Ingrid is a TechCrunch reporter, joining February 2012, based in London. She comes from paidContent.org, where she was a staff writer and has in the past also written freelance regularly for other publications such as the Financial Times. Ingrid covers mobile, digital media, advertising and the spaces where they intersect. When it comes to work, it feels more... ? Learn more
Last year, we have seen significant advances in the mobile carrier billing - which allows compensation for the services of people and content on their phones by loading the carrier bills: Google has extended its carrier billing for services to music and more. Facebook has joined the ranks of those offering, and Amazon has an agreement with a company that could help potentially implement these services, too. (Notably absent is Apple; more below.) Now, the data shared with TechCrunch by carrier U.S./German company billing mopay takes a look at just how much money do these types of services.
Analyze the data of some 4 million through some 300 clients transactions in 80 countries between 2008 and the end of 2011, mopay, said that traffic on the billing of mobile services has increased by four times. And as the increase in traffic has been a value.
Online games, which was a popular carrier billing, and rapid application is currently the largest generator of carrier billing revenues, representing more than half of all transactions and increasing at a rate of 30% - year. In this case, some areas are better than others: mobile traditional games currently bringing to $4.50 per month, increased by only 10%. but, perhaps because it is a newer market, social game is seen much more strong growth: its average revenue per user are up 40% to more than $5 per month.
And on a much larger scale, social media applications accounted for 5% of all carrier billing transactions.
Mobile security, mobile ticketing and offers specific to your mobile device (e.g., ringtones) services all means to between $2 and $5.
Dating online has increased by 25% and is currently bringing to $6.50 per month income in people using these services.
Brings bonus expenses?Premium content - and charity. Mopay said that the offer of entertainment and "special interest" social networking services are spend up to $10 a month, spending an amount rivaled only by the charity.
Mopay note that in cases where the carrier billing is enabled, it leads to more people to use it: in more than 30 countries, where the service is enabled, mopay said that people are on average expenses in 80% of their lines of credit of the carrier.
And it seems that those who use the billing support continue to use signs. More than half of the users within a period of six months will use the support of billing more than once. About 55% of users used carrier billing over five times during this period.
But some countries seem more taken by the carrier billing than others: the Italy has a lot of unique users that returns only 25% of the time. Users of billing of the carrier of the Brazil, back at the same time, 70% of the time, with two-thirds of this group, make purchases based on more than five carriers-billing.
This is in part due, said mopay, at Brazil, having a low credit card penetration rate, but a very high mobile penetration; all that drives more interest to use a service like this to perform transactions.
Ironically, for all its alleged convenience, carrier billing is still a way relatively little used and little known for people to pay for the content. "As organizations more directly adopt the carrier billing and consumers realize this option exists, we anticipate these numbers will continue to increase in the future," note Kolja Reiss, Director general of mopay. The italics are mine.
Would have a company like Apple to become involved by offering support billing change of the game by the awareness?
It is anyone's guess if Apple will follow its competitors and offers support for billing in the App Store, it was something said here and there, especially around its emerging market strategy. (Which would be consistent with the findings of the own mopay that these markets are proving much stronger to support billing for services than some developed markets). It would be also contrary to how Apple has developed its services of content up to now, with the App Store, creating a direct link with the owner of the device and to cut any relationship operator in the process.)
Next event Apple iPhone is, if the rumours are true, which took place on 12 September. Since Apple revealed its service of the libretto during the WWDC in June, more mobile payment has the attention on how Apple could make party booklet as a step in the direction of a "iWallet" iTunes integration and using a combination of QR Codes and perhaps more, to trigger a response on the phone to a physical object him.
