Mobile Report MARCH 2013

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A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF

MOBILE NEWS, VIEWS, EVENTS

& DEVELOPMENTS LOCALLY

AND ABROAD

HOW TO USE THIS REPORT

This report is intended as an easy-to-reference tool

It is a resource that allows you to easily flip through in your own time – and not to necessarily read it from front-to-back

CONTENTS

» Executive Summary

» Section 1: Mobile Landscape

» Section 2: Mobile Devices and Operating Systems

» Section 3: Mobile Networks

» Section 4: Social Networks

» Sources and Contacts

Executive Summary

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

» More and more brands are building “second screen” apps and sites to bridge the gap between TV and mobile usage. In South Africa, mobile is already considered the first screen, with many spending more time on their mobile phones than watching TV.

» In a post-PC era, consumers carry mobile devices for up to 16 hours a day. For this reason, mobile search is a huge driver of conversions. A study by Google and Nielsen has proven that because of the convenience and immediacy, mobile search can trigger, on average, at least two follow-up actions.

» Lean Start Up was a hot topic at this years SXSW. In an unpredictable, fast paced environment, this methodology is helping big brands to get their products out quickly, while experimenting and learning from their customers.

» A key trend from the recent Mobile World Congress is enterprise-driven innovation whereby organisations invest in entrepreneurs to develop ideas for their brands from untested environments and untested platforms. Mobility is also a key driver of this trend as changing mobile lifestyles affects the way people live and conduct business.

» Smartphones are expected to outsell feature phones for the first time in 2013, while tablets are set to explode in emerging markets as the their hunger for smart connected devices continues to grow and the increasing availability of affordable devices makes them more accessible.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

» Absa made a big announcement that it is ready to launch its long awaited banking app to the public on 10 April 2013. Absa is the last of the “big four” consumer banks to launch a smartphone banking app. Hot on Absa’s heels is Investec, who is also set to launch its own smartphone banking app 5 days before Absa on 5 April 2013.

» Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy S4 with an array of innovative features, taking mobile handsets to the next level. Launch details are yet to be confirmed but it is believed that it could be available from April 2013.

» Telkom made a big announcement with the launch of Telkom Mobile, and unveiled a new logo. Telkom Mobile will become the umbrella brand for the group’s mobile business and 8ta will remain a sub-brand.

» Telkom also said that its 4G/LTE broadband products were nearly ready for launch, Vodacom became the first network in SA to offer LTE services for prepaid customers, and MTN is set to charge a subscription fee to access its LTE network.

» Mxit reveals its true numbers with the latest stats showing that Mxit has 4.5 million active users in SA over a seven day period and 2.8 million users in a one day period.

» YouTube hit one billion monthly users and Twitter celebrated its 7th birthday.

» To mark Mandela Day and Madiba’s 95th birthday, Nelson Mandela’s grandchild will be launching Mandela.is, a social network built around the idea of giving to the community.

Mobile Landscape

SECTION 1

TABLETS SET TO EXPLODE IN

EMERGING MARKETS

» Tablets use is set to rapidly escalate in emerging markets as their hunger for

smart connected devices continues to grow.

» According to tech research company IDC, the smart connected device volume in emerging markets grew by 41.3% in 2012 with the tablet volume growing by 111.3% and smartphone volume by 69.7% year on year. Desktop and portable PC shipments meanwhile shrank by 3.8% and 0.8% respectively.

» The upward growth of tablets and smartphones in emerging markets is likely being driven by the increasing availability of affordable devices among populations with increasing amounts of disposable income. That kind of growth is less surprising when you bear in mind that, aided by huge numbers of cheap, locally produced Android devices, China has already overtaken the US to become the world’s largest smartphone market. India and Brazil meanwhile aren’t far behind.

Source: Memeburn , 27 March 2013

WHY THE "SECOND SCREEN"

INDUSTRY IS SET TO EXPLODE

» Watching television while also using a smartphone or tablet is one of the most

popular leisure activities of the mobile era.

» The mobile industry is working hard to create mobile apps and sites that relate to what's on TV, in order to capitalise on this behavior.

» This approach is often referred to as the "second screen," the idea being that the tablet or smartphone becomes a TV companion device, allowing for added levels of interactivity— whether on social networks or dedicated second screen apps and sites that complement on-air content.

» Second screen apps and sites are bridges. They bring together the powerful but increasingly fragmented world of television media, and the fast-growing but still undeveloped digital realm. For TV-centric advertisers and content producers, second screen provides a channel through which to test out digital strategies while still remaining tied to familiar territory.

