Mobile Internet: Search and Site visitation Friday, May 29 2009

Mobile Internet has become an important tool for mobile users today. Mobile search forms an integral part of Mobile Internet. There are various search engines available for seeking required information. This makes it easier for information seekers to get required data on the fly and eliminates the dependency of connecting to Internet via PC. Internet browsing through mobile phones also provide the flexibility of accessing the Internet from anywhere, anytime. Some of the popular search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask laila and rediff search. Among these, Google rules the Internet world on mobile phones in India, followed by Yahoo search.

When it comes to Site visitation Google and Yahoo continue their dominance in India. Other popular sites visited by mobile users are Naukri, Youtube, India times, facebook, ebay.in, NDTV, MSN etc.

Which is the most frequency visited site from your mobile phone?

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Mobile Internet : services and usage in India Wednesday, May 27 2009

Internet is the biggest boon to Mankind. Mobile VAS has taken technology to next level by innovating services such as SMS, MMS, and now Mobile Internet. Thus helped in converging the world by bringing people closer through advanced communication methods. Now you have the power of surfing the net through your phones. Mobile Internet is nothing but the ability of mobile users browsing the WAP portals or Web through their mobile phones. Some of the popular services included in Mobile internet are:

 

1. Mobile Blogging
2. Emailing
3. Mobile Search
4. WAP Portal browsing
5. Web access (www sites)
6. Mobile chat (Instant messaging)
7. mCommerce (Purchasing through Internet)

Internet Usage
 
Results of survey conducted in April 2009, for urban mobile users in India (Feb/March 2009) concluded, 68 million urban Indians access internet from their mobile phone with checking email as the main reason. Appx 27.2% of the mobile users accessed internet through their phone.

Mobile Internet usage

On breaking internet access subscribers by service provider, Reliance GSM subscribers are the most active users of internet on their mobile phones, with 85% using the internet almost on a daily basis.

Used Internet almost daily

Popularity of Mobile Internet is growing each day. Industry experts say, the total number of mobile web users grew past the total number of PC based internet users for the first time in 2008. However due to certain limitations such as speed, small screen size, types of pages accessible, multiple-windows opening not possible, cost etc the service has not taken off as expected.  We need to see how many Mobile Internet subscribers are going to be added by 2010.

 

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Popular sources of Mobile advertising Friday, May 22 2009

There are various sources of mobile advertising such as SMS, WAP, IVRS, MMS etc available (see previous article).  Data was gathered in April 2009 for feb/march 2009 mobile users to find out what types are popular among the mobile users. It is noticed from the graph below that half of all users who see an advertisement on website from their phone acknowledge interacting with one.

Mobile advertising popularity

Web advertising (for WAP sites) are a better medium to reach consumers compared to SMS. Advertisements on WAP sites have a lot higher recall compared to SMS advertising with over half of all users viewing advertisements on WAP sites interacting/remembering advertisements, compare this to SMS advertising where just under 1 in 4 recall SMS advertisements. 

Therefore mobile advertising definately has a impact on mobile users and hence the advertisers have higher chances of getting customers through mobile advertising. How often have you interacted with the mobile advertisers? Do let us know your experience.

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Mobile advertising: Powerful platform for marketers Monday, May 18 2009

Mobile advertising part of Mobile VAS, as the name suggests is a medium for advertisers to market their product/services to consumers via mobile phones. Mobile advertising service forms an interactive channel between the brand and the consumer.

Types of Mobile advertising

Various types of mobile advertising which are most commonly seen are through WAP i.e. mobile web banner (top of page) or mobile web poster (bottom of page banner). Next is SMS advertising which is also very popular. This is achieved by sending an advertisment message along with regular text message. Other forms include  MMS advertising, advertising within mobile video, within mobile games, during mobile TV receipt, advertising while mobile content or mobile web page is loading up. Advertisements in the form of audio clip is also available which is heard by the mobile user just before a voicemail recording, or an audio recording played while interacting with a IVR (interactive voice response) based service such as movie ticketing booking, downloading VAS content, travel booking etc.

Entertainment industry benefit most

According to experts, in India at present, content related to films and cricket experience heavy spots of advertising through mobile advertising services.The entertainment industry has a immense correlation with mobile VAS in terms of content consumed. It forms a medium to publicise content of films such as music tracks, videos and ring tones. Mobile advertisment service helps in promoting a movie in a short span of time.

