3G subscribers will double over next five years, with global 3G+ tablet sales to exceed 68 million by 2015

Parks Associates forecasts more than 68 million of the 126 million tablets sold worldwide in 2015 will have 3G or greater technology. The research firm's latest report Mobile Broadband & Mobile Computing Devices shows 29% of the 16.5 million tablets sold in 2010 featured embedded 3G technology, while tablets with 3G/4G technology will account for over one-half of all tablets sold in 2015.

Consumer demand for mobile data will increase further as carriers continue to deploy 3G and 4G networks around the world, enabling better user experiences and opening new markets to reliable mobile Internet access. 3G subscribers will double over the next five years to account for 47% of total mobile subscribers in 2015, with an additional 5% of mobile subscribers receiving 4G service. The ability to turn this growing data usage into revenue will be the key challenge for carriers going forward.

Carriers need to optimize network performance, be selective about subsidizing mobile platforms, and monetize Wi-Fi assets in order to stay profitable. Additionally, carriers need to offer more pricing options with flexible rules to fit consumers’ access needs.

Parks Associates hosting Mobile Internet Devices Webcast

Parks Associates is hosting a Mobile Internet Devices webcast on Thursday, April 22nd at 1 PM Central.

2009 saw rapid growth for netbooks fueled in part by the strong appetite from consumers for an ultraportable, always-connected device. What are the long-term trends driving adoption of an increasing number of Internet-connected portable devices, like ebook reader, MP3 player, and GPS device, vying for specialized applications or roles in consumer’s digital lifestyle?

For more information, visit
www.parksassociates.com/events/webcasts.htm

CONNECTIONS™ addresses business strategies and new technologies that leverage consumer interest in TV Everywhere services

Parks Associates reports TV Everywhere services are gaining popularity, with over 40% of U.S. broadband households very positive on these services, which will be a prominent topic at the upcoming CONNECTIONS™: The Digital Living Conference and Showcase.

CONNECTIONS™ includes multiple sessions on New Media and Digital Content:

• TV Everywhere and Online Video
• Mobile Internet and Cloud Services
• Trends in User Interfaces
• TV and Online Video Advertising Metrics
• DRM, Conditional Access, and Payment Models

Other Event Sessions:

Entertainment Platforms & Value-Added Services

• Digital Home Technical Support Services
• Digital Lifestyles
• Service Provider Innovation
• The Service Provider and the Connected Home
• Innovations & Investments: Venture Capitalist Insights

Consumer Electronics

• Design Elements for Connected CE
• Monetizing Connected CE
• The Future of the Set-top Box
• 3DTV
• TV Technology in the New Age of Consumer Buying

Home Systems & Controls

• Residential Energy Management
• Getting Consumers to Care about Home Controls
• Business Models for Energy Management
• Architectures and Implications for the Home Area Network
• Energy Management as a Key Application for Home Controls

For more information, visit www.connectionsus.com or contact sales@parksassociates.com, 972-490-1113.

Mobile Internet and E-mail Services Jump in Popularity among U.S. Consumers

Adoption of non-text mobile data services has exceeded 40% of the more than 70 million U.S. broadband households with a mobile phone service, according to Parks Associates’ new consumer study Mobile Convergence: Platforms, Applications, and Services.

Over one-fourth of mobile service users have adopted mobile Internet and e-mail services, eclipsing other mobile data ARPU drivers like mobile TV and music, indicating that carriers will have to win subscribers through more “practical” services first. The fast adoption of mobile social networking and navigation services, which have both exceeded 10%, also indicates carriers can be successful in deploying popular Web activities as revenue-generating data services on the mobile platform.

Non-text mobile data services are central to wireless carriers’ long-term plans for revenue growth. The strong growth in usage of mobile Internet, e-mail, social networking, and navigation during the past two years shows consumers are eager for mobile applications that offer convenience and rich features. Use of multipurpose devices like smartphones is another driver. Smartphone penetration will exceed 30% of broadband households in 2009. These 20 million households will be a perfect target for carriers to market their mobile data services.

Parks Associates supporting Mobile Internet 2009, Austria

Parks Associates is supporting Mobile Internet 2009 from March 23-25, 2009 in NH Danube City, Vienna, Austria.

With the proliferation of flat-rate data tariffs and an explosion of mobile internet centric devices - users can now take advantage of high end devices and clear pricing alongside mobile broadband network speeds and coverage to browse the mobile internet in search of new and innovative content.

Attendees will learn the latest strategies and business models for driving flat-rate data plans which provide a large boost in APRU; how to optimise usability and therefore drive revenues from mobile search, advertising and content; and how Android will impact the mobile internet market and learn how to exploit it to boost revenues.

