Reinforcing the value of Bytemobile’s new analytics service for network operators – announced today - Bytemobile issued its first mobile data report for the industry. The Mobile Minute Metrics report anonymously sources the data traffic in a global cross-section of larger Bytemobile customers’ wireless networks and provides insight into the current state of the mobile ecosystem.

What is most notable from the data gathered in this report is the impact that touchscreen smartphones – the Apple iPhone in particular – is having on operators’ wireless networks. Accounting for 39% of the total volume on networks, video has already become the dominant form of mobile data traffic. Considering that only 1-2% of wireless users are currently using their devices to watch video, it will be critical to keep a close watch on mobile media consumption trends.

Other highlights from the Mobile Minute Metrics report include the following:

●             Generally, there are 10-15 times more web users than video users. However, on average, video users generate an equal amount of network traffic - i.e., one video user produces the same amount of mobile data as approximately 10-15 web users.

●             For the majority of operators without touchscreen smartphones, laptops dominate total network traffic at 94%. However, operators servicing touchscreen smartphones are finding that the devices generate 52% of the traffic on their network.

●          The average internet video is approximately five minutes in length. However, 50% of videos are played for 60 seconds or less, with the majority of users viewing only 10-30 seconds of the video.

To obtain a copy of the Mobile Minute Metrics report for 4Q 2009, click here.

-Stacey Infantino

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As complaints from frustrated customers indicate, wireless carriers are struggling to keep up with their users’ seemingly insatiable appetite for data. Networks are stressed due to the huge and ever growing popularity of smartphones such as the iPhone and computing devices such as netbooks, USB ‘dongles’ for mobile broadband access, and video-intensive applications.

There are many ways that carriers are attempting to tackle this problem, including acquiring more bandwidth in the form of spectrum and building out 4G network infrastructure. In the short term, some operators are also using technology to “optimize” web and video content for access via mobile devices.

To find out whether optimization has a measurable impact on the customer experience, Informa Telecoms and Media, a leading industry market research company, conducted an extensive study comparing the performance of mobile broadband across leading U.K. wireless providers including O2, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, BT, Vodafone, and H3G. From June to August 2009, a series of tests were performed in and around London, measuring the download performance of several popular internet destinations including Amazon, Facebook, Lycos, and Starbucks.

Informa’s measurements illustrate that T-Mobile and O2 (which both use Bytemobile’s solution), BT (which uses Vodafone’s network) and Vodafone were consistently the smallest in webpage download size and in 80% of measurements were the fastest to complete the download.

As a result of its findings, Informa concluded that enhancing an existing network - whether via 2G, 2.5G or 3G - with an optimization solution produces results that are not achievable via any other upgrades with a similar level of financial investment.

Interestingly, the results of this study echo the findings of YouGov’s recent survey, in which U.K. mobile users ranked their satisfaction with providers’ data download speeds.

Download the Informa report for free at http://www.telecoms.com/category/format/informa-white-papers.

-Graham Carey

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The third webinar of the year – “Mobile Multimedia: Minimizing Congestion, Maximizing Quality” – was held on July 15. You will find a full replay of the webinar here and will be able to access it later on the Mobile Minute page of our website.

The July 15 drew event visitors from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, the U.S., and Canada. FierceWireless Editor Mike Dano moderated a panel consisting of Craig Mathias, principal of Farpoint Group; Adrian Hall, our Chief Marketing Officer and Joel Brand, our vice president of Product Management.

Craig Mathias opened the session with comments on the central role of video in consumers’ lives and the corresponding market opportunity for mobile multimedia – especially video on demand. He cited a number of mobile applications that are proliferating in our ‘video-driven culture’, including company updates to employees, real-time distribution of business and consumer news, sharing of personal events among family and friends, and marketing and advertising campaigns. He stated Farpoint’s forecast that by 2014, 40% of all mobile consumers will be accessing video on their devices. Craig added that given the current economics of data pricing, capacity and throughput – plus the continued evolution of mobile handsets and multimedia content – wireless carriers will need to build escalating demand for video into their network evolution plans.

Against this backdrop, Joel Brand presented a number of compelling industry and anonymous customer statistics on mobile internet usage today. Multimedia streaming accounts for 30-40% of network data throughput, which is generated by less than 1% of users. Today mobile video constitutes approximately 35% of the total traffic mix and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 131% through 2013. Smartphones are approaching laptops in percentage of video traffic generated, and in certain tier-one networks, video consumption has overtaken web browsing on Apple iPhones. Joel then showed how web and media optimization could reduce peak throughput by up to 50%. Operators can effectively manage excessive data consumption and abusive video usage by a small percentage of users through the intelligent enforcement of fair use policies, which protect network resources without damaging customer relationships.

