In line with our own observation of the messaging market Portio concludes that SMS is not dead. Far from it: over the next five years SMS revenue is forecast to dominate worldwide messaging. Total SMS volume grows at a rate of some 4%, from 7.8 trillion in 2011 to 9.5 trillion messages in 2016.

It matches the 2016 SMS volume forecast of Informa Telecoms & Media (article).

But whereas Informa estimates Instant Messaging volume to reach 7.7 trillion messages in 2016, Portio expects we will be swyping and thumbing a mind-boggling 20 trilllion OTT messages worldwide.

This is, on average, over 4,000 SMS and OTT messages per person per year, by everyone on the planet. Optimistic? If Portio’s forecast turns out right, we might be seeing a few more cases of Repetitive Thumb Injury.

What do you think? Will Over-The-Top messaging services like WhatsApp replace SMS? Let us know by taking part in our SMS vs OTT poll.

Sign-up to the Netsize Services Portal is free. Once you’re signed up, you can enable free product trials and download market reports and product documentation with a single click.

You automatically have access to mMarketing, the easy to use enterprise messaging and mobile marketing campaign tool.

Five online analytics tools provide you with data on your operational services:

• Real Time Statistics enable you to monitor the state of your service and its transactions in real time. They provide quick and easy access to your live traffic.

• Dashboard shows transactions over a given period. Filters can be applied to show results based on service, country, mobile operator and message type.

• Statistics Summary shows the revenue your service generates. In one click you can observe the number of transactions by country in the past day, week and month, as well as the trend.

• Query Tool enables you to retrieve transactions for a given mobile number, using criteria such as message status, country, mobile operator and service. It provides detailed transaction results. The tool helps you to support and monitor existing services and develop new ones.

• Traffic Analyzer is a web-based interface with flexible filtering and graphical options to slice and dice your traffic data. Customized views and dashboards allow for easy presentation. Data can be exported in different formats, including CSV and XLS.

Other reporting options are available upon request. The Traffic Cube is an Excel sheet that includes the full historical traffic of your account or service. It is emailed to you daily, weekly or monthly.

Give it a try and start your experience with the Netsize Services Portal today.

This standard architecture has proven to be very powerful and scalable. Every mobile phone user can engage with another user and exchange SMS messages, anywhere in the world, on virtually every mobile operator network.

Increasingly however, Mobile Network Operators have started to impose limitations on international Application-to-Person traffic to their mobile users that bypasses the destination operator’s SMSC.

The result: lower delivery rates, increased delivery time (also known as latency) and less reliable communication.

This is where Netsize Direct SMS comes into play. Not relying on international roaming, Netsize Direct SMS uses local direct connections to the mobile operators’ SMSCs, supported with bi-lateral contractual arrangement with these local operators. Direct SMS delivers SMS text messages directly to the destination operator.

In addition Netsize is contractually linked to the local regulator and industry associations where required.

The benefits of Netsize Direct SMS:

1. Highest quality of service: due to the short delivery route and direct delivery to the destination network, Direct SMS provides a very high and reliable delivery rate.
2. Shortest and steady latency:the SMS message arrives within a few seconds from sending, enabling processes to use this channel for time-critical information.
3. Detailed delivery status reports provide real-time feedback on the status of message delivery,which is often not available on international delivery routes.
4. With direct access to the mobile operators’ 24×7 Network Operation Centers, Netsize manages any technical escalation immediatelywith a contractually agreed response time.
5. Backed by a bi-lateral contractual relationship,a Netsize Direct SMS connection will not be barred by the operator. It also allows us to guarantee price stability.

Direct SMS is the perfect solution for SMS messaging applications that require reliable and fast delivery. For single messages and very high volumes, Direct SMS provides the optimum in SMS delivery quality.

Direct SMS is available in 23 countries and for more than 80 mobile networks.

For more information, please visit www.netsize.com.

Direct SMS: Highest quality SMS: best delivery, security and control

• 23 countries
• 80+ mobile operators
• Local, shared or dedicated short code for two-way SMS
• Usage: Security, Transactions, M2M
• Applications: business apps, certified communications, enterprise SMS, mobile marketing

The smartphone and app trends are indeed undeniably strong. In the past few years smartphone sales have grown considerably, reaching an overall penetration of up to 40 percent in Western markets and an amazing 77 percent in Singapore. Tablet PCs are the newest rage. In developing markets the feature phone is still king and smartphone penetration rates currently reach 5 percent at best. But at the same time developing countries show the highest rates of growth.

