According to a new report from Juniper Research, the move from per-transaction to per-month billing models incorporating up to unlimited data and messaging bundles will see total P2P revenues in Western and Eastern Europe post declines, balanced to some extent by a healthy rise in revenues in developing markets, plus growth in ad-funded tariffs. Meanwhile, web-based communities continue to integrate new messaging mediums, which could well impact MNO revenues in the increasingly open mobile Web browsing environment.
Ian Chard, Juniper research analyst and author of the report, commented: “For MNOs, mobile messaging investment is becoming a more considered decision. But mature services such as SMS will remain core revenue generators in the current economic environment, given that messaging is an economical method of P2P communication.”
The report found that smartphone users in particular will continue to drive high usage levels, while there is also a significant opportunity in using mobile messaging mediums to interconnect the disparate digital communities evolving around gaming, social networking and VoIP.
Steve Reynolds, chairman of the MDA, said: “Global economic meltdown has changed the world forever, businesses must re-invent themselves and innovate to survive. This report provides valuable intelligence to empower mobile messaging centric businesses in developing future demand based commercial strategies.”