Source: Business Insider 27 March 2013

MOBILE TO REPLACE TV AS 1ST

SCREEN OF CHOICE

» The latest in-depth TREND. Dissect report on mobile, entitled, ‘The First

Screen’, co-sponsored by Prezence Digital and M&C Saatchi Mobile, asks whether marketers are doing enough with mobile; whether mobile is being properly integrated into brand campaigns; what is the key to great mobile content and creative; and where the opportunities lie for brands in the future?

» Mobile is already the first screen for many of us and will be the first screen for most of the world’s population, particularly the way it is being integrated with television viewing. Yes, TV is still the first screen and mobile the second screen for many, particularly in their leisure time after hours, but it won’t be for long.

» With integration and further innovation in this space, there will be no difference as TV’s are integrated with our mobile phones and mobile devices include television.

» There is still a disconnect between agencies, media owners and marketers, which are all struggling to understand and optimise the new marketing channels and technologies.

Source: Marklives.com 20 March 2013

MOBILE SEARCH MOMENTS

STUDY

» Google and Nielsen conducted a study to help understand how mobile drives

conversions through search.

» Here is a summary of key findings:

– Context-driven: at home, vs. in-store, vs. on the go, etc. Mobile search is always on, happening on the go (17%) at home and at work (77%)

– Action-oriented: “find more information”, “book a table”, “share with your friends”, etc.. 3 out of 4 mobile searches trigger follow up actions, whether it be further research, a store visit, a phone call, a purchase or word-of-mouth sharing. On average, each mobile search triggers nearly 2 follow-up actions

– Convenience and immediacy: right here, right now, at a click of a button. Mobile search triggered follow-up actions also happen very quickly. 55% of conversions (store visit, phone call or purchase) happen within an hour

Source: Google, March 2013

SXSW: LEAN STARTUP FOR BIG

BRANDS

» Eric Ries’s Lean Startup methodology was one of the hottest discussion

topics of 2012 and was back again this year at SXSW with a whole day of panels. Central to this line of thinking is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which represents a startup’s first test to judge the customer's interest in their offering, with a rough, often flawed version of their product. This strategy helps companies avoid early investment in unproven products or technologies and ensures efficient use of precious capital, all going directly towards iteratively rebuilding the MVP into what will eventually be the company’s core offering.

» Ries positions his methods as useful to both entrepreneurs and those looking to innovate from within established organisations. And, while an entrepreneurial attitude and management-style can bring a lot of value to an incumbent company, the considerations for the launch of an innovative enterprise differ depending on the context. This year at SXSW, the Lean Startup stage welcomed a number of successful entrepreneurial test cases that exemplified a number of overlaps and differences for innovation at startups vs. established brands.

Source: Design Mind, 10 March 2013

WATCH OUT FOR ENTERPRISE-

DRIVEN INNOVATION

» Large organisations with extensive reach and the means to finance

innovation are investing in entrepreneurs to take their brands to new places. This was one of the key insights revealed during the recent Mobile World Congress in Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, says Angus Robinson, Director of Mobile for NATIVE.

» Mondelez International and Unilever are among the big names putting money aside to get entrepreneurs innovating about their brands. Keith Weed, Chief Marketing Officer of Unilever, said Unilever does not have all the answers for taking its brands into the future and is calling on entrepreneurs to bring innovative ideas focused on its brands to the table.

» “There’s no denying that innovation is going to be the buzz word for this year. Organisations that are not investing in, embracing and adapting to these innovations will find themselves playing the catch-up game. It’s an exciting time for entrepreneurs and creative thinkers,” concludes Robinson.

Source: NATIVE, 20 March 2013

MOBILITY IS CHANGING THE

WAY WE LIVE: HERE’S HOW

» The momentum has shifted steadily in favour of gadgets and services that are

portable or mobile and those that deliver networking capabilities and entertainment. And that’s changing the way we live in profound ways that you might not have even noticed yet.

» According to tech research company Gartner, the most profound changes are occurring in the way people organise their lives and the spaces they live in.

» Early adopters tend to leave the home laptop in the bag and are abandoning the home office in favour of the lounge room couch or bedroom to do online activities in a more comfortable environment using a tablet or smartphone,” says Nick Ingelbrecht, research director at Gartner.

» “This early adopter trend is becoming mainstream consumer behaviour”, says Ingelbrecht. “Consequently, technology and service providers are faced with no alternative but to innovate for mobility. If they do nothing, they face a potential train wreck as consumers abandon gadgets, services and applications that do not fully support changing mobile lifestyles.”

Source: Memeburn , 15 March 2013

MOBILITY EXTENDS THE

REACH OF THE BUSINESS

» Mobility enjoys such acceptance in the market that many new enterprise

applications are now built for mobile access first and for other devices only as additional channels.

» In short, mobile is the major growth area of the moment; and the success of apps the reason for its popularity. Unlike Internet-enabled enterprise mobility, apps offer a far more streamlined, tap-once experience.

