Digital Lifescapes

The business case for an Application to Person (A2P) messaging market is starting to evolve, with enterprise use cases being developed based on the requirements of informed CIOs and CTOs across industry sectors. Notably, the commercial requirements of these organizations will emerge in response to marketplace demand and will vary depending on the application and associated use case. To date, traditional one-way notifications represent the common A2P messaging use case. Looking to the future, that could change as adoption increases exponentially. A2P Messaging Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total value of the mobile business messaging market will increase from $48 billion in 2022 to $78 billion by 2027. Juniper analysts found that this 63 percent growth will be driven by enterprise adoption of Rich Communication Services (RCS), with more organizations harnessing the end-to-end encryption and verified sender identities RCS provi...

The global COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development and adoption of online digital services, including mobile user authentication services. This led to more Fintech solutions growth at a rapid rate from 2020 to 2022, as companies started to adopt one-touch verification. These services enable CIOs and CTOs to increase the level of security offered to customers who are concerned about online financial transactions. However, there are numerous other industry use cases that require increased security measures to protect sensitive data. According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, mobile network operators will generate $27 billion from the termination of Short Message Service (SMS) related to multi-factor authentication in 2022 -- that's an increase from $25 billion in 2021. Commercial SMS Apps Market Development Juniper analysts predict this 5 percent growth will be driven by increased pressure on digital service providers to offer highly secure user authent...

Mobile roaming enables customers of one mobile provider to use the network of another when the subscriber’s 'home network' is unavailable. As a result, network operators acquired agility in releasing new mobile communication services. Over the next five years, mobile network operators must ensure they can offer new 5G services to subscribers when roaming away from the home network. However, the majority of providers will launch offerings through alliances of sub-regional bilateral packages to gain access to other networks. Global Wholesale Roaming Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the global number of roaming subscribers will reach 1.1 billion by 2024 -- that's rising from 900 million subscribers in 2020. This represents a growth of 28 percent over the next four years. The new research forecasts that the wholesale roaming model will be crucial to mitigating threats from high data traffic generated by emerging tech...

Mobile messaging today encompasses both the more traditional forms of messaging and the popular Over The Top (OTT) messaging services from providers such as WhatsApp and WeChat. Communication has never been so rapid or efficient, with new technologies and apps driving demand. One of the key developments has been the growth of OTT mobile messaging services. Where Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) once saw a good portion of revenue come from SMS, MMS and voice calls, OTT players have offered people a free option -- in the form of messages which can be sent over Wi-Fi or Internet connections, driving demand away from mobile operator networks. OTT Messaging Market Development Juniper Research forecasts that OTT messaging applications -- such as WhatsApp and WeChat -- will see adoption grow from 2.3 billion unique users in 2016 to 4.2 billion by 2021, representing a growth of over 12 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR). According to the Juniper assessment, the OTT vendors will ...

When smartphones are combined with cloud services, the converged capabilities are truly remarkable. And, cognitive computing and machine learning are enabling a new era of communication. By 2019, 20 percent of all user interactions with a smartphone will take place via virtual personal assistants (VPAs), according to the latest market study by Gartner. Gartner's annual mobile applications survey found that 42 percent of respondents in the U.S. and 32 percent in the UK used VPAs on their smartphones in the last three months. More than 37 percent of respondents (average across U.S. and UK) used a VPA at least one or more times a day. "The role of interactions will intensify through the growing popularity of VPAs among smartphone users and conversations made with smart machines," said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner . Personal Assistant Market Development Apple 'Siri' and Google 'Now' are currently the most widely used VPAs on smartph...

Mobile network service provider revenue loss from 'grey route' application-to-person (A2P) traffic will amount to $62 billion over the next 6 years, despite the increased deployment of security measures, according to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research. Historically, the A2P service offering was used for mobile alerts or as a billing methodology and transport for simple content and services -- both for one-off downloads or actions (such as voting) and for recurring transaction payments. The study discovered that the high levels of grey route traffic -- essentially A2P messages masquerading as P2P (Person to Person) messages and delivered via non-interconnected routes -- could be attributed by the scale of the price differential between A2P and P2P. Mobile Messaging Market Development Today, the trend has become more pronounced as mobile network operators have offered high-volume, low cost SMS bundles to cope with the challenge of Over-the-Top (OTT) mes...

Mobile network service provider revenue streams continue to be disrupted by alternative providers. As an example, the messaging market is forecast to decline from $113.5 billion in 2014 to $112.9 billion in 2019 – that's a reduction of $600 million, according to the latest market study by Juniper Research . Ironically, messaging traffic is forecast to double by 2019. This is driven by over-the-top (OTT) messaging software applications -- such as WhatsApp and LINE -- seeing a threefold increase in message traffic from almost 31 trillion in 2014, to 100 trillion by 2019 globally. Importantly, the revenue generated from each OTT message is forecast be less than 1 percent of that from mobile service provider SMS and MMS in 2019. Juniper's latest study found that OTT messaging services are facing a struggle to monetize their freemium services. Combined with users switching from SMS and MMS services, this will contribute to a contraction in the overall revenue pot. OTTs ha...

For the longest time, text messaging has been a huge cash cow for mobile network service providers. However, the eager acceptance of over-the-top (OTT) mobile device applications is greatly expanding the overall messaging market and comes partly at the expense of legacy text messaging. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the deployment of competitive Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) and Rich Communication Services (RCS) will likely help network operators retain 65 percent of their former messaging market share. That being said, the many free or low-cost mobile messaging application (app) alternatives available to consumers are still a worrying concern for mobile network operators. Operators can use VoLTE and RCS services, ultimately to retain their subscribers, and also increase revenues that will come with the many innovations from third party developers. The quality of services that VoLTE and RCS can provide to their customers will be as table stakes i...

