Although mobile operators have seen average revenue per user decrease, they have sought to boost revenue via new value-added services; however, the most profitable data service is still text messaging, reports In-Stat.
Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS) technologies provide potentially endless revenue streams for forward thinking Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), the high-tech market research firm says.
Frank Dickson, In-Stat analyst, said: “SMS may be a basic, cheap technology, but it still has much life as a MNO cash cow.
“The keys to SMS profitability are its ease-of-use, inexpensive price tag, global reach, and increased reliability as infrastructure development increases in more rural global regions. In developed areas, however, it has become increasingly important for mobile operators to find ways to enhance and personalize the SMS service offering.”
In-Stat also found that users are sending more than two trillion mobile messages per day globally as of the end of 2008.
A report published by Juniper Research earlier this week forecast that mobile phone usage in the BRIC markets will grow from 1.21 billion in 2008 to 1.64 billion by 2013 (see Strong mobile usage growth forecast in BRIC markets).
Informa Telecoms & Media, meanwhile, predicts that annual revenues from the global mobile market will top $1.03 trillion by 2013, when the number of subscriptions worldwide will have risen to more than 5.3 billion (see Global mobile revenues to top $1 trillion by 2013).
From end-2007 to end-2013, the global mobile market will see huge growth, increasing in size by over half (56%), according to the latest edition of Informa’s Global Mobile Forecasts to 2013 report.
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