» The most obvious call for enterprise mobility is from companies with field workers such as sales reps, work-from-home staff or roving employees. Mobile also offers much more opportunity for self-service, for instance flight check-ins, hotel room bookings or reservations. Airline ground staff can check online seating plans on tablet devices while on-board the aircraft.

» With mobility increasing its advance in the enterprise it is important to seriously consider the implications of issues like the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend and the demands it places on security and systems management.

Source: Realmdigital, 25 March 2013

'HAPPINESS' MOBILE APP TO

TRACK EMPLOYEE MORALE

» JWT in Indonesia launched an in-house mobile "Happiness App." According

to Kevin Mintaraga, CEO of XM Gravity in Jakarta, "both online and offline experience have to work together."

» One reason Mr. Mintaraga started the app was that he no longer has time to hold twice-a-year, hour-long sessions with each employee to see how work is going. He did it when his company had only six people, but now it's at 135.

» The app's "Mood" function asks users to choose from nine emotions, including excited, challenged, mad and stressed. The "News" function includes not only internal notes about the annual company trip, but announcements about free ice cream in the pantry and polls to choose which film to screen at office movie night. Going forward, it could be used in ways such as introducing new employees in a short video.

» The agency aims to use the app to mobilise its own people to help spread social media campaigns they have done for clients.

Source: Adage, 15 March 2013

MOBILE BANKING IS STILL

WAITING TO TAKE OFF

» The growth of mobile money will continue at a rapid rate this year, global

mobile industry body GSMA said in a recently released report titled The Economy of Mobile 2013.

» GSMA said in its mobile banking report that the prohibitively high cost of a traditional, physical bank branch and the lack of other basic infrastructure, such as point-of-sale terminals, have until recently made the provision of such services impossible to a significant section of the world’s population.

» MTN and Vodacom and banks have some form of mobile payment and banking services that they provide to their customers. However, despite the roll-out and investment made by companies, GSMA counted six mobile money services that have more than 1-million active customers globally, three of which crossed the "1-million active" barrier during last year.

» According to the report, there are 3.2-billion mobile customers globally. A further 700-million subscribers are expected to be added by 2017 and the 4-billion mark to be passed in 2018.

Source: Mobile Money Africa, 20 March 2013

ABSA FINALLY READY TO

LAUNCH BANKING APP

» Absa has announced that it’s finally ready to launch a smartphone banking

app, sometime after its competitors. The bank, which is a subsidiary of Barclays Bank, has sent out media invitations confirming an official 10 April launch date.

» ABSA is the last of the “big four” consumer banks in South Africa to launch a smartphone banking app. First National Bank (FNB) led the way by launching its app in mid 2011, while Standard Bank and Nedbank launched theirs within a couple of days of each other in mid 2012.

» At this stage it’s unclear which platforms the Absa app will launch on first. It’s a fairly safe bet however that there will be iOS, Android and BlackBerry apps from the get go.

» It’s also unclear what features the app will launch with, although it will have to come up with something fairly innovative if it wants to be competitive in the space. That’s especially imperative if the bank is to reverse its trend of losing customers.

Source: Memeburn , 28 March 2013

BROADBAND FOR ALL IN SA:

CISCO TO HELP

» A public-private partnership is the only way to ensure that all South Africans

will get access to broadband by 2020, as envisaged by the Department of Communications. This is according to Alpheus Mangale, Managing Director of Cisco South Africa.

» Speaking at the Cisco Expo South Africa 2013, Mangale said that they are committed to assist government in the development of ICT policies that aid the accessibility and adoption of ICT.

» One of the government projects which Cisco is particularly keen to boost is the plan to provide all South Africans with broadband access by 2020.

» To achieve this, said Mangale, will require a public-private partnership where government makes it easy for telecoms operators to invest in networks, especially in rural areas.

» The biggest challenge, said the Cisco SA MD, is to get operators to invest in rural telecoms networks which are not profitable. Here, he said, government should step in to make such investments more attractive to operators.

Source: MyBroadband, 10 March 2013

YOUNGER CONSUMERS ACCOUNT

FOR ¾ OF SA’S INTERNET USERS

» Only one-third of South Africa’s population used the internet in 2012,

according to a December report from the South African Network Society Project (SANSS) at the University of Witwatersrand, conducted by Research ICT Africa (RIA).

» The makeup of internet users in South Africa skews extremely young. The study found that nearly three-quarters of the total internet population were between the ages of 15 and 34. Unsurprisingly, internet users were also more likely to be wealthy; almost three out of five internet users came from the middle- to high-income range. Still a notable two out of five internet users were low income or lived below the poverty line, suggesting that the internet is beginning to reach a wider swath of the country.

