New from Pew - 63% of cell phone owners use them to access net

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has just released results from a survey of cell phone owners.  They show that 60% of cell phone owners access the internet through their phones, and 52% use their phones for email.  Taken together, almost two thirds (63%) do one or another, and are classified by Pew as "cell internet users."  Within the 56% of U.S. adults with smart phones, usage rates hit 93%.

In terms of demographics, age and usage are negatively related, with younger age groups being more likely to be "cell internet users."  Having at least some college education is also related to use of cell phones for internet access, and income is also positively related to cell internet usage.  Cell phone users living in rural areas were less likely to use their phones for internet access - while the survey didn't specify, at least some of this may be related to the lower cell data speeds in many rural areas.
  There was, in addition, a small gender effect with men reporting higher usage (65%) than women (60%).

This survey also found meaningful differences between race/ethnic groups - with Blacks reporting the highest rate of adoption (74%), followed by Hispanics (68%), with Whites trailing at 59%.  This pattern has been found fairly consistently in mobile device usage studies in the U.S., and is often attributed to the argument that the mobile devices often serve as the only (or the least expensive) Internet connection point available.  (That is, more limited use of laptops and desktops connecting to wired Internet services in the home.)

While a third of cell internet users reported going online mostly through their phones, more than half (53%) have indicated that the phone was a secondary contact point, with another device serving as their primary online connection.  And remember that more than a third of cell phone owners (37%) reported that they do not access the internet through their cell phones.

  Taking a closer look at those who use their cell phones as their primary internet access point, we find some interesting demographic differences.  First, there was no gender difference, and location differences (urban vs. suburban vs rural) were minimal.  There were age differences, along the same lines of general usage (i.e. higher use among younger age groups).

It gets more interesting when you look at race/ethnicity, income, and education.  Along the lines of the argument that mobile devices may be the most viable internet access point for poor and minority users, White cell internet users had the lowest likelihood of reported their phones as their primary internet access point (27%).  Interestingly, though, the level of cells as primary device was among Hispanics (at 60%), rather than Blacks (at 43%). 
  The relationship between usage of cell phones as primary internet connections with both education and income were negative, with lower income groups and those with no college being the most likely to report their cell phones as their primary internet connection.  This would seem consistent with the idea that mobile devices can be a cheaper and more convenient way of accessing the net for the less advantaged.

Sources -  Cell Internet Use 2013, Pew Research Center
Cell Internet Use 2013, full research report from Pew Research Center

Milestone: UK 4G coverage hits 50%

More than half of UK's population is now within the coverage area of 4G wireless broadband service.

EE (stands for Everything Everywhere) is currently the sole provider of 4G mobile service in the UK.  They got a jump on other mobile service providers by repurposing their existing spectrum for 4G service, rather than bidding in the new 4G spectrum auctions.

“With these major milestones of 50 towns and cities and 50 per cent of the population, we’re remaining ahead of our schedule to equip UK consumers and businesses with 4G," (EE) chief executive Olaf Swantree said.

The company is hoping to get 70% coverage of the UK by the end of 2013, and 98% coverage by the end of 2014.

The expansion of 4G is doubly significant, as it's data speeds qualify as mobile broadband, making its fast roll-out and widespread coverage also impacting on broadband digital divide issues.

Source -  4G mobile broadband coverage extends to 50pc of UK, The Telegraph

Rich Media Milepost: Million for Joyn.T SK

South Korean telecom operator SK Telecom, launched a new "rich media" service Joyn.T late last December.  The service allows users to share video, send images, or location and contact information during calls.  SK Telecom announced it had signed up 1 million subscribers to Joyn.T in the first 50 days of operation.

SK Telecom has already introduced unlimited, free-for-life joyn.T SMS and IMS services to its smartphone subscribers on flat-rate plans. In addition, data fees incurred from sending or receiving messages will not be deducted from subscribers’ data allowance, the firm said.

  The operating basis for Joyn was developed by GSMA, a global trade group for wireless telecom operators.   Spain's three largest telecom operators were the first to introduce Joyn, last November.

Source -  SK Telecom's Joyn service hits 1 million mark,  telecoms.com

A future for RIM?

