Content is the key to stimulate uptake in 3G but what content?

Muhammad Amir Malik
Increased demand for instant, relevant content that users can access easily, wherever they are, has driven the development of applications and services in the mobile market place. Content is the pivotal point around which a technological evolution is taking place.  Consumers consume data at an ever increasing rate and innovation is rushing to keep up by providing, disseminating, managing and securing it as effectively seamlessly as possible.
According to a recent report by industry leading analytics specialist Zokem, 50{e1f18614b95d3cd6e4b3128e1cd15d99b042a60a5a19c19b7a8e07e7495efa10} of all mobile data volume is taken up by native data applications such as social networking sites, multimedia and maps. While phones have had the ability to access the internet for several years, the current surge in popularity is the result of several factors merging in a respective market.  The release of dual-core smartphones and more powerful tablets has coincided with an increase in the sophistication and availably of apps. Purpose-built apps now offer users straightforward access to the content they want without any need to be technically proficient. Additionally, the development of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications means that data and connectivity are proliferating. The increase in the use of mobile phones has also seen an increase in mobile fraud, specifically within the arena of financial services. Security solutions have to ensure that mobile transactions are secure, that they engender trust and that they protect user privacy.
Perhaps viewing content on a browser will come full circle, or perhaps the app will evolve to render the browser obsolete. Either way, one thing is certain: content will remain king.
A few years ago, the word ‘app’ meant nothing to the average consumer.  On 11 July 2008, Apple launched its App Store, where 500 third-party applications were available by 16 January 2009, 500 million apps had been downloaded, and the billionth landed on an Apple product on 23 April the same year.  On 10 May 2011, Google announced that 4.5 billion apps had been downloaded from Android Market, and that 450,000 developers were building tools for Android devices. The rise of the app has also created opportunities for small companies and individuals who had no chance of getting products to consumers before. App developers have become entrepreneurs, and the barrier to entry is arguably one of the easiest to overcome in the technological world; developers need no specialist qualifications other than a bright idea and the ability to implement it.
In Pakistan the Telecom Industry will have an uphill job persuading consumers to embrace 3G, certainly in the short term. The industry needs to be wary of repeating mistakes which marked the introduction of WAP- the technology failed to live up to its promise of delivering a customer-friendly “mobile Internet” experience. With 3G, people need to be convinced content is worth paying for. Social networking, online games, mobile TV and location-based services are often cited as the killer content for 3G. Conversely would this also be the way forward for Pakistan. Mobile services are growing and the media companies are lining up to become part of this fast growing business. Media content providers worldwide must go mobile to survive and the same will be true for Pakistan . In the coming years, the mobile platforms will be one of the only major sources of new revenue for media companies, as their traditional markets decline and customers fragment and have gone online. Nevertheless the question is to find a service that will do for 3G what SMS did for 2G.