» As in other developing internet markets, access is primarily on mobile phones. The report put ownership of internet-capable mobile phones at 15.7 million vs. 6.4 million consumers who owned a computer. Not all owners of internet-capable mobile phones have internet access on the devices, but propensity to access via mobile is much higher among these users.

Source: eMarketer, 25 February 2013

HOW DO SOUTH AFRICANS

SPEND THEIR TIME ONLINE?

» Can you believe South Africans spend more time on their mobiles than they

do watching TV, listening to the radio, or reading newspapers and magazines?

» A new report examining the habits of South African’s Internet users shows that non-digital media are losing ground to online channels; this is according to a report commissioned by the Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMMA). The survey was conducted among 2,263 South African Internet users between 21 September and 5 October 2012.

» The report is meant to assist advertisers in understanding South African online consumers better. A full 95% of respondents said they used the Internet mainly for e-mail, while 84% used it for web browsing, and a whopping 78% made use of social networks.

Source: Digitlab , 4 March 2013

Mobile Devices &

Operating Systems

SECTION 2

SMARTPHONES TO OUTSELL FEATURE

PHONES IN 2013 FOR FIRST TIME

» For years, analysts have been predicting that smartphones would one day

supplant basic feature phones in terms of worldwide sales, and that day is expected to finally come in 2013.

» Market researcher IDC estimates that manufacturers will ship 918.6 million smartphones in 2013, which is about 50.1% of the industry's total shipments. This number is expected to grow to 1.5 billion in smartphone shipments by the end of 2017, which will be represent about two-thirds of the total cell phone shipments.

» IDC says there are two main reasons why smartphones -- which can surf the Web, access e-mail, act as GPS navigation devices, and check you into your favorite coffee shop via dozens of social media apps -- are so popular right now. The most important is the fact that prices have fallen dramatically across the globe on smartphones. But also important is the fact that carriers around the globe are starting to deploy faster 4G, or fourth generation, cellular networks.

Source: CNET, 4 March 2013

APPLE BETS AUGMENTED REALITY WILL

DRIVE NEXT WAVE OF MOBILE GROWTH

» Apple has been awarded a new patent related to an augmented reality

system, making it the latest handset manufacturer to place a bet that the technology will play a key role in next generation mobile experiences.

» Google, Nokia and Samsung, as well as marketers, are also supporting augmented reality in order to get ahead of what is expected to be a significant wave in consumer demand for these experiences. While the technology is still in the early stages, the expectation is that it will play a bigger role going forward in how consumers access a variety of types of content.

» “As mobile industry transitions from keypad to touch screen as the new interaction mechanism, Augmented Reality based interaction will drive the next wave of growth ,” said Neil Shah, senior analyst for the global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, Newton, MA. “As a result, companies such as Google, Apple and Samsung are investing in this area.

Source: Mobile Marketer, 20 March 2013

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4

OFFICIALLY UNVEILED

» Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy S4 at the Samsung Unpacked event it

held in New York . As usual many rumours were confirmed while many others were refuted.

» Among the features whose details leaked before the Samsung event include Smart Scroll, Smart Pause, Air View and Air Gesture

» Features announced at the event that didn’t make it into “leaks” include Dual Camera, S Translator, Samsung Knox and Group Play

» Other hardware features not listed above include an infrared (IR) LED that offers television remote control functionality, similar to that announced for the HTC One earlier this year.

» The Samsung Galaxy S4 also include a temperature and humidity sensor, as well as an IR gesture sensor, Samsung said.

» The Long Term Evolution (LTE) model of the device would be available a bit later this year, Samsung said.

Source: MyBroadband, 15 March 2013

THE STATE OF THE

SMARTPHONE WAR POST-S4

» The unveiling of the long-awaited Galaxy S4 by Samsung has upped the ante

in the already highly-competitive smartphone space – which has long been called a two-horse race at the top, between Samsung and Apple.

» Following Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller’s uncharacteristic “trash talking” on the eve of the Galaxy S4 launch, Apple has taken it another step further and released a new ad campaign punting the iPhone with the tagline: “There’s iPhone. And then there’s everything else.”

» Samsung, along with other Android competitors such as HTC have upped their game, offering handsets with specs that go well beyond what the current iPhone 5 (which was released in September last year, and is only rumoured to be receiving its next update in August this year) has to offer on paper.

Source: ITWeb, 18 March 2013

SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 SA

LAUNCH WINDOW EMERGES

» Vodacom and Virgin Mobile will be offering the Samsung Galaxy S4,

spokespeople for the networks recently told MyBroadband.

» Samsung announced that the Galaxy S4 would be available from 327 mobile operators across 155 countries, starting from April 2013.

» However, Vodacom said that it would confirm launch details “in due course.”

