That news comes by way of a recent Syniverse-commissioned primary research study on Asia. The research indicates that consumer brands and mobile service providers there could tap into an annual revenue opportunity of as much as $6 billion by 2019 if they subsidized mobile data services.

This would address a perennial problem in many Asian markets: people there cannot afford what are expensive data plans on their mobile phones.

“In the sponsored-data model, companies sponsor usage for specific content on behalf of subscribers of various mobile service providers, allowing subscribers to access this content without being charged for the usage,” notes a report summary shared with MMW.

The Syniverse survey queried 3,500 people in seven countries across Asia to determine attitudes of consumers there. A major finding? Consumers are “generally willing to accept the branding of content, advertising and promotional material in return for free data.”

Specifically, 62 percent of surveyed respondents said they would accept the branding of content and advertising in return for free data. About 49 percent revealed they’d be willing to accept coupon offers from data use sponsors, 42 would agree to offers from entertainment companies, and 31 percent from bars, restaurants, and cafes.

“Content providers, mobile service providers, and consumers have been stuck in a no-win situation when it comes to mobile data usage,” said Mary Clark, Chief Marketing Officer at Syniverse. “Consumers want to use more data along with richer mobile engagement, and operators and content providers are missing out on the revenue that this usage could deliver.”

The bottom line appears clear: operators and their partners should be motivated to sponsor data plans as “a way to drive revenue as well as consumer engagement.”

The post Syniverse Study: Sponsored Mobile Data Plans Could Unlock $6 Billion Market Opportunity appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

During 2014, mobile internet use grew 26%, and is forecast to grow 23% within the first 6 months of 2015. When looking at rural users, growth is also steadily on the rise and is expected to grow an additional 18% during 2015.

“Nearly one quarter of school-going children and one fifth of non-working women use mobile internet on pay-per-site basis,” reports Warc. “Nearly 40% of young men, working women and older men have plans which entail limited internet access.”

Consequently, mobile web use is increasing the average monthly mobile phone bill. To boot, mobile internet prices are also on the rise, which means hardware makers and mobile operators stand to make big profits in India this year and beyond.

Fortunately, the growth within the mobile industry has led to more competitive pricing for “unlimited” mobile data and download plans—with 33% of mobile user’s opting for unlimited options.

The post Mobile Internet on The Rise in India appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The times are, indeed, changing, according to excerpts from the firm’s most recent 2G, 3G, LTE Mobile Services and Subscribers market size and forecast report.

“Europe continues to be the main drag on global mobile services revenue, but Europe’s BIG 5—Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Vodafone—see some light at the end of the tunnel, with looming consolidation that should ease the pressure on mobile services revenue,” explains Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics at Infonetics Research.

Other mobile services market highlights uncovered in the report summary include:

• Worldwide mobile service revenue barely budged in the first half of 2014 (1H14), up just 0.5% from the same period a year ago, to $385.5 billion
• Gains in the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA), Asia Pacific, and North America together offset a high double-digit decline in EMEA
• For the first time, voice usage slightly slowed, dragged by China where over-the-top (OTT) alternatives took their share
• Mobile broadband revenue rose 26% in 1H14 from 1H13 and continued to drive overall mobile services market growth
• Despite the rise of mobile data, blended ARPU continues to fall, but at a much slower pace in every region, including developing Asia Pacific

The post Report: Mobile Broadband Tops SMS as Top Generator of Mobile Data Revenue appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Unquestionably, consumer interest in wearables is strong, but new data from Forrester shows that “enterprise demand for wearables is even greater.”

Today, 68% of global technology and business decision-makers say that wearables are a priority for their firm, with 51% calling it a moderate, high, or critical priority.

Why will wearables be such a big priority in 2015, Forrester asks?

“Businesses now see a clear return on investment from wearables, expecting these emerging devices to both increase operational efficiency and reshape customer experiences,” the report summary announcement reads. “But take note: This isn’t about hardware. Instead, forward-looking companies in all industries are creating innovative services — often served by entirely new business models — that reach people in mobile moments of need. For example, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Tech smart shirt, built on OMsignal’s technology, tracks detailed biometrics like peak heart rate while the wearer is exercising. Mounted by your bedside and under your pillow, the Withings Aura Smart Sleep System both tracks and improves your sleep.”

As far as the wearables “endgame” is concerned, Forrester says it goes far beyond whether or not the Apple Watch will take off.

