Increased penetration of 2.5/3G networks and a
surge in demand for
Web 2.0 collaborative business applications will ramp up the
number of subscribers to mobile Internet services by almost a
billion in the next five years
This is the headline finding of new survey data from Juniper
Research who predicts that mobile Internet services subscribers
will rise from the current 577 million users to 1.7 billion by
2013.
Looking at the service provider angle, Juniper adds that
established mobile players will face increasing competition from
web-based brands and will have to adapt their commercial strategies
to accommodate greater collaboration with other members of the
value chain, if future revenue growth in the mobile web 2.0 space
is to be achieved.
One key prediction is the emergence of an open mobile Internet.
It believes that the key applications will include social
networking; User Generated Content (UGC); Instant Messaging (IM);
Location Based Services (LBS); Search calls for delivery of the
mobile Internet as it was originally conceived. That is defined as
an open environment in which users are able to share, collaborate
and exploit content/information without any one party controlling
the value chain.
Juniper says that as with the fixed Internet, many mobile web
2.0 applications will need to be provided at base cost/flat-data
rates (or even free of charge), forcing industry players to seek
new revenue streams. It expects the new mobile Internet to mark a
fundamental shift for the industry towards the D2C
(direct-to-consumer) model and will place growing pressure on
mobile network operators (MNOs) and handset manufacturers in
particular, to relinquish some of their control over the value
chain, by opening up their networks/devices to third-parties.