» Virgin Mobile said that they have not received formal confirmation yet from Samsung, but added that they expect to launch the device in early April 2013.

» The exact recommended retail price is also not available, Virgin Mobile said, but estimated that it will be between R7,000 and R8,000.

Source: MyBroadband, 18 March 2013

SAMSUNG EXEC CONFIRMS

UPCOMING SMART WATCH

» Samsung's mobile executive VP Lee Young Hee has come out and confirmed

that the company is hard at work preparing a new smart watch.

» Bloomberg reported in the news, adding that the he indicated a desire to be first to market with a new breed of smart watch, saying: "The issue here is who will first commercialise it so consumers can use it meaningfully."

» He is, no doubt, referring to the rumors which continue to swirl regarding Apple's plans to enter the smart watch arena. Arguably, if anyone can get a smart watch to market it's Samsung—because it already has a rich history of producing watch-phone double acts. They just haven't been very good.

» There is, of course, no word on what Sammy's next watch might be like.

Source: Gizmodo, 19 March 2013

SAMSUNG TO GIVE SA USERS

FREE WI-FI FOR A YEAR

» Samsung announced that it will be giving its South African users 1GB of free

Wi-Fi access a month.

» “We live in the connected age and it makes sense for Samsung to incorporate a service offering that combines innovative mobile devices with national wireless connectivity,” said Craige Fleischer, director of Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics South Africa.

» The deal, which will be extended to all Samsung devices bought in the country over the past three years, represents a potential boon for the manufacturer.

» Despite a series of price wars between South Africa’s mobile operators, data remains pretty expensive in the country. “This offering is our way of thanking our local customers for their loyal support.” said Fleischer

Source: Memeburn, 14 March 2013

SAMSUNG TO ROLL OUT MOBILE

HEALTH CENTRES ACROSS AFRICA

» Samsung recently launched its solar powered health centre model in Cape

Town, marking the start of what it says will be a large-scale medical initiative across Africa. The mobile centres are built for use in remote rural areas, and intended to eliminate the economic and geographic barriers that prevent people across Africa from obtaining quality medical treatment.

» The solar-powered health centre is designed to reach as many people as possible, as regularly as possible. Samsung says that it wants to reach one-million people through its solar powered health centres by 2015 — as part of its broader goal to positively impact the lives of five-million people in Africa by 2015.

» According to the World Bank, more than 60% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas. These people often lack the time and resources to reach clinics for proactive medical care, and particularly if they are ill and unable to make long journeys.

Source: Memeburn , 15 March 2013

SAMSUNG SA OPEN TO MTN,

CELL C AND 8TA PARTNERSHIPS

» Samsung South Africa and Vodacom’s business arm have entered into an

agreement that will see the two companies collaborating on mobile and network infrastructure services for businesses.

» Samsung South Africa has said that the deal with Vodacom Business to provide “premium services” to enterprise is non-exclusive, and that it’s open to forming similar relationships with other operators.

» The initial phase of the agreement is focused on mobile solutions for the enterprise, but will be extended to other multimedia devices down the line, depending on the company’s needs.

» Speaking to media at the Samsung Africa Forum in Cape Town, Samsung South Africa head of Mobile, Paulo Ferreira said that working with the other operators is “a matter of time”. “Samsung is equally open to engaging in similar partnerships with other South African operators,” he said.

Source: BusinessTech, 17 March 2013

APPLE CEO PAID LESS THAN

NOKIA CEO

» Even though the iPhone routinely outsells the Lumia lineup, Nokia CEO

Stephen Elop was compensated more last year than Apple CEO Tim Cook.

» According to the Nokia Blog, a recent filing showed that even after taking a pay cut, Elop made roughly $5.63 million last year compared to the estimated $4.2 million that Cook made in 2012. Don't feel too bad for Cook though, as he has been with Apple for a long time and I'm sure he has accrued a lot of valuable stock over the years.

» It is interesting to look at the head honchos' pay and compare that to market share, as Apple sold 47.8 million iPhones last quarter compared to the 4.4 million Lumia devices Nokia sold during its most recent quarter. With that said, Elop and Cook are competing against each other but they're also facing wildly different challenges moving ahead.

Source: The Full Signal, 7 March 2013

BLACKBERRY POSTS PROFIT IN Q4,

BUT LOSES 3 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS

» Revenue for the quarter was approximately US$2.7-billion, down US$49-

million or two percent from approximately US$2.7-billion in the previous quarter and down 36% from US$4.2-billion in the same quarter of fiscal 2012.

» Despite revenue falling though, its profit margin actually increased slightly.

» During the quarter, it also lost some three-million subscribers. It reports some 76-million down from 79-million in the previous quarter and 80-million a year ago. It says it sold six-million BlackBerry devices over the past three months, but only one-million of them were running BlackBerry 10.