As we wrote in the Netsize Guide by Gemalto (free download to get market statistics and more), these new devices are changing and extending our mobile and online lives.

Yet SMS messaging traffic is holding surprisingly strong.

In its latest analysis on the global messaging market, Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts 9.4 trillion SMS text messages to be sent in 2016, representing an increase of 19% year-on-year since 2011 (1).

Mobile instant messaging is growing at a rate of 37% per year. It will represent some 35% of messaging traffic in 2016.

At a deeper level SMS is keeping pace with the total messaging volume growth.

If we zoom in on Application-to-Person and Person-to-Application SMS traffic, which according to Informa represents some 4.5 percent of the total SMS messaging volume in 2011, we see a healthy average year-on-year growth of close to 18 percent, to 6 percent of total SMS volume.

This comes as no surprise. Enterprises know that the only way they can reach 100% of the population is through SMS. Unlike PCs and email, a mobile phone is not shared. No matter what device is used, a simple feature-phone, a high-end smartphone or a SIM-equipped tablet, companies can reach customers with personalized text messages.

(1) Source: Informa Telecoms & Media, Despite incursions from OTT providers of IM services, SMS retains dominance in messaging revenues and traffic through 2016, April 2012

Three solutions for enterprise success

To serve enterprise needs, Netsize provides three types of messaging solutions.

• For quick starters, web browser-based text messaging offers the easiest way to send text messages and receive replies. With no software to install and powerful features to manage access, it makes your users and IT department happy, while keeping costs in check.
  Learn More about Web-based SMS >>>
• For developers and workflow automation, API-based integration offers the most flexible way to let enterprise systems speak SMS. A variety of protocols are supported to accommodate a wide range of applications. For Salesforce CRM we provide an out-of-the-box integration which can be installed in a whiz.
  Learn More about Integrating SMS in your applications >>>
• To marketing agencies and internal marketing departments Netsize provides full-service mobile marketing campaign management services. Put simply: you provide us with your database 24 hours prior to campaign launch, and we’ll manage the rest. Ideal for any organization lacking skills or resources, or just short on time.
  Learn More about Full-service mobile marketing campaigns >>>

Visit the new Netsize website for more on our SMS messaging solutions.

Gameloft’s success builds on four themes: monetization, mobile commerce, social media and device capabilities.

For the newest Netsize Guide by Gemalto we interviewed Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president publishing of Gameloft.

1 – Monetize

“Our choice of monetization model also depends heavily on the game play. Some games are more suitable for the premium model: the user pays upfront for the game and is then allowed to play that game forever. The majority of our revenue is coming from the premium model, but this is changing.

Freemium and free-to-play are the upcoming monetization models, driven largely by what is happening on Android Market and the Apple App store. Users buy items depending on the game play. Here we don’t focus on revenues for the short-term; we think about the long-term value of our customers – daily active users. It’s a brand new way of thinking about games.”

2 – Commercialize

“There are different types of commerce: in-game, add-on and around the in-app purchase. To make in-game commerce work you need to have the right billing and make the purchasing experience as smooth as possible. The commerce that is added on to the game is merchandising. When you play the game, you can access a store directly from the game where you can buy toys and t-shirts.

Angry Birds is a well-known example. This commerce helps create brand experiences, where the game is the entry point, and there is commerce around an in-app purchase inside the game.”

3 – Socialize

“Our social strategy is built on two main pillars: community and social gaming. Our community managers in all our main markets use social media to interact with our consumers – getting their feedback, informing them about what we are doing via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

In addition we have been adding multi-player elements to our games to make them real-time, interactive and engaging.”

4 – Personalize

“Today the two leaders are iOS and Android, so that’s where we have the biggest support, for smartphones as well as tablets. We want to bring the best experience to each device so we don’t just focus on creating games for the platform that represents the lowest common denominator.

Instead, we adapt each game to the potential of each device.”

Read the full interview with Gonzague de Vallois of Gameloft in The Netsize Guide by Gemalto. You can download it here.

Follow Gameloft on twitter: @gameloft

According to the Netsize Guide, there are already 445,000 tablet PCs and 19.7 million smartphones in use in France. Tablets represent some 27.5% of all non-PC web data traffic, smartphones 57.1%, feature phones 5.5%, and other devices such as music players and gaming devices 9.9%. About two thirds (65.1%) is from Apple iPads, iPhones and iPods.