What do you think are the most popular services been advertised via mobile phones?

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Mobile banking in Urban India – most popular services Thursday, May 14 2009

Mobile banking plays a significant role in mCommerce.  It is simple to use and provides convenient ways to perform financial transactions. Therefore, it has become very popular among the mobile users today.

Let us take a look at some real statistics. By observing and analyzing data gathered in April 2009 for Feb/March mobile banking urban Indian customers, it is found that checking account balance is the most frequently cited reason for using mobile banking. 40 million Urban Indians used their mobile phones to check their bank account balances followed by viewing last three transactions. Taking into considerations many banks providing mobile banking services, ICICI bank continues to maintain its leadership extending in mobile space, 42% of all mobile banking users bank with ICICI, followed by HDFC (25.3%).

Most popular services in mobile banking

Another survey was conducted based on  mobile users with various income groups in urban India. After analyzing the data, it is noticed mobile banking is most used by subscribers falling in Rs. 1 Lakh to Rs. 2.99 Lakhs income bracket (36.6%) followed by less than Rs 1 Lakh income bracket (18%). Mobile users with more than 7.5lakhs of income used this service less (11.7%). Therefore it is observed, mobile banking is more popular among low income group of mobile users than higher income group of mobile users.

How often do you use mobile banking and what do you think are the benefits? Do share your experience.

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Mobile Banking : An integral part of mCommerce Monday, May 11 2009

Mobile banking, commonly known as mbanking is the ability to check  credit balances, make account transactions, make payments etc. via mobile phones. In simple terms, it provides banking and financial services to customers on the fly. Started in 2007, has become very popular today due to higher internet speed,  increase in security, new banking and financial services available.

Service discovery and delivery

Services are accessible in various forms to mobile users (consumers):

• SMS – By sending text message (preserved keyword) to pre-defined shortcode
• WAP – Via mobile Internet by accessing dedicated WAP portals (pre-requisite: GPRS connectivity required and setting to be enabled on mobile phones)
• Application – mbanking application to be installed on the handset (mbanking client to be download on compatible mobile phones).

Benefits

There are several people who benefit from this service. Some of them are:

1. Banks – Most bank offers mBanking facility to all its Bank, Credit Card, Demat and Loan customers hence increasing customer satisfaction
2. End users – Easy to use and on the fly transactions , makes it convenient for use
3. Operators – By Charging for the SMS service, GPRS connectivity
4. Service providers – Increase source of revenues by offering new services
5. Investment Brokers – Attract more buyer with this simple to use service

Mobile Banking Services

Mobile banking can offer numerous services (only main ones listed) such as:

• Check account information – balance , debits, credits check
• Mini-statements – recent transactions, account history
• Set Alerts – on account activities or passing of set thresholds on credit/debit cards, salary credit,
• Play orders – new cheque books
• Cheque Status – check the status, stop cheques
• Blocking of lost/stolen credit/debit cards
• Bill information – View your recent bills
• Change primary account – New acct number
• Locate – ATMs, branch locations, drop boxes based on PIN/ZIP code
• Credit card check – balance enquiry, reward points, last payment, payment due date
• Loans – access to statements, Amortisation Schedule, Income Tax Certificate provisional, Income Tax Certificate Final, Reset Letter, Reschedulement Letter, Loan Agreement copy, welcome letter, interest certificate
• Service request – status of service request raised
• Mutual funds / equity statements
• Insurance policy management
• Domestic and international fund transfers
• Commercial payment processing
• Bill payment processing  – Phone bills, utility bills
• Peer to Peer payments
• Investments – Portfolio management services, real-time stock quotes , personalized alerts and notifications on security prices

Due to  new services being added frequently, user friendly platform, increased security, higher data transfer rate, increase in subsciber base, people attracted to high end phones and new services, mobile VAS value chain members expect a potential growth in mCommerce specially, mBanking.

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mCommerce: The next generation e-commerce Thursday, May 7 2009

Mobile users are in constant look out for new VAS applications. Every user  likes simplicity and convenience when it comes to getting their work done. Mobile users are ready to spend extra money for this. This is way mCommerce has become popular among mobile VAS subscribers.