» The other big news form the company was the BlackBerrry co-founder Mike Lazaridis would be stepping down from the company’s board.

Source: Memeburn , 28 March 2013

Mobile Networks

SECTION 3

SA'S MOBILE PRICE WAR SO

FAR

» Industry observers say 2013 will see the mobile price war that started around

the second quarter of last year not only continue, but actually heat up. With the 1 March drop in mobile termination rates (MTR or interconnect), mobile operators have more margin to work with and analysts say this, together with the ever-changing mobile landscape in SA, makes for a “lovely war”.

» So far this year, Cell C kicked off the campaign for its new Supacharge product. Then Vodacom introduced a new product suite for its vast prepaid base, Free4Sho, MTN joined the prepaid fray with the introduction of a new prepaid product - the MTN Mahala starter pack, and then stepped up its game by slashing data and prepaid prices and extending its Zone offerings, On 1 March –the day the MTRs fell to an all-time low – Vodacom went Red with limitless contract options. Last but not least, Telkom’s mobile arm 8ta made what it said were “big changes” to its More prepaid calling product.

Source: ITWeb, 19 March 2013

SMARTPHONE SHAKE-UP IN

SA FROM NEOTEL

» Neotel has launched the HTC Desire VC on its network, an Android

smartphone that runs on both its CDMA network and has space for a SIM from a GSM mobile operator.

» Billing the offer as a “mobile smart landline”, Neotel was very careful about the semantics of the offering.

» This is likely due to the fact that as a fixed wireless operator Neotel can take advantage of far lower termination rates than mobile operators like Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, and 8ta.

» Neotel highlights this as one of the value propositions of their service, saying that NeoSmart “leverages both Neotel’s cost effective landline rates and newly launched FreeCallZone”.

» FreeCallZone lets subscribers set up a “FreeTalkZone” for a fixed monthly fee (R49) that allows Neotel users in that zone call each other for free.

Source: MyBroadband, 6 March 2013

TELKOM LAUNCHES

TELKOM MOBILE

» Telkom announced the launch of Telkom Mobile which it said is aimed at

data-hungry consumers that make high volumes of voice calls. 8ta will remain as a “sub-brand” of Telkom Mobile, said Attila Vitai, managing director of Telkom Mobile.

» The new Telkom Mobile is based on an existing robust and growing network that will benefit from continuing infrastructure investment, Vitai said.

» The new brand is positioned to take advantage of changes in consumer knowledge, expectations and behaviour, Vitai said.

» “Pretty much everyone has at least one mobile device and most use them for more than basic calls and messaging. There is a significant core group of consumers who expect to be able to do more with their devices in their own time and on their own terms.”

» Vitai emphasised that 8.ta will continue to be the brand name for a core set of products within Telkom Mobile, which is a business unit within Telkom Group.

Source: BusinessTech, 19 March 2013

TELKOM 4G LAUNCH

‘WITHIN WEEKS’

» Telkom will launch commercial fourth-generation long-term evolution

(4G/LTE) broadband products “within weeks”, Telkom Mobile MD Attila Vitai says.

» In an interview with TechCentral, Vitai has disclosed that the company expects to have “about a thousand” LTE base stations live when it launches the next-generation broadband network. Coverage will be available in “sub-sets” of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town at launch.

» The company has been running a trial of 4G/LTE since November 2012. This trial is set to end on 31 March.

» Telkom Mobile is using the access it has to a huge chunk of radio frequency spectrum in the 2,3GHz band to build the LTE network. Unlike rivals Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, Telkom is using a different type of 4G technology used in China and India. The technology has also recently found favour in the US.

Source: TechCentral, 19 March 2013

YOU WILL PAY MORE FOR

MTN LTE

» MTN will be charging an additional subscription fee to access its Long Term

Evolution (LTE) network, though the network was not able to give an indication of what it will cost at this stage.

» Both Vodacom and MTN itemise LTE as a “value added service” (VAS) on their deal sheets, but MTN’s general manager for product, innovation, and development, Mike Fairon said that they want the subscription to be visible to the customer.

» “It’s not a fully penetrated service,” Fairon said, explaining that they want to give customers the flexibility to opt for the service.

» The VAS will be free for the first three months so customers can test LTE, and Fairon said that subscribers will be able opt out and not pay the additional subscription should they no longer want it.

Source: MyBroadband, 11 March 2013

VODACOM LTE FOR PREPAID

OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

» Vodacom announced that it has become the first network in South Africa to

offer Long Term Evolution (LTE) services to all its customers.

» The service was initially launched to contract customers in October 2012, but Vodacom said that with increased LTE coverage and a much wider range of devices now available, they decided to make LTE available to its pre-paid and top-up customers.

