The North American mobile phone market is getting close to saturation, with a 70% to 80% penetration rate, according to US analyst eMarketer.
Mobile phone service revenue has tripled since 1998, roughly keeping pace with growth in the subscriber population, with average monthly bills increasing at a similar pace.
Despite the strong subscriber base, mobile phone growth is not expected to slow, with eMarketer asserting that providers will look towards offering users other content on their mobile handsets.
Noah Elkin, senior analyst at eMarketer explained: “Communication may start with voice, but operators are readying for the day when it is but one of many formats that consumers use.”
Mobile phone providers are deepening their content base in an attempt to keep customers, offering users a wide range of multimedia content and data services, as Elkin said: “Simple voice is out and multimedia content and data services are in – or so operators hope.”
Mobile TV, music downloading and gaming are all ways in which operators can extend the reach of mobile phone offerings, with the three avenues predicted to increase revenues for the mobile industry.
According to Informa Telecoms & Media’s Mobile Entertainment report, consumers are increasingly using their mobile phones to play music and games, opening up lucrative new revenue streams for mobile and content industries, resulting in a global mobile entertainment market predicted to be worth $42.8 billion by 2010 (see Global Entertainment Market To Reach $42.8 Billion By 2010).
Elsewhere, the mobile video service arena is predicted to be invested in substantially by service providers, with research company, Frost & Sullivan, forecasting mobile service revenues to increase to over $1.5 billion by 2009, up from just $28.8 million in 2004 (see Mobile Service Providers To Deepen Mobile Content).
A strategic report by Informa Telecoms and Media predicts broadcast mobile television users to reach 124.8 million by 2010, with an inflection point predicted in 2009, as network rollout and device availability for the market reach a level of critical mass (see Broadcast Mobile TV Users Forecast To Hit 124.8 Million By 2010).
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