically over the last 18 months with the landing of a number of submarine cable systems on both the east and west coasts of the continent; this has expanded the opportunity for providing data services. By 2015 there will be 265 million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa, a huge increase from the current figure of about 12 million. Mobile money users are seen reaching almost 360 million by 2014. By contrast, household penetration of fixed broadband stood at just 2.5% in the first quarter of this year.
Though, Mbongue warned that terrestrial backhaul networks need to be extended for rural and remote communities in Africa’s interior to benefit from international connectivity.
As per Informa Telecoms & Media, African broadband has a long way to go if it is to emulate the mobile revolution that has already swept through much of the continent.
India overtakes China
Indian telecom operators added the highest number of new cellular users in the world in a single month in August.
With 5.9 million new mobile users,
India
has beaten
China
, which added 5.19 million new cellular users in the same period. Other countries in the top five include
Russia
with 3.6 million new mobile subscribers,
Brazil
with 2 million additions and the
Philippines
where 1.9 million new cellular subscribers were added in August.
Explosive Growth
Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director General, Cellular Operator’s Association of India, said that this explosive growth in subscriber numbers was a direct result of the forward looking policies of the Government, the enabling regulatory structure and the commitment of the industry to deliver increased access to subscribers with ever improving affordability. “With this growth,
India
was well on course to exceed the COAI forecast of 130 million subscribers by December 2006,” said Mr Ramachandran
As per global analysts Wireless Intelligence, the last half billion cellular subscribers had come in a record time of 12 months and has been mainly added in the very high-growth emerging markets of
China
,
India
and
Russia
. According to Wireless Intelligence, the global mobile industry has been growing at around 40 million subscribers per month, which is the highest volume of growth that the market has ever seen. The share of the Asia Pacific region in this growth is 41 per cent with
India
and
China
alone accounting for 25 per cent of the total subscriber growth worldwide over the last year.
Going forward, it is estimated that the cellular mobile subscribers will grow by another 500 million to reach 3 billion by the end of 2007. As per experts, the contribution by
India
to this growth would be the maximum and is estimated to be 80 million new cellular subscribers.
Source- http://www.moneycontrol.com
Technorati : Brazil, Cellular, India, Philippines, Russia, operator
Ice Rocket : Brazil, Cellular, India, Philippines, Russia, operator
