Maxing the mobile

Anyone still overlooking the importance of the mobile Web is hopelessly behind the times.The Internet is becoming irrevocably intertwined with the mobile world, and people have become dependent on their anytime, anywhere access. In South Africa, much of this access happens via mobile phones, opening up a whole new minefield of challenges and opportunities for anyone hoping to cash in on the new wave of connectedness.

THE STATS

If you don`t like mind-boggling statistics, read no further. Suffice it to say: lots of people use the Internet, and lots more have mobile phones. Pretty soon, everyone will be connected to the Internet using their cellphone.

For those who like their statistics, here are some: the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) says there will be 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions and 600 million mobile broadband subscriptions worldwide by the end of this year. There are now around 100 million more mobile broadband subscribers than fixed broadband subscribers worldwide.

More than a quarter of the world`s population is now online and using the Internet, although Africa is still lagging behind the developed world. ITU says there is "huge" market potential in developing countries for converged devices "as the mobile, television and Internet worlds collide".

In South Africa, this year`s World Wide Worx mobility study reports that the cellular market reached a milestone of 50 million connections at the end of 2008 - 68% of these being individual users. And SA`s Online Publishers Association says seven million people access the Internet in SA each month.

Deon Liebenberg, regional director for Sub-Sahara Africa at Research in Motion (RIM), says: "The rapid penetration of cellular phones into South Africa and the rest of the Africa will set the stage for mass adoption of the Internet across the country and continent."

According to a recent "Africa Connected: A telecommunications growth story" study from Ernst & Young, market penetration of cellphones in Africa is sitting at 37%. South Africa has cellular penetration of about 114%.

"From 2002 until now, Africa has seen its number of cell phone subscribers climb by a compound annual growth rate of 49.3% compared to a CAGR of about 27.5% in Brazil and Asia, according to Ernst & Young. By 2012, market penetration in Africa can be expected to climb to more than 60%," Liebenberg says.

It`s clear from these statistics that most Africans have bypassed fixed-line telephony in favour of mobile phones, which, coupled with cellular infrastructure, will do as much to bring data services to Africa as they did to bring telephony within the reach of the continent`s people."

Liebenberg adds: "In the worldwide market today, more phones than laptops are being sold, and more laptops than desktop computers. This trend towards mobility will continue."

Reports from the makers of the Opera Mini mobile phone browser show that in July this year, nearly 29.1 million people used Opera Mini, a 9.9% increase from June 2009 and more than 145% than in July 2008. Those 29.1 million people viewed more than 12 billion pages and generated nearly 187 million MB of data for operators worldwide in that month alone. Noting that this data is compressed, Opera said if the data were uncompressed, they would have viewed over 1.7 Petabytes of data in July. And South Africa is listed as one of the top 10 countries for Opera Mini usage.

GETTING IN ON THE GAME

One local player already getting in on the mobile Internet action is media group Naspers.

Last year, it paid $10 million for a 25% stake in Singapore-based Buzz City, a provider of mobile media and advertising services. Naspers also has stakes in mobile social media company Mxit; Indian mobile value added services company ACL Wireless; Brazil`s Compera nTime; and China`s Tencent, among others.

Buzz City`s focus on mobile Internet users has resulted in some revealing studies on the growth of Internet access via cellphones around the world. The company says it has been surveying mobile Internet users for the past two years, to gauge consumer habits and trends.

It sees rapid growth in the mobile Internet, with users still predominantly men, at around 69% of users. Most users are in their early 20s; and blue-collar workers are a core part of the mobile Internet community - mostly because they don`t have PC access. Buzz City has found that most mobile Internet users (60%) go online to communicate with others, with around 16% using it for entertainment, 10% surfing for information, and 13% making payments or cash transfers. Most people access the Internet on their phones from home, usually in the evening. Half of all users go online more than five times a day, and 81% of users surf for more than 15 minutes at a time.

In SA, the lower income bracket and the youth market may be the biggest adopters of the mobile Internet, totalling millions of users.

The youth market alone presents a compelling marketing case for companies, considering that SA`s under-24-year-olds had an annual spend estimated at over R80 billion last year. And most of them are living online these days - often via their cellphones.

In the UK, a recent Nominet Trust study of 16- to 24-year-olds found 75% of them felt they couldn`t live without the Internet; while a study in the US by Retrevo.com found people under the age of 35 are addicted to social media, checking in up to 10 times a day. Even right after sex. This study also found only 19% of over-35s preferred to access the Internet via their phones, but 46% of under-35s preferred using a mobile device to access social media. So the next generation can`t do without social network access, and most of them prefer this access via mobile phone.

