Asia-Pacific Enterprise Communications in the Hospitality

Publication Date	March 2009
Publisher	Frost & Sullivan
Product Type	Report
Pages	189
ISBN Number	not applicable
Product Code	FRS01033

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Summary

Mobile Operators Rely on Mobile Data Services and Competitive Pricing to Drive Value in the North American Mobile Communication Markets

Having achieved penetration rates of over 80 percent in the entire region, the mobile market in North America can be considered saturated. Mobile operators are striving to optimize revenues from existing subscribers by rolling out innovative premium data services that operate on next generation wireless networks and devices. Operators are also offering additional connections to existing subscribers, particularly wireless broadband Internet, to supplement revenues. The current economic climate has served to enhance the attractiveness of the prepaid segment. Pricing such as Boost Mobile's unlimited service for $50 and others are useful tools to counter the slowdown. "The mobile phone is today the most important communications device and subscribers continue to rely on wireless services for their communication, entertainment, and information requirements on-the-go," notes the analyst of this research service. "Besides voice, text-messaging has evolved as an important medium for communication, primarily because it can be used in a wide range of scenarios, is ubiquitous, and extremely cost-effective especially when used as part of a data plan." Other important and popular data services include mobile Internet, premium mobile content, and others. More than 50 percent of North American mobile subscribers are regular users of text messaging. A major part of the messages are sent as part of a dedicated or bundled data plan. Mobile internet penetration in North America is in the 12-15 percent range, and the usage of both consumer as well as enterprise mobile applications is expected to continue on an upward trajectory. Participants in this space are faced with the challenging task of ensuring satisfactory, pleasant, and useful consumer experience to provide maximum value for the customer. Although the North American mobile operators have established a reputation for zealously protecting the consumer experience, achieving that end is not always possible as a large portion of traffic is going off deck. This rapid explosion of content throws up several operational challenges as well. "Mobile operators are forced to expand their content catalogs and yet are not able to increase the data plan rates to justify this expansion," explains the analyst. "At a certain tipping point', it may not be feasible to continue doing this without exploring other sources of revenues such as mobile advertising." Bringing new devices to market at a rapid pace is by no means an easy task, and long product development cycles further complicate the matter. Participants must seek ways to increase ARPUs without being caught up in the race by blindly adding new services, devices, or network technologies. Seeking new technologies is crucial; however the question whether network technologies drive content or the promise of delivering next generation content drives investments in a network will always remain. Mobile operators must explore multiple strategic factors encompassing cost and service pricing, network technologies and devices, content lineup, quality of service and customer-care, the enterprise segment, geographical coverage, and others to derive the cutting edge in the highly competitive North American mobile communication markets. For example, mobile operators could organize mobile content into various tiers and synchronize these with customer demographics to determine the potent mix they must have on their decks. Apple's iPhone and Blackberry Storm showcase the intensity of the impact compelling devices can have on subscriber uptake and service usage.

Market Sectors

Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research:

Prepaid and postpaid mobile
SMS and MMS
Mobile Internet
Forecasts

Technologies

The following technologies are covered in this research:

3G, 4G
Next-generation devices
Mobile advertising and mobile marketing
Mobile banking and mobile payments

Content

1 NORTH AMERICAN CONSUMER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS OUTLOOK
- Introduction and 2008 Overview
  - 1. 2008 Overview
- 2009 Outlook
  - 1. Continued Strong Performance of Mobile Data Services
  - 2. Slowing New Subscriber Additions
  - 3. Growth in Messaging Volumes - SMS and MMS
  - 4. Mobile Search and Mobile Marketing and Advertising
  - 5. Off-portal Mobile Content
  - 6. Mobile Social Networking
  - 7. Mobile Financial Services - Mobile Banking and Mobile Payments
  - 8. A Note on Location-based Services
  - 9. Fixed-Mobile Substitution
  - 2 U.S. CONSUMER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS OUTLOOK
- Introduction and 2008 Overview
  - 1. 2008 Overview
- 2009 Outlook
  - 1. Increasing Coverage and Penetration of Mobile Broadband Services
  - 2. Continued Increase in Mobile Data Usage and Growth of Messaging Traffic
  - 3. Slowing New Subscriber Additions
  - 4. Ongoing Growth in Off-deck Mobile Content (and Status of App Stores)
  - 5. Proliferation of Unlimited Service Plans
  - 6. Mobile Advertising and Mobile Search
  - 7. Mobile Financial Services - Banking and Payments
  - 8. A Note on Mobile Social Networking
3 CANADIAN CONSUMER MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS OUTLOOK
- Introduction and 2008 Overview
  - 1. 2008 Overview
- 2009 Outlook
  - 1. Increasing Coverage and Penetration of Mobile Broadband
  - 2. Strong Performance of Mobile Data Services
  - 3. Mobile Search and Advertising and Mobile Social Networking
  - 4. Off-deck Premium Mobile Content
List of Figures
Chapter
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook:Mobile Subscriber Forecasts and Growth Trends (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook:Prepaid and Postpaid Subscriber Forecasts (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: 3G Subscribers (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Mobile Service Revenues and Mobile Data Revenues (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: SMS and MMS Volumes (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: U.S. and Canadian Mobile Advertising Revenue Contribution (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Estimates of Off-portal and On-portal Revenue Contribution (North America), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: M-commerce Revenues for Physical Goods (North America), 2007-2014
Chapter
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Estimated POP Coverage by Network Technology (U.S.), 2008
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: 3G Subscribers (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Mobile Service and Mobile Data Revenues (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: SMS and MMS Volumes (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: On-deck Premium Mobile Content Revenues (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Mobile Subscriber Base and Penetration Levels (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Prepaid and Postpaid Subscriber Forecasts (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook:Off-deck Premium Mobile Content Revenues (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Mobile Banking Users (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: M-commerce Revenues for Physical Goods (U.S.), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Average Monthly Users of On-deck Mobile Social Networking Services (U.S.), 2007-2014
Chapter
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Service ARPU (Canada), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Prepaid and Postpaid Service ARPU (Canada), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: 3G Subscribers (Canada), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: Mobile Service Revenues and Mobile Data Revenues (Canada), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: SMS and MMS Volumes (Canada), 2007-2014
- Consumer Mobile Communications Outlook: SMS Subscribers and SMS Penetration (Canada), 2007-2014