“Forrester predicts wearables will create an all-body network that receives a variety of inputs and then acts on them,” the announcement adds. “This in turn will create a whole new level of contextual data, allowing marketers to uncover new markets and revenue opportunities and offer individualized pitches and products.”

The post A Wake Up Call on Wearables for Global Tech And Business Decision-Makers appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Our take? Big data is going to top the trends ticker.

Big data — the term the information technology world uses to describe all the delicious details that can be gleaned from the web — is going to loom large.

The benefits of big data, accrued via what is alternately known as web scraping or web extraction, is the best marketing tool any business could employ.

Why? Because access to competitors’ numbers and success can change the way your company creates and markets. Because knowing how other companies take advantage of advertising trends and what the outcomes were is valuable insight. Because — in a word — there’s a veritable gold mine of actionable information ensconced in big data.

Consider, for instance, relevancy. It’s something companies like Mozenda, a data extraction and analysis firm, has taken seriously since the beginning of the technology. Its mission has been to develop web scraping and data extraction technologies that allow marketers to do what they do best.

“It’s all about knowing your targets,” explains Brett Haskins, CEO of Mozenda. “Big data has become a buzzword, but what it means is more understanding, more knowledge. It’s like Zen, which is derived from a Sanskrit word that means ‘absorption.’ If we can help absorb more data — meaningful information — we can help marketers be the masters of their art.”

In a way, big data is about aggregating all the small details that combine to create “the big picture.” Knowing what works — and what doesn’t — is worth its weight in … well … a whole lotta trends lists.

The post Hottest New Year Trend? Digging into the Benefits of Big Data appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to BizReport, mobile network Orange recently asked more than 2,000 people in those countries their opinion of what their personal data was worth and, interestingly, those numbers rose slightly when they were asked what the value would be to a company that they had never dealt with previously, or a company that they felt they “fit” with well.

Daniel Gurrola, Orange’s business vision division vice president, believes that the information his company found “clearly demonstrates that consumers are acutely aware that the information a company holds about them has a value to that brand”.

It’s an interesting report, to say the least, and you can find it here.

The post Study Reveals that Mobile Users Are Well Aware of the Worth of their Personal Data appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The following is a guest contributed commentary from Niraj Pant, Senior VP of Engineering at I.Predictus.

“Big Data” has been a popular buzzword in business circles for the past several years, but when most people hear the term, if they know what it means at all, they picture tech-savvy analysts using highly specialized tools to handle unimaginably huge datasets to deliver arcane business intelligence. Few think about the ways data is permeating all aspects of our lives, but increasingly, this is the new reality, and the trend is accelerating. Businesses that get out in front of the trend can gain a competitive advantage by serving customers better.

Today, it’s no longer just about Big Data and how it’s used by tech wizards to benefit big businesses – it’s about ever-present data that can be generated from almost any action and analyzed by just about anyone to yield insights that go far beyond traditional business use.

With the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices, people are increasingly connected all the time. Consumers use their devices as alarm clocks, exercise monitors, shopping carts, communication platforms, entertainment venues, travel guides, traffic update dashboards and thousands of other uses. Developers launch new applications every day.

What are the implications of this endless cataloguing and application of information? In the near future, it’s likely that physicians will plug into their patients’ device-generated health data (heart rate, exercise duration, blood sugar levels, etc.) to monitor their conditions. Dieters and the fitness conscious are already using smartphone apps to scan food product barcodes and track nutritional intake: It’s a short leap from that to an app that allows healthcare providers to deliver additional guidance to continuously improve wellness.

Other possible future applications may improve senior citizen housing with smart sensors. For example, sensors embedded in a home’s carpet could monitor seniors’ gait and movements to quickly detect patterns that indicate a problem, tapping into other data to ensure that senior citizens who are living alone can remain independent while staying safe. Such a system could alert caregivers if data patterns suggest an issue.

These are the types of everyday data uses that are on the horizon as people become increasingly connected and the “Internet of Things” – the vast network of interconnected devices and data streams – evolves. Consumers are already used to companies like Amazon using their past purchases to recommend new products, but new data generation and analysis capabilities are making more precise targeting possible – and integrating data from even more sources.

Soon, shopping and consumer behavior analysis will routinely drill down to deeper levels, taking into account consumer interactions online, via mobile phones, brick-and-mortar store visits, TV ad-driven contact and much more. Data will be correlated in real time to present consumers with more relevant offers and alert them to events that will resonate with them based on reasonable inferences from past actions.