Juniper Research forecasts that mobile data roaming revenues will grow by 21 percent per year between 2012 and 2017, reaching over $35 billion in 2017 -- driven by an increasing number of active roamers using data services while abroad. However, Juniper notes that the number of people not actively using any data services still fear the unknown cost of mobile network provider fees, as this continues to be markedly higher when compared to potential voice roamers. Silent roamers, as they are called, exercise caution or do not use voice and data services while roaming and represent a significant non-user segment. Powered by the proliferation in smartphones and a dramatic growth in data usage, data roaming is being seen as a key growth driver for mobile network operators -- albeit with cost-effective packages coupled with subscriber control over usage. The Juniper market study found that the majority of mobile customers were using voice services when roaming abroad, but this activit...

Mobile network operator text messaging revenue is being impacted by the adoption of alternative smartphone messaging apps -- such as WhatsApp, iMessage and others. But it's not a major concern. According to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media, they now forecast that mobile operators will still generate a total of $722.7 billion in revenues from SMS between 2011 and 2016. "There will not be a uniform decline in mobile operator SMS traffic and revenues as a result of the adoption and use of over-the-top messaging services," says Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst, Mobile Content & Applications, at Informa Telecoms & Media . "Factors such as the operators’ pricing strategies, and the penetration of smartphones and mobile broadband in a market will determine how quickly and to what extent substitution occurs." For example, operators offering integrated tariffs that include a balanced proportion of voice, SMS and mobile data, are ...

According to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media, in 2016 mobile phone users will (on average) consume 6.5 times as much video, over eight times as much music or social media, and nearly 10 times as many games as in 2011. There will be a big upsurge in traffic for most mobile data services over the next five years, largely driven by the spread of smartphones and a 23 percent increase in the number of mobile users. In 2016, the average mobile user will be browsing six times as many web pages and downloading 14 times as many megabytes of applications on their handset as in 2011. Text (SMS) and picture (MMS) messaging traffic will continue to grow, but at a much slower pace than most other mobile data services. On average, mobile users sent 118 SMSes and two MMSes a month in 2011, compared to the 146 SMSes and four MMSes they will be sending in 2016. Usage of Internet-derived messaging services, namely instant messaging and e-mail, will see higher growth. For e...

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...

Advertising on mobile devices and mobile money services are making strong inroads among the growing affluent segments of China's population, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . This perhaps counters the conventional thinking that consumer response to mobile advertising -- and the use of mobile devices for financial transactions -- are limited to the mature North American and European markets. ABI's online survey of 1,000 Chinese consumers was conducted in March-April 2011. Note, however, that given the online approach to the survey, the sample is entirely drawn from the technology-enabled part of the Chinese population. "Respondents were asked to indicate what actions they had taken as a result of clicking on an ad displayed on their mobile phones over the previous three months," said practice director Neil Strother. Nearly half (49 percent) of survey respondents had received a coupon, while 46 percent had investigated the product or service...

The mobile phone messaging services market is a significant growth opportunity. According to the latest market study by Portio Research , total worldwide mobile subscribers stood at nearly 5.3 billion at the end of 2010. The upside potential is huge. The subscriber base is projected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.9 percent between 2010 and 2015, reaching nearly 7.4 billion by the end of 2015. The worldwide mobile messaging market was worth $179.2 billion in 2010. This number is 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. The Asia Pacific region generated the highest mobile messaging revenue in 2010 and Latin America produced the least. Among the four mobile messaging services studied, SMS yielded the highest revenue for mobile service providers in 2010, followed by MMS, then mobile Email and finally mobile instant messaging (IM). SMS made the highest contribut...

While smartphone demand continues to grow, many mobile phone users are still purchasing the less-expensive feature phones. According to the latest market study by ABI Research, during 2010 feature phones comprised over 75 percent of the handset market. Consumers purchase feature phones for a variety of reasons including the need for a device that is optimized for a specific application, such as text messaging. "A messaging phone is a feature phone that has been enhanced for messaging services including SMS, MMS, mobile email, and mobile IM. These devices have a QWERTY keyboard and other capabilities at a price that is usually more affordable than a smartphone," says ABI Research senior analyst Victoria Fodale. Mobile phones for messaging will encompass an increasing percentage of feature phone shipments -- growing to almost a third of the category by 2015. Mobile phones optimized for messaging are targeted to specific markets including consumers in developing regions...

According to the latest market study by Informa Telecoms & Media , mobile phone short message service (SMS) will remain a significant source of revenues and traffic for mobile operators on a global basis until at least 2015. Global SMS text messaging revenues are forecast to rise to $136.9 billion in 2015 -- from $105.5 billion in 2010. While global SMS traffic is expected to increase to 8.7 trillion messages in 2015 -- from 5 trillion messages in 2010. "Mobile operators are spending heavily on rollouts of LTE and other high-speed mobile data networks, leaving relatively little in the budget for messaging services, however SMS remains a core service for mobile users and continues to account for the vast majority, 80 percent in 2010, of their data-and-messaging revenues," says Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst at Informa. SMS will continue to be the most popular form of messaging for a number of reasons: universal access and interoperability across devices and mob...