» “We started out with 70 LTE capable base stations in Gauteng, and just five months on [we're] approaching 600 live LTE sites covering Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban,” said Vodacom CEO, Shameel Joosub.

» Vodacom said it is investing more than R6 billion per year in South Africa. At current rates, the number of 3G base stations is growing at around 25% per year.

» This is the reason Vodacom has 50% more 3G Internet than any other operator, claimed the mobile network.

Source: MyBroadband, 25 March 2013

Social Networks

SECTION 4

FACEBOOK REVAMPS NEWSFEED

WITH MOBILE-FIRST APPROACH

» Facebook HQ, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a new look for news feed that uses

a “mobile-inspired” consistent design across devices, lets you drill into specific content-type feeds, and offers larger images. Photo albums have gotten a facelift as well to be more immersive, and links shared will have longer blurb to preview what you’re about to click to.

» The roll out will be slow and careful so Facebook can get feedback about what’s working and what’s not. Here’s our quick hands-on video of what the redesign looks and feels like.

» Some other news feed design changes: check-ins to places now have a larger map to show people exactly where you are; Pinterest posts to Facebook are now more vivid, so what you see on Facebook “better reflects what you see on Pinterest”; videos appear larger; and if multiple friends share the same post, you’ll see their faces to the left of the post.

Source: TechCrunch, 7 March 2013

SA FACEBOOK USERS IN

ALARMING DECLINE

» Social network Facebook has continued to lose South Africa users in

February, according to data from social media monitoring firm, SocialBakers.

» The trend started towards the end of 2012, with Michal Wronski, MD of information analysts, Fuseware, citing social media fatigue and boredom.

» Facebook has shed 293,000 users in South Africa in the last month alone, or 5.3% – only behind Japan out of the top 50 countries who boast the most Facebook users. And worse still, as many as 815,040 users have left the site over the past three months – a loss of 14.73%.

» South Africa is ranked 32nd in terms of user numbers, with a penetration rate of 11.29% compared to the country’s population and 89.75% in relation to number of Internet users.

» The total number of Facebook users in South Africa now stands at 5.534 million, showing growth of approximately 176,960 users in the last six months.

Source: BusinessTech by MyBroadband, 8 March 2013

WHATSAPP TO EXTEND

SUBSCRIPTION MODEL TO IOS

» WhatsApp, the popular mobile messaging app that eschews advertising in

favor of a paid model, is getting ready to bring its iOS app in line with the apps it makes for other platforms by turning it into an annual subscription service. Jan Koum, WhatsApp’s CEO, says that the company is planning this year to shift its iOS app to one where new users would pay annually to keep using, taking it away from a one-off download fee and bringing it in line with how it is distributed on the Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and Windows Phone platforms.

» On the competitive landscape, WhatsApp is currently one of the most popular messaging apps around, with 17 billion messages transmitted daily (7 billion inbound and 10 billion outbound), with over 100 million users on Android alone. But it is also facing challenges from the likes of messaging apps like Line, which in January passed 100 million users across multiple platforms. Line is free to download and it makes its revenues through in-app purchases for stickers and virtual currency for games and other content, alongside other services like messaging and free voice calls, part of a strategy of presenting itself as a social entertainment platform.

Source TechCrunch, 17 March 2013

MXIT LAUNCHES LATEST

J2ME APP

» African mobile social networking giant Mxit has launched the latest version of

it J2ME app, which it says draws heavily, when it comes to looks at least, from its Android and BlackBerry 10 apps.

» In an official blog post, Mxit said that the updated app comes with a number of new features, including an improved user experience, in line with the Android app and improved profile building with the inclusion of a user’s relationship status.

» The most significant changes however appear to be in imaging. People with feature phones will now apparently be able to send and receive large files, view images in higher resolutions, zoom into pictures and use full screen avatars.

» Given that the vast majority of Mxit’s users are still on feature phones, updating the J2ME experience makes sense.

Source Memeburn, 27 March 2013

TRUE MXIT USER NUMBERS

REVEALED

» South African mobile networking platform, Mxit is looking to be more

transparent and clear about its active user numbers, which is sitting at 7 million using a 30-day metric.

» Over the past few years, reports of exact user numbers on Mxit have been “fuzzy” – with official figures reaching a high of 12.5 million, as reported by former CEO, Alan Knott Craig in July 2012.

» According to Mxit, previous figures were based on a 90-day metric (number of active users over 90 days); however, at the end of 2012, Mxit changed its metric to a more industry-standard 30-day period.

» Locally, the numbers are checked across smaller time intervals, which shows that Mxit is seeing 4.5 million active South African users over 7 days, and 2.8 million users in one day.

» According to Mxit, 68% of its user base is between 18 and 35 years old, and the gender breakdown is 54% male and 46% female.