Emerging technology will soon make it possible to deliver better customer service: New capabilities will include the ability to analyze a caller’s voice, assess their interaction history, evaluate social media behavior, influencers and demographics to route the call to the best call center agent for that customer. In a millisecond, the agent will receive a custom script and recommendations about offers and solutions for the specific caller.

Many of these new capabilities raise important privacy concerns, but to date, consumers have demonstrated their willingness to share information in exchange for services that they value. As data analytics move beyond traditional big-business intelligence gathering and analysis into everyday life, consumers will have to adjust their comfort level with information sharing, and businesses will have to change their strategies accordingly.

It’s no longer a question of IF these types of scenarios will become mainstream: It’s happening now, and emerging technology that takes deep analytics out of the hands of specialists and makes them a part of everyday business and consumer life will become a reality sooner rather than later. For businesses that are prepared to respond in a way that delivers value to customers, these new capabilities can provide an unstoppable competitive advantage.

The post Everyday Data: How the Ubiquity of Data Is Changing Everything appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

According to Cisco Systems’ freshly published Visual Networking Index report on global mobile data trends, mobile data consumption is ballooning at an unprecedented rate across the global landscape.

Mobile users the world over came close to doubling their mobile data consumption between 2012 and 2013 as average monthly usage peaked well over 1 GB in the U.S, and several other countries.

“North America led the pack with the average mobile subscriber consuming 1.38 GBs a month, up from 752 MBs in 2012 and a full gigabyte more than the average global usage of 356 MBs,” summarizes Kevin Fitchard of Gigaom. “When looking at individual countries, Japanese users led the world with 1.87 GBs, followed by the U.S. at 1.41 GBs and South Korea with 1.25 GBs.”

Not surprisingly, faster smartphones and faster mobile networks are fueling this mammoth momentum of mobile data consumption.

In 2013, the world saw 1.5 exabytes of data cross mobile networks on a monthly basis. Based on Cisco’s latest projections, that number will reach 15.9 exabytes per month by 2018.

The post Report: Americans Have Entered the 'Gigabyte Era' in Mobile appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The projected increase in mobile traffic is partly due to continued strong growth in the number of mobile Internet connections, such as personal devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) connections, which will exceed 10 billion by 2018 and be 1.4 times greater than the world’s population (the United Nations estimates 7.6 billion people by 2018).

Putting some of these gargantuan numbers into perspective, the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast’s annual run rate of 190 exabytes of mobile data traffic for 2018 is equivalent to:

• 190 times more than all Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, fixed and mobile, generated in 2000; or
• 42 trillion images (e.g., multimedia message service or Instagram)—15 daily images per person on earth for a year; or
• 4 trillion video clips (e.g., YouTube)—more than one daily video clip per person on earth for a year.

“The incremental amount of traffic being added to the mobile Internet just between 2017 and 2018 is 5.1 exabytes per month,” Cisco summarizes, “which is more than three times the estimated size of the entire mobile Internet in 2013 (1.5 exabytes per month).”

To learn more, check out the Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2013 to 2018.

The post Global Mobile Data Traffic Increasing at a Record Pace appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

New smartphones that reached consumers in the past year consumed more than seven-times the data of smartphones launched only  few years previously – 40 percent more data than 2012 models alone.

This new data on smartphone data consumption comes to use from Actix’s latest research on global mobile users.

In terms of the kings of data consumption, Apple’s iPhone rolls like a boss.

Neil Coleman, Director of Global Marketing at Actix, says networks have been struggling to keep up with the relentless growth in data demand. “In the past,” he explains, “the transition that drove data consumption was from feature phone to smartphone. Now it’s the upgrade path from low-end to high-end smartphones. Each generation adds 40 percent additional network traffic by device.”

Other findings of the report include:

• The average smartphone in a user’s pocket is 26 months old
• iPhones held the top three places in the most data hungry devices (iPhones 4, 4S and 5)
• Samsung has four models in the top 10 most data hungry devices
• Tablet users consume more than twice as much data as smartphones, while MiFi devices drive almost nine times more data consumption

“95 percent of data is being consumed on smartphones rather than tablets, but with the growth in low cost tablets, operators will need to ensure that networks are ready for more data hungry tablets,” Coleman adds.

The post Smartphone Data Consumption is Growing Exponentially appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.