With reports that RIM (makers of the Blackberry and operators of its OS and system) floating the possibility of splitting its hardware business (the Blackberry devices) from its network and messaging business (the OS and messaging network), several big Net/Mobile players have reportedly expressed interest in the various pieces.
  According to press reports, Amazon and Facebook are potential suitors, and RIM might approach Apple and Google about helping them get into the networking business.  Still, these are rumors, and nothing solid is likely to occur until after RIM launches the BlackBerry 10 operating platform later this year.  How this ends will likely depend on whether the new OS is innovative enough for RIM to win back some of the market share its lost over the last few years.


Source -  Report: Facebook, Amazon interested in RIM's handset unit,  FierceWireless

AT&T Pulls Bid for T-Mobile

When AT&T reached a deal to acquire T-Mobile about a year ago, it seemed like a reasonable deal.  AT&T gained some needed spectrum and improved its signal coverage areas.  In particular, the added spectrum and ability to repurpose some overlapping coverage areas would speed up its ability to roll out broadband 4G and broadband WiFi service.  T-Mobile subscribers would see their coverage areas expand significantly.  On the other hand, whenever you have merger and acquisition activity among the 4-6 largest firms in an industry, you have monopoly concerns.  With evil old AT&T (or at least its corporate name) involved, it also attracted a host of negativity from activists.
  This should have been of less concern in this case, as cell and wireless services are not monopoly services.  These firms face direct competition from multiple wireless and wired direct competitors in almost all markets.  Even with AT&T also a major landline telecom operator in some parts of the U.S., it's unlikely that the proposed acquisition would create any large monopoly markets, or even increase AT&T's "monopoly power" in major markets in the U. S.
  While it was anticipated that both the Justice Dept. and the FCC would look at the merger closely and investigate it's potential anti-competitive impact, it was highly unusual for both the Chairman of the FCC to publicly announce his opposition to the acquisition, and the Justice Dept. to launch an anti-trust suit against AT&T, before the results of those studies were in.  It was more like the administration opposed the purchase for political reasons and pressure from activist groups linked to the administration, rather than concern over the potential impact on public welfare.  So AT&T, reading the tea leaves, bowed to the pressure and pulled out of the deal.
  By the way, T-Mobile is still being shopped around by its current owner, Deutsche Telekom, with current rumors pointing to a deal with Sprint, which is a rung or two below AT&T in market size.  And for you non-economists, that deal is actually more likely to impact market concentration and result in increased monopoly power.  So much for the concern being driven by anti-trust concerns rather than being a result of anti-AT&T hysteria and political motivations.

Sources - AT&T Pulls $39 Billion T-Mobile Bid After Regulator Opposition, Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Activist Groups: Ding-Dong the AT&T-T-Mobile Deal is Dead, Broadcasting & Cable

Blackberry Playbook's e-mail client sneak peek

Post contributed by Zuri Walker -                                                       

Most analysts were puzzled when Blackberry launched their entry into the tablet wars, the Blackberry PlayBook, without a native email-client, calendar, or contact manager (basically the things business professionals buy a Blackberry for).   However, screenshots of the new services were spotted at a Blackberry Innovation Forum held by Research In Motion or RIM. The software is not set to update to the Playbook system until February 2012. Blackberry users were very surprised to see screenshots of the email-client in action being as though they received no notice via email, contact or calendar manager. The current Playbook’s base model was set at a price under $200 at Best Buy and has not created much interest against competitors such as the iPad2. However, the updated version is set to include an Andriod app converter.

Source -  Blackberry PayBook's long-awaited email client spotted in new screenshots,  Slashgear.com

The Pace of Change (Wireless)

Post submitted by Whitney Wilson (edited-BJB) -

  Product cycles are short, in the phone business.  Cellphone manufacturers roll that new, improved phone out every 3-4 months. While good for their marketing, it can create problems for the wireless company - particularly if their branded flagship product seems outdated 3 months into a 2 year contract.  Columnist and senior writer for CNET Robert Cheng commented,

“The Bionic was supposed to be positioned as Verizon Wireless' flagship 4G LTE smartphone--the first with a dual-core processor--when it launched in early September. But its reign barely lasted a month, and following several recent announcements, it may not even rank as the third-best Android phone in Verizon's lineup by November.” 

