Digital Lifescapes

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, video communications and online messaging services over mobile networks were used by fewer than 47 million subscribers at the end of 2011, but will grow to reach 390 million users in 2016. Mobile network operators once regarded video communication as the likely successor to voice communication and a source of potential new revenue, but their expectations are now more realistic. Free alternative video chat offerings will always be available, which requires the service providers to offer substantive value-added offerings that are likely to generate revenue. That said, challenges remain in the marketplace. "Only a small minority of consumers are willing to pay a premium price for video calls," says senior analyst Aapo Markkanen at ABI Research . Video services will be monetized by their bundling with other communication media, promoting premium features to enterprises, and/or delivering advertisements. But could ope...

The worldwide mobile messaging market was worth $179.2 billion in 2010, it's forecast to rise to $209.8 billion in 2011, and on to $334.7 billion by the end of 2015 -- at a CAGR of 13.3 percent between 2010 and 2015, according to the latest market study by Portio Research . The Asia Pacific region generated the highest mobile messaging revenue in 2010 and Latin America produced the least. Among the four mobile messaging service types, SMS yielded the highest revenue for operators in 2010, followed by MMS, then mobile e-mail and mobile instant messaging (IM). SMS made the highest contribution to worldwide mobile messaging revenue in 2010 with a 63.9 percent share, followed by MMS with 18.1 percent. Mobile e-mail revenue made up 14.2 percent, and mobile IM’s 2010 share was 3.8 percent. Clearly, basic text messaging (SMS) is still the core revenue generating messaging service. In 2010, worldwide SMS revenue stood at $114.6 billion and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 6.8 p...