| eHound Newsletter | November 2006 |
Welcome to the last eHound Newsletter for 2006, which has been another exciting year for the wireless industry. With the mobile phone now well-entrenched as the consumer's "third screen" (after their TV and computer) the significance of the mobile channel as a marketing tool is continuing to increase. UK Sets New Records in Wireless Adoption They may not be favourites to take home the Ashes, but the UK continues to lead the world in terms of wireless adoption, and in doing so is setting trends which are likely to be seen in Australia over the next few years.Monthly SMS volumes hit a record 3.7 billion messages in August, an increase of 33% over the previous 12 months, and double the per-capita rate in Australia. These volumes are in part driven by the wide array of SMS-based information services that are now available in the UK, covering topics such as weather, news, sport, health, entertainment and travel. The usage of more sophisticated services is also increasing. Research from Nielsen/NetRatings indicates that WAP-enabled mobile phones are now the second most popular digital device owned by Britons, after their PC, with 57% owning a phone that could access the Internet. According to the Mobile Data Association the total number of subscribers accessing the Internet from their phone reached 14 million in September 2006 (25% of the population), and is increasing by more than 1 million each month. Given the focus which all of the Australian carriers now have on their 3G networks, similar trends are now emerging in the local market. HWW, which provides entertainment and lifestyle content to telcos such as Hutchison and Telstra has seen significant growth this year. Commenting on the market, HWW Managing Director, Jennifer Wilson said: "Across our various carrier networks we now have more than 250,000 subscribers regularly accessing guides such as YourTV, YourMovies and YourRestaurants. It is clear that consumers are now moving an increasing proportion of their search activity to their mobile phone, with location being a key criteria." St George Delivers Branch Locations via SMS Following on from the successful launch of its SMS-based ATM search service, St George Bank has now extended this service to include the identification of branch locations. Customers simply submit their suburb and state as an SMS message to 19944STG, and immediately receive back the details of the nearest branch. In South Australia another branded number - 19944BSA - is used for BankSA branches.The branch service also includes details regarding those location which are open Saturday mornings. eHound Supports Men's Health Initiative eHound and its mapping partner Multimap recently installed a web-based location service for Mensheds Australia - a national initiative designed to improve men's health and well being outcomes by encouraging male participation in community-based activities. With a rapidly expanding network of "Men Sheds" around the country, it was important that Mensheds Australia be able to manage and publish the details of new locations quickly and easily. Commenting on the sponsorship, Peter Sergeant, Managing Director of Mensheds Australia said: "The eHound platform has enabled us to upgrade our website experience quickly and easily, and the online reports regarding visitor search activity will help us identify and prioritise new locations."We wish you seasons greetings and look forward to bringing you further updates about trends in location-based services in the New Year. However if you have any queries in the meantime please don't hesitate to contact us.
Kind Regards The eHound Team |
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