These Wireless providers work furiously to provide users with the newest technology, but then around three months time at the very least, this “edgy” technology is outmoded. It burns consumers out on trying to be up to date with their technology not to mention it is wasteful in terms of engineering and advertising. Cheng continued:

“But the rate at which these new super smartphones are emerging is dizzying. That run of phones doesn't even include the wave of devices hitting the market with the other major carriers. People often hold off purchasing new phones so they can see what's coming ahead; with such a steady flow of new products, they may end up paralyzed with indecision.” 

  When carriers promote and advertise a new product they want instant gratification that they can visibly see in spiking sales, but Cheng advises that it is better to be patient because the amount of new technology can be overwhelming and this is particularly true around the holidays.
  Carriers should slow down and focus on either one or maybe several products and give them time to hit the market and give consumers a chance to process the new technology. This helps consumers to be able to make more sound decisions rather than making smartphone, and a newer technology coming out recently after. Maybe coming out with a new product or several new products every 2^nd quarter would be better for sales, and it would definitely be better on consumer’s minds and pocket books.

Source - Android super smartphones: Too much of a good thing?  CNET News

Data Plan Dance: The end of unlimited?

Editted post from Whitney Wilson -

  Verizon has joined the ranks of mobile carriers shifting to tiered data plans for their smart phones and tablets.  While the unlimited data caps were not proving to be an unsound decision economically at that point, the rising use of online video threatens to swamp carriers' current network capacity.  As 4G deployment expands, network capacity will rise - but will it rise as fast as subscriber data demands?

  While there is understandable uncertainty from users (who often aren't sure how much data they regularly download), the shift to tiered plans is unlikely to burden most subscribers - their current data use falls below the basic 2 Gb tier.  Further, most smartphones and tablets also can access WiFi, and data accessed that way does not count towards the tier limit.  Shifting from unlimited to use-based pricing is likely to depress data use (in the cellular system), as users start monitoring their data use until they have a better sense of their general levels of use, and see what it takes to pass that tier limit.  Online use patterns, particularly  those requiring large files, may shift to WiFi as long as it remains unmetered.  Although most people do not completely understand how the tier system works and exactly how much use they are allotted, it is said that a hefty number of people have converted to AT&T, as its data plans generally cost less. 

  Regardless of if a consumer decided to go with AT&T or Verizon, their data would no longer be unlimited. The question is who has the better deal for what is being offered.   The wireless providers are trying to make a rational decision on what is best for their business, so consumers will just have to learn to watch their data usage and cope accordingly by staying economically intelligent.

Source: Verizon's New Tiered Data Plans: What You Need to Know,  PCMag

SMS (Text Messaging) Evolves

Text messaging (SMS) has been a major success for cellular networks - last year more than 6.1 trillion messages sent, worldwide.  Locally, the U.S. took over as the king of text, with SMS subscribers sending an average of 660 messages a month.  And with the extremely low cost of sending SMS, texting has historically been a huge profit center.

Revenue growth from SMS has started to slow, however.  Analysts attribute this to several factors.  First, as texting became popular, people switched from per-unit pricing (typically 10 cents per text in the U.S.) to larger and larger bundling plans with lower per-unit costs. More recently, wireless carriers are dropping these bundles in favor of unlimited messaging plans.  Wireless carriers are seeing higher SMS use, but generating less revenue on a per-message basis.

Second, the rise of smartphones have opened a second channel for text services through the Internet.  A number of IP-based text services have emerged in the last few years, some tied to social media like Facebook and Twitter.  These run through a wireless provider's data plan, rather than through their SMS channels.  However, wireless providers are starting to phase out unlimited data plans, which could mean more revenues from IP-based texting, or a shift back to using SMS.  In addition, many of the IP-based texting systems require both users to have the same applications open at the same time, while SMS works on any cell phone and any service anywhere in the world - a valuable feature as yet unmatched by IP-based services.  Thus, most analysts don't see IP-based texting replacing SMS as much as carving out some niche uses.

