MOBILE MULTIMEDIA PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Indicator

Definition

Example

USAGE

Text messaging (e.g., SMS) users

Active users (within the last month)

Portugal Telecom publishes this indicator: “The number of active SMS users reached 53% of the total customer base in 2003.” See PT Annual Report 2003 (PDF), page 32.

Mobile multimedia users

Active users (within the last month). Would include MMS, WAP and mobile Internet users

- MMS users

Number of users who send Multimedia Messaging Service messages

Portugal Telecom reported that 94,000 subscribers were MMS users in 2003. See PT Annual Report 2003 (PDF), page 31.

- WAP users

Number of active users utilizing Wireless Application Protocol services such as: e-mail, downloading games, ring tones and graphics, reading news, etc.

France Telecom publishes this indicator. “At December 31, 2003… almost 3.5 million were active customers (customers who had made at least one WAP connection during the month).” See France Telecom Form 20-F 2003 (PDF), page 40.

- Mobile Internet users

Subscribers using mobile network to access Internet from personal computers

Brazil’s Vivo reported 28,744 users to its ZAP mobile Internet service in 2003. See Vivo. 04/0'5/2004.  “Consolidating Market a Leadership and Innovation.”  (PDF), page 18.

NETWORK

High-speed mobile subscribers

Number of subscribers to high-speed mobile networks (e.g., GPRS, CDMA2000 1X, WCDMA, CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, etc.) regardless of whether they are using multimedia services

OFTA, the telecommunications regulator in Hong Kong, reports the number of "2.5G customers". This is defined  as “those customers who have joined the service plans for 2.5G services (including GPRS and IS-95B services) or used the 2.5G services at least once for the month being reported on.” From January 2004, the data also include 3G mobile services. For December 2003, OFTA reported 729,554 2.5G customers. See “Key Statistics for Telecommunications in Hong Kong: Wireless Services.”

Internet-enabled handsets

Number of subscribers with Internet-enabled handsets

France Telecom publishes this indicator. “At December 31, 2003, 13.5 million Orange France customers had WAP-enabled handsets.” See France Telecom Form 20-F 2003 (PDF), page 40.

TRAFFIC

SMS sent

Number of Short Messaging Service (SMS) sent from mobile handsets

The Swedish telecommunication regulator, PTS, compiles the number of SMS and MMS sent from mobile phones. In 2003, it reported:

Number of SMS sent (millions)       1,816

Number of MMS sent (millions)       6.7

See “The Swedish Telecommunications Market 2003” (PDF), page 73.

MMS sent

Number of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages sent from mobile handsets

REVENUE

Mobile data revenue

Revenues from mobile data services such as text messaging, high-speed network access, WAP use, etc.

A number of operators provide figures on their mobile data revenues. This is generally reported as the percentage of service revenues or ARPU.

Text messaging revenue

Revenues from text messaging (e.g., SMS).

Vodafone provides a breakdown between text messaging and other data revenues for some of the markets it operates in. For example, for its German operation, it reported the following “Non-Voice Services as a Percentage of Service Revenues” for the twelve month period ending June 2004:

Messaging             Data                        Total

15.4%                  2.0%                      17.4%

See “Key Performance Indicators” (XLS) 

WAP/High-speed data/other

Revenues from non-text messaging based mobile data services such as high-speed access charges and WAP use.

Source: Telecommunications Management Group, Inc. www.tmgtelecom.com