MONEY-MAKING VIA MOBILE

Abroad, mobile marketing, search, banking and multimedia are hotly contested new business areas at the moment.

Many local companies are already servicing this growing mobile user base. Service and content providers have been doing very nicely for themselves peddling music, ring tones, screensavers and clips for years. MultiChoice is moving to offer TV via mobile phone. The major banks all have mobile banking options. There are navigation systems, traffic alerts, emergency services, tracking systems and home security monitoring services available via the mobile Web. Social networks like Mxit have shown phenomenal growth in recent years. And services like Mobilitrix are springing up to help marketers make the most of the mobile Internet too.

However, while online advertising may be enjoying an upsurge due to its low cost and measurable results, marketers appear to be slow to move their ads to the mobile Web. In SA, only the most forward-thinking marketers have gone beyond SMS and MMS in their mobile advertising campaign to date.

Media company 24.com is another group that believes in the future of the mobile Internet. Its mobile site, m24.com, currently has about 185 000 unique users and 2.5 million page impressions per month. The company has also invested in a division to generate new media products and innovations.

Matthew Buckland, head of 24.com`s new innovation hub, 20Four labs, feels that mobile Internet is just a fact of life now. "It`s becoming a clich  to talk about the overwhelming potential of the mobile Web. In the future, all digital devices will be Web-enabled, not just your cellphone. An unconnected digital device will be a silly thing in the future. So Web access from devices other than desktop PCs will keep growing and growing and growing."

He notes that Vodacom Mobile Advertising business head Rick Joubert has estimated the mobile Web to have over 10 million monthly users in SA, based on stats from local cellphone networks

20Four labs believes there are many ways to generate revenue via "relevant, targeted and intelligent advertising programmes", as well as new products and services.

Buckland says in the mobile space, 20Fourlabs has already been responsible for several innovations for mobile Internet users. "[We have] created a mobile and Web dating site called Flirtaroo.mobi and Flirtaroo.com. We`ve built an Android application for news24 and a few iPhone apps, including a few apps for Nokia phones. We`re also building a J2Me app for news24. We`ve launched letterdash.com, which is a new blog platform. Phase 2 of this will see it becoming a social blog platform.

"We`re also building a personalised homepage for both mobile and Web. We`re busy building the Hub, which is what we call a `content social network` - a social network built around a content site that enriches user interaction and debate. Currently, the offerings on most content sites, which involve a few comments below articles is poor. We aim to address that and make it a more sophisticated user experience. We also aim to capture and formalise the natural networks that exist around content sites."

Internet service provider MWeb has unveiled a new division focused on mobile Internet access too. MWeb Mobile says growing numbers of consumers are using their smartphones to instantly access the information they need, rather than waiting to access a PC or laptop.

MWeb Mobile`s product offering includes a variety of voice and data packages, bundled with smartphone devices, including Apple`s iPhone, BlackBerry, HTC, Nokia and Samsung. MWeb has also launched a mobile site, MWEB.mobi, offering users access to their e-mail, MWeb account, news, sport, financial information, weather, movies and entertainment news.

REPACKAGING IT

Taking advantage of the mobile Web wave may not be as simple as moving a company`s ads or Web site to mobile. Mobile requirements and surfing patterns are different from those on PC-based browsing. Which is why software giants and phone makers are reshaping their products accordingly, and local groups like 24.com and Naspers are investing in creating new applications and services tailored for mobile.

RIM`s Liebenberg says: "Content providers will need to consider the high volume of Internet users that will browse the content from their mobile phones. Web content will have to be optimised and simplified in order to be suitable for viewing from a mobile device." With this in mind, companies like RIM are working furiously to create new applications and services tailored to the mobile Internet.

Liebenberg says: "There are over 175 000 registered developers on the BlackBerry Developer programme. RIM has had a thriving developer community for many years, with well over 100 000 downloads of RIM`s Software Developer Kit to date. Among other things, RIM is also joining the Open Screen Project, a broad initiative dedicated to enabling standalone applications and richer Web browsing across mobile phones, televisions, desktops and other consumer electronic devices through the Adobe Flash Platform."

Buckland concludes: "The mobile Web is appealing to a broader audience and has the potential - unlike the Web we know - to be a mass medium. This means that there are opportunities to create content, publications and services that appeal to broader markets, not just the well-heeled."