Adrian Hall pointed the divergence between data growth and data revenue growth and its impact on operators’ profitability as cost per bit continues to rise. Adrian focused on the unique attributes of our Media Optimization solution: just-in-time video delivery that maps streaming to actual consumption, data reduction that downsizes traffic while maintaining high quality, and intelligence that adapts optimization to constantly changing network conditions.

Following Craig Mathias’ presentation, Mike Dano polled the audience on the question of whether operators should enforce fair use policies with their subscribers. The results of the poll were as follows:

Additional Mobile Minute events are being planned for later this year. We will keep you apprised of these and other developments in our ongoing efforts to provide thought leadership and consultative education to our customer and prospect base and the mobile internet industry at large.

-Jaishree Subramania

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In May, Bytemobile sat down with Ronan de Renesse of Screen Digest to discuss the state of mobile media. This week, Ronan has been kind enough to answer some questions for our readers.

1) Screen Digest recently published a report on the state of the 3G mobile broadband market. Where do you see 3G mobile broadband fitting into the overall mobile ecosystem today, and where do you see it in three years? How does this affect what carriers are doing, aren’t doing or should be doing?
Mobile broadband today is worth more than mobile TV, mobile video, mobile music, and mobile games combined. The number of mobile broadband connections has multiplied by 10 between 2006 and 2008 and is still rising. Five years after the launch of 3G, mobile operators have finally found a way to monetize their 3G licenses. However, the real potential for mobile broadband is as a primary home connection, and today’s services work well only as a secondary broadband connection. As a result, growth is likely to decline over the next couple of years until mobile broadband can become truly competitive with fixed broadband.

2) You frequently cover mobile video and mobile TV. How would you assess the current state of the mobile video and mobile TV industries? What is the key driver that will increase adoption (network solutions, handset advancements, content)?
Mobile TV/Video is the mobile content category that has suffered the most from the economic downturn. In 2008, we experienced drastic changes in business models with the emergence of mobile content bundles such as SFR Illymitics in France and disruptive technologies such Telegent Systems’ analog mobile TV chipset. The industry realized that mobility by itself does not justify a subscription fee for mobile TV. Quality of experience (i.e., large screens, premium content, good QoS) is key in order to drive the uptake of paid-for mobile TV services. With the increasing availability of free-to-air services, the industry runs the risk of consumers thinking of mobile TV as a feature (like a camera or FM radio) instead of a service. In 2008, 76% of mobile TV users watched it for free.

3) How do you see the growth in adoption of mobile video and mobile TV affecting network infrastructure? Networks already seemed to be bogged down with data traffic. Are they ready for widespread adoption of mobile video and TV?
The rise of mobile broadband, added to the increasing popularity of smartphones (typically sold with flat-rate data plans), has certainly put a lot of pressure on 3G networks lately. Mobile operators are doing a lot to upgrade their networks as quickly as possible in order to accommodate the demand for mobile data. Fixed networks can only handle widespread adoption of online video and TV, and mobile networks are very far from it - especially considering that there are far more mobile connections in the world than fixed ones. However, there are other ways to get content on your handset than through the 3G networks. Over 90% of videos and music tracks on mobile phones are side-loaded from the PC. Taking control of this delivery mechanism and monetizing or reducing it is a big challenge for handset manufacturers and operators.

4) You recently published a report that discussed how, as the walled gardens come down, handset manufacturers are moving in to provide services to operators. Will handset manufacturers continue to drive and influence the wireless industry? Does anything threaten this influence?
The success of mobile broadband and flat-rate data packages has shown several mobile operators that they are better at selling access than content and that opening the walled gardens can work to their advantage. Mobile operators are therefore increasingly opening up to third-party service providers. Handset manufacturers, on the other hand, are suffering from a difficult economic context where mobile users opt for SIM-only contracts instead of handset upgrades. Handset manufacturers are therefore looking at alternative revenue streams and/or new ways to differentiate from their competitors, and content is coming up as a relatively good option. In addition, Apple has proved with its App Store that vertical integration of hardware, software and services works well in mobile.

5) Forrester recently published a report declaring that the term “smart phone” is dying off. Is there a future for mass-market handsets? Why or why not?
There is certainly still a future for mass-market handsets, which will be primarily driven by growth in emerging markets such as China and India. The recession has also helped to keep low-end handsets in the market. However, there has been cannibalization between feature phones and smartphones which are typically populating the mid-range and high-end device segments in Western markets. Smartphones have been taking market share from feature phones for the past 12 months, as smart phones become more accessible in terms of price and feature-rich. I would say that the term “feature phone” is more likely to die than the term “smart phone.”

Stay tuned for commentary from other key industry influencers on the trends and issues important to the mobile internet ecosystem. If you have any questions you’d like us to ask, feel free to leave a comment or send an email to sinfantino@bytemobile.com.

-Stacey Infantino

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