Source: BusinessTech, 24 March 2013

JOINS THE BILLION MONTHLY

CLUB

» YouTube, the video sharing site says it has hit one billion monthly users on the

platform joining the likes of Facebook in that rather exclusive club. In a recent blog post the site confirmed that it has hit a new milestone: “YouTube now has more than a billion unique users every single month”.

» “In the last eight years you’ve come to YouTube to watch, share and fall in love with videos from all over the world. Tens of thousands of partners have created channels that have found and built businesses for passionate, engaged audiences,” says the platform on its blog.

» This massive growth that it has seen has also been noticed by advertisers. According to the Google-owned site “all of the Ad Age Top 100 brands are now running campaigns on YouTube”.

» What one billion monthly users means for YouTube is that almost one out of every two people on the internet visits the platform. That a pretty big command of the Internet populace.

Source: Memeburn, 22 March 2013

TWITTER TURNS 7

» They grow up so fast, don't they? When Jack Dorsey was setting up his twttr,

even he probably didn't expect the service to be this popular, or that he'd become a household name in the process. After seven years, the social network has 200 million active users, pumping out 400 million tweets per day -- of which we'd roughly estimate 90% of which is people being snarky about the TV show they're watching. To celebrate, the company has put together a video to take you through how Twitter has influenced the world.

» According to Twitter, over 200 million active users send more than 400 million Tweets every day.

» See the video here: http://youtu.be/Bl-FpuehWGA

Source: Engadget, 21 March 2013

TWITTER AD REVENUE TO NEAR

$1BN IN 2014, THANKS TO MOBILE

» If all goes well, Twitter’s global ad revenue should hit a billion dollars by 2014,

says a recent eMarketer report.

» The research firm says this number comes in the wake of advertisers showing “more interest in spending money on mobile advertisements on Twitter”, which suggests that Twitter’s reach is improving. With more than 200-million monthly active users, Twitter is one of the top tier social networks so an improved interest in mobile advertising is hardly surprising.

» “Twitter has ultimately benefited from the increased focus on mobile by competitors like Google and Facebook, which have both expanded their own mobile ad offerings and worked to convince advertisers to shift dollars to mobile devices, says eMarketer.

» The microblogging platform launched of an Ads API recently which eMarketers reckons will also contribute to incremental growth for Twitter this year.

Source: Memeburn, 28 March 2013

SOCIAL NETWORK LAUNCH TO

MARK MANDELA DAY

» Ndaba Mandela, founder of the Africa Rising foundation, the grandson of one

of the world’s most beloved statesmen and his friend Matthew Michelsen, CEO and founder of Backplane, a Palo Alto-based startup that has $5.8 million in venture backing and is responsible for the enormously popular Lady Gaga social network LittleMonsters.com.

» Mandela and Michelsen will launch Mandela.is, a social hub built around the idea of giving back to the community. It will also help extend and amplify celebrations around Mandela Day, which itself is meant to inspire change and spur people to take action for the good of their communities.

» To mark Mandela Day and Madiba’s 95th birthday, the grandchildren are hosting a series of high-profile events. The social network will help preserve and protect Mandela’s legacy.

» At Mandela.is, people will be able to share thoughts and experiences via text, photos, art, and video, as well as building up profiles on the site. Invitations to use the site will at first be contained to ensure a steady build up of content and quality.

Source: Mackson Okotie, 17 March 2013

Sources and Credits

SOURCES

» Adage

» Bloomberg

» Business Insider

» BusinessTech by MyBroadband

» CMO Council

» CNET

» Design Mind

» Digitlab

» DMMA

» eConsultancy

» eMarketer

» Engadget

» Fin24

» Finextra

» Gartner

» Gizmodo

» Google

» GSMA

» IDC

» ITWeb

» IT News Africa

» Mackson Okotie

» Mashable

» Marlives.com

» Media24

» Memeburn

» MobileMoneyAfrica

» MyBroadband

» Nielsen

» Realmdigital

» TechCentral

» TechCrunch

» The Full Signal

» The Guardian

» TREND.

CONTACT US

Vuyisile Sisulu | Mobile Technologist [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 679 5415 [fax] 0867210884 [email] vuyilisle@native.co.za [twitter] @Vuyisile_Sisulu

Tracy Aberman | Mobile Strategist [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (82) 754 6111 [fax] 0867210884 [email] tracya@native.co.za [twitter] @TracyInSA

Angus Robinson | Director: Mobile, Content, Community & Media [tel] +27 (11) 555-3800 [cell] +27 (83) 635 4400 [fax] 0867210884 [email] angus@native.co.za [twitter] @angusrobinson

Should you have any mobile insight, strategy, campaign or solutions requirements please contact any one of us.

The end.