Chetan Sharma (Chetan Sharm Consulting) predicts a larger shift -

"...within 5-10 years a good portion [of users] will have shifted to Internet messaging as opposed to traditional SMS messaging... (Still) messaging is in trillions so even if somebody has millions of messages [being sent via his app] going on a daily basis, it is still a tiny fraction [of the market],"

The ability to message has enough value to users that the concept of mobile messaging isn't likely to disappear anytime soon.  There may well be shifts from one form to another along the way, but as networks and services become more intelligent, its likely that the various forms of messaging will integrate into a universal messaging system;

The article (link below) also identifies and discusses a number of the alternatives to wireless carrier SMS and MMS (Multimedia Message Service) channels.  If you're interested, click through.

Source: "SMS: The dying cash cow for wireless carriers?" FierceMobileContent

Cell Phones and Health

From Andrew Starnes:

We use cell phones everyday in our lives. Any time someone releases a study showing negative side effects on the body, we should pay attention. If cell phones can lead to bonedeterioration then we could see major hip or leg related problems with future senior citizens from our current younger generations. Cell phone usage should have devoted studies like this because we may be hurting our bodies and not even no it.I also think this is further evidence that young children should not be given phones due to the increased risk on their developing bodies.

Source: "Cell Phone Health Risk to Bones," Information Week

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile

T-Mobile USA has been looking for a merger/purchase partner for a while - as #4 in wireless, it's not in a good long-term position to continue to finance periodic network upgrades.  Still, it seemed to be a surprise to industry analysts that the buyer looks to be AT&T (now #2 in the market)
The deal makes a lot of sense for AT&T - both it and T-Mobile use the same basic cell technology, so there shouldn't be any interface problems, and T-Mobile holds some 4G spectrum licenses in areas where AT&T is weak.  It should facilitate AT&T's "Long Term Evolution" build-out that will eventually cover 95% of the US population.
Because the combined subscribers will give AT&T a little more than half of all wireless customers in the U.S., the deal is sure to undergo intense regulatory and anti-trust scrutiny.  Already, critics are suggesting a number of reasons to reject the bid - mostly the same old anti-monopoly rhetoric about big, bad, Ma Bell.  But wireless is inherently different from the old wire-line - instead of local monopolies, wireless is locally competitive in all US markets.  And the old AT&T was never anti-innovation (that's how it achieved and maintained its dominant position in the old telephone marketplace). 
Still, as they say, interesting times...

Sources: "AT&T to Buy T-Mobile for $39 Billion", Information Week
"Meet The Old Ma, Same as The Old Ma," Information Week

Hot Topics at Mobile World Congress

Pulled from CIO Insight:

• Microsoft-Nokia Partnership (maybe they'll get Windows Mobile right)
• Mobile security (keeping your cell info safe will be a big issue)
• Mobile, Samsung, Blackberry, Acer unveil their (hope-to-be) iPad-killers
• Quad-core mobile processors on the way will significantly improve mobile performance
• And while not there, there was still a lot of buzz about iPhone5 and iPad2

Verizon iPhone: Sizzle or Fizzle?

The Verizon iPhone is one of the hottest tech deals of the year so far because it has been speculated about for years. Now that it has happened did the deal fall flat on the hype? I talked to several of my friends on facebook and only one person has bought an iPhone so far that has Verizon. The speculation points in the article on why deal hasn't been as big of a deal is good, but I think there could be another reason. The android phones have been very popular with Verizon customers. I would estimate that 50% of my friends that have Verizon own an android powered device. I think the popularity with these phones may have halted the iPhone success, for now. But as the author points out, when AT&T contracts are up and Verizon gives better deals and contracts for the iPhone, then we could see the tide turn.

Andrew Starnes.

Source: "Did the Verizon iPhone Fizzle?"  InformationWeek

Top 11 Mobile Predictions for 2011

Information Week's Eric Zeman assembles his list of predictions for wireless (cell & WiFi) for the coming year.
Among them:

• The diffusion and rise of 4G
• Smartphone dominance
• Shift to metered data, prepaid plans
• Video chat and tablets take off

Full article