Cellular operators see mobile TV as a customer retention strategy, says a local KPMG representative, who highlighted the core findings of the consultancy`s global survey of mobile applications, involving 3 000 consumers.
Leon Fouche, associate director: IT advisory at KPMG in SA, was speaking yesterday at ITWeb`s Mobile and Wireless conference in Johannesburg.
The main aim of the study, he said, "was to find out where (in what technology) cellular operators should invest money and infrastructure, going forward."
Focused on Europe, the US and Asia, the study reveals the average consumer will spend a third of their day on the Internet, the phone, or watching TV.
Mobile phone penetration levels have reached the 90s (in terms of percentage of the population) in all three areas.
Fouche said one of the most interesting findings was that cell operators see mobile television as a customer retention strategy, rather than an opportunity to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) figures.
In the South African environment, he says this drive to promote loyalty will also be the core reason for operators providing new content platforms: "I think there`s an opportunity for multimedia converged services - not for ARPU gain, but for reducing churn."
Mobile TV, he added, is nearing the end of the "technology trigger upswing" section of KPMG`s generic technology adoption graph.
Soon it will reach the "peak of inflated expectations", before entering the "trough of disillusionment", followed by the "slope of enlightenment", before reaching the final stage in some years` time - the "plateau of productivity".
Movie trailers, followed closely by news clips and sports, proved to be the most popular video entertainment services on cellphones, according to the KPMG survey.
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