Key focus sessions will include mobile platforms, open source, fragmentation and standardization.

For more information about this event, click here.

Mr. Mobile Goes to Pyongyang

Egypt’s Orascom, the largest mobile carriers in Middle East, recently announced their acquisition of a mobile license in North Korea, the most notorious totalitarian country in the world, and its plan to invest $400 million in the next three years to provide mobile communication services in the country, including a 3G network. This deal is certainly not glamorous as Microsoft’s $44 billion bid of Yahoo. Nonetheless, I think it carries the message equivalent to…say, Barnes and Nobles is going to open branches in Afghanistan, or something like that. I can’t help but trying to find something meaningful in it:

1. Are mobile carriers really running out of attractive markets where mobile penetration is low and growth potential is high? If we can remember, a year ago, Vodafone spent $11 billion on Hutchison Essar, one of the major mobile carriers in India. But there we are talking about a country with a burgeoning middle class and 10 million new mobile users every month. And North Korea? A country that is usually associated with nuclear tests, UN sanctions and human rights issues. Yeah, we know Cairo and Pyongyang are buddies. Still, if risk-averse investors are venturing into North Korea, they must have a plan and thought they had to take a bet to make exceptional profits. FYI, Orascom has a track record of entering regions largely forgotten by the rest of the telecom world such as Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
2. The puzzling question is who is going to consume expensive mobile communications in N. Korea? The country did have 20,000 mobile subscribers at the end of 2003. But shortly afterwards, mobile phones were officially banned in 2004 in order to prevent the foreign culture permeation. In 2003, it cost $750 to enjoy a mobile service including the handset, which equates to years of salary for an ordinary worker. So the logical conclusion is that besides a handful of party and military elites, the foreigners, in restricted areas, of course, may be the initial target of the new mobile service. Is this a harbinger of a new round of economic reform and maybe a new special economic zone? I am not sure, but by all means, this is a significant signal for anyone watching the country.
3. Off the record, the paramount leader Kim Jong Il is a self-claimed Internet expert. Maybe he read about how cool it is to browse the Internet on a mobile phone and watch mobile TV, and pretty much the only users of the 3G network will be himself, his concubines and his confidants? And he signed the deal totally out of whims? Well, in that hypothetical scenario, I hope Orascom has already formed an exit strategy.

CES is over, so now what? Analyst predictions.

Huge TVs and digital photo frames. Smarter remotes and 3D games. Home controls, home networks and home monitoring. By now everyone knows the buzz from CES, but what's next?

Parks Associates analysts reveal the following consumer research data and forecasts:

• Consumers want videos & programs on demand more than anything when it comes to value-added TV features.
• Broadband video services pushing a movies-only format underperformed; movie rentals/downloads from the Internet were only $99 million in 2007.
• Consumers are buying more broadband video - 48% of broadband Internet users watch Web video on at least a monthly basis and 20% are downloading longer episodes.
• More people use iTunes to download videos longer than 10 minutes. Amazon.com's Unbox & BitTorrent services follow in second & third place.
• In 2008 and beyond, we'll see a greater emphasis placed on bringing broadband video to the television via media adapters, game consoles, and network-connected devices such as TVs, stand-alone set-tops, and DVD players. Broadband video revenues for content consumed at the television will total $1.5B by 2012.
• The connected home - More people want the ability to monitor webcams in their homes from any Internet-connected device, more so than to control a home's thermostat from an Internet-connected device or to control lights from an Internet-connected device.
• Mobile Internet will begin to see mass market adoption, and the form factors will diversify to include devices such as portable multimedia players (PMPs) and portable game consoles.
• There will be major investments in the cable MSO space. Switched digital and DOCSIS 3.0 will help to reclaim bandwidth and expand offerings.
• Place-shifting features (currently embodied through products such as Slingbox and Orb Networks) will move beyond after-market products with nearly 53M WW households using such features by 2012.
• Virtual worlds will ride the hype cycle, and we'll see a growing emphasis on these applications in corporate settings as a means to enhance collective collaboration.
• The 700 MHz auction will spur more innovation on the mobile phone handset and will reduce the influence of the mobile carriers.
• Home theater systems become the next "appliance" offered by home builders.
• Europe will be the decisive market for powerline networking.
• Tracking new payment methods (such as micro-transactions) for online consumers will be an interesting model to watch.
• The first major cracks will appear in the movie distribution widows, and video-on-demand services will be enhanced by the earlier availability of certain content.
• The in-car entertainment experience begins to reflect the living room.

For more information visit http://www.parksassociates.com/.