What is mCommerce?

mCommerce is the ability to purchase goods or make transactions over the mobile phone. It is a mobile VAS application which is also known as next generation e-commerce. Some of the service supported by mCommerce are:

1. Mobile banking — Account enquiry, money transfers, credit check
2. Mobile payment — Phone bills, utility bills, insurance premiums, recharge pre-paid connections
3. Shopping and trading — Buying goods, placing orders
4. Mobile ticketing — movie ticket booking, travel ticket purchases, gift vouchers and coupons
5. Mobile advertising — Posting banners, advertisments
6. Information services — Sports figures, traffic updates, weather reports, location based services, stocks info etc
7. Entertainment – Games and gambling

How does it work?

Mobile users need to download an application hosted by various mCommerce service providers, on their handset. The backend technology is usually through WAP. Phones require GPRS connectivity to be enabled. Some mCommerce players offer services through SMS (text messaging) or IVRS (voice based) technologies. Payment methods is also very simple. For post paid users charges are incorporated in the mobile bill where as for pre-paid users amount is deducted from their calling credit. Subscribers can be charged by their credit card which is linked to their subscriber profile. Some service providers charge subcription based on  regular basis (Ex-montly).

Benefits of mCommerce

The whole purpose of mCommerce is to make it convenient for people to get what they want in a quick and easy manner.Various members of Mobile VAS value chain benefit from mCommerce services.

• Service providers benefit by increase in revenues by coming up with new applications and hence meeting customer demands
• End users get to use an easy application which makes it convenient for making purchases and transactions on the fly, improves productivity and provides flexibility
• Operators benefit from getting a percentage of the revenues from service providers
• Device manufacturers – Application could be pre-installed on phone by tie-ing up with handset manfacturers
• Application providers/developers -  Can provide/develop new features persistently

Potential of mCommerce in India

Due to the user-friendly platform, high level of security offered, cost-effective solution and large number of services offered should attract more users to explore mCommerce services. The launch of 3G (higher data rate) in India recently is expected to  contribute to the growth of mCommerce. Therefore, there seems to be a good potential for mCommerce in India and it is expected to contribute to good amount of revenues for service providers, cellular operators, banks,retail outlets, airlines, railways, information providers, media, content providers and at the same time is beneficial to subscribers. 

What do you think?

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Feb/March 2009 report – Statistics on mobile gaming Wednesday, May 6 2009

Based on data gathered in April 2009 for Feb/March mobile game users it is found that approx  30 million urban Indians use their mobile phones to play games on a daily basis (12.5%). The Indian gaming industry though at its cusp, is showing huge potential in sheer market size. Looking at data in the February- March 2009 time frame there were a total of 105 million Indian consumers playing games on their mobile phone, of this 30 million consumers played games on their cell phone almost daily.

Mobile Gaming report: “frequency of playing games” (Two month ended March 2009, Urban Indian Mobile Phone Users)

Feb/March 2009 statistics on mobile gaming

Nokia continues its dominance in Indian mobile space accounting for 65% of power user’s handset followed by Sony Ericsson a distant second (10.6%).

Source of game(s)

Downloading games for free vs. purchasing continues to enjoy a 2.25:1 ratio with 85% of power users who downloaded a game (8.83 million) citing downloading for free while 37% did so by paying a fee. “Though free game downloads dominated, looking at the table below, service providers seem to have got their model right with more consumers purchasing games from a service provider website than downloading for free (1.29:1 ratio). On the other hand, third party providers see a complete inverse ratio on purchased v/s free downloads. When it comes to source of game downloads service provider continues to be the most popular source while service provider is also the only source where number of people purchasing is higher than downloading for free.

Statistics – Games purchased and free

Almost 40% of Power users are between the ages of 25 and 34 while an additional 35% are between 18 and 24 years old.
- By Vital analytics

Vital Analytics a leader in measuring mobile space in India and a reliable source of mobile marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.vitalanalytics.in

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Most popular sources of mobile games in India Monday, May 4 2009

In April 2009, survey was conducted to find out the popular sources for mobile game purchase.  The mobile users are spread across urban parts of India. This survey considers the most popular mobile game providers  in India.

After analyzing the data it was found that 8.92 million Urban Indian purchased game(s) for their phone in February/March 2009.

 

 

Various mobile game providers in India

It is noted that service provider is the most popular source for purchasing game(s) with 3.59 million urban Indians citing purchasing one from them followed by Rediff (1.87 million), Hungama.com (1.51 million) and zapak.com (1.40 million). Among service providers Bharti Airtel is the most cited source accounting for almost 40% of purchasers.

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