Mobile Enterprise Services Promise Unique Growth Opportunity for Emerging Markets

[prnewswire] There is significant scope for greater adoption of mobile enterprise subscriptions in emerging markets as fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) and mobile broadband will play key drivers of revenue, according to a new report from Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com), the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network (www.lightreading.com).

Mobile Enterprise Services in Emerging Markets analyzes the prospects of mobile services targeting enterprises of all sizes in emerging markets. The 65-page report evaluates services and mobile network operators with an eye to the uniqueness of each market while continually referencing more mature markets. It assesses the prospects of various business-oriented services, as well as specific initiatives, looking at the roles of applications such as SMS, email, m-commerce, and digital signatures, as well as M2M services – telematics and telemetry. Handsets, netbooks, and laptops are also discussed. Seven case studies covering mobile operators, enterprises and a WiMax operator examine Autotransportes de Carga Tres Guerras in Mexico, Zap in Kenya and Tanzania, Hospital Espanhol in Brazil, Vodacom Business in South Africa, Yota and MTS in Russia, and Vodafone in Romania.

There is significant opportunity for adoption of mobile enterprise subscriptions in emerging markets; in developed markets, 30 to 40 percent of employees have a mobile subscription, while the penetration rate in emerging markets is only 5 to 20 percent, notes Tim Keitel, Analyst at Large and author of the report. "As in mature economies, fixed-mobile convergence is an important trend in the enterprise market in emerging economies. By offering FMC services, operators can leverage their brands, channels, relationships, and infrastructure to increase revenue from business clients, create a closer customer relationship, lower churn, and create additional barriers to entry," says Keitel.

While 25 to 35 percent of mobile broadband subscriptions in developed markets are business, the portion is much higher in emerging markets – typically over 50 percent. "Some operators are positioning mobile broadband as a complete voice and data offering for small enterprises," explains Keitel. "Telemetry (remote monitoring and measuring) and telematics (automotive digital communications) are growth markets, particularly in Africa and individual countries, such as China and Russia," he adds. "And there are new growth markets as well – particularly in the machine-to-machine segment, and there are also underexploited ones – in particular the informal business market."

Mobile Enterprise Services Promise Unique Growth Opportunity for Emerging Markets