Internet+ mobile: Pay via your ISP

We are only witnessing the start of this trend. As more people begin to use their always-on, always-connected devices to shop, they will need the payment methods that allow them to pay conveniently and securely – especially when they don’t own, can´t or don’t want to use a payment card.

Internet+ mobile in France is a payment method that has been developed by the industry consortium Association Française du Multimédia Mobile (AFMM). Using Internet+ mobile, consumers in France can pay amounts of up to 10 euros using their mobile phone and have it charged to their Internet subscription bill.

Growing 10x the rate of Premium SMS

AFMM recently reported its payment volume numbers over 2011. In the first half of 2011, 54.1 million euros worth of purchases were made using Internet+ mobile. This represents a stunning 54% year-to-year growth. Payments made by SMS+, the premium SMS-based payment method, reached 164 million euros in the same period, but showed only 5.5% growth.

Whereas SMS+ is mainly used for one-time, pay-per-use purchases, Internet+ mobile is very popular for subscription-based payments representing more than 80% of total turnover.

The fast go-to-market

Netsize mPayment enables merchants to use Internet+ mobile as a payment option on web stores and mobile stores.

While SMS+ and Gallery would also be viable, these methods do come with specific constraints and demands to be met. mPayment with Internet+ mobile presents an excellent alternative in the fast moving game and app content market.

mPayment with Internet+ mobile is therefore ideal for any content provider with a direct to consumer (D2C) strategy and wants to launch quickly and effortless in the French market.

Sounds interesting? Contact us and discuss your needs.

The Netsize SMS communication solution supports the entire rental process, from renter validation to rental notifications, as well as confirming booking details. It works on any handset and is compatible with all wireless networks, guaranteeing 100 percent reach so CityzenCar customers can use the service anywhere, anytime.

Car owners will be notified of each rental request by SMS and if they approve it, the driver will receive a text message on their mobile phone containing details of the car and location. The car owner can then choose to either deliver the keys to the driver in person or authorize CityzenCar to unlock the car doors. This innovative and convenient unlocking system is made possible by the “CityzenBox”, an embedded telematic device that sits within the car.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our customers to interact with each other and make the best use of our service, ” commented Nicolas le Douarec, CEO, CityzenCar, “Netsize’s flexible and highly dependable SMS solution is crucial to ensure the quality of our service.”

“CityzenCar is ahead of the curve in its innovative use of technology to engage with customers. SMS is ideal where mobility is key as customers can be reached while on the move. It is also exceptionally interoperable, providing us with a far wider end-user reach,” said Frédéric Deman, General Manager, Netsize.

Free is also France’s youngest Internet Service Provider and since a few weeks also its hottest new mobile telco. Launched in 1999, Free started by offering free Internet access, adding telephony and TV services in the years thereafter while continuing to upgrade its network.

Free mobile

This month, Free launched its own mobile network and a subscription model that appeals to the company name.

Using a strategy of very low pricing and an unlimited voice and data bundle, the new operator managed to win almost 2 million subscribers overnight. The number is growing fast – it currently stands at around 3 million.

This already represents 4.5% of the French market, which counts some 66 million subscribers currently according to The Netsize Guide.

Netsize and Free

Netsize messaging solutions are directly integrated with Free. Netsize customers can thus reach Free subscribers and efficiently send Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS messages, reliably and quickly. In addition to using our SMS gateway API, they can also reach the Free network with Netsize mMarketing, our easy-to-use web-based mobile campaign solution.

At present, Free is taking its place at the French mobile operators’ dining table. While the saying goes, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Free seems to prove the opposite. Meanwhile, Netsize focuses on delivering the best solutions for reaching all French subscribers – via messaging as well as operator billing.

Click here to discuss your needs to launch or extend mobile services in France.

To a graphical artist the cover embodies the challenge to mirror the Netsize Guide’s content in an attractive and seductive way. The cover reflects what is going on inside the book, using an eye candy approach. Not necessarily to be understood at face value directly but done teasingly enough to get the main idea of the guide. And while your eyes scan the topics, the cover’s visual is referring to it in a subtle way.

At first sight, take the cover as a presentation for what The Netsize Guide holds in store for you: the trends that matter in our mobile digital lives.

On a deeper layer the cover tells us how we control the world around us through mobile applications and what are the key ingredients and enablers: the interplay of transaction, transformation and trust.

Tap to pay the bus ride, buy the souvenir using banking on-the-go, check in on the plane you have to catch, upgrade your seat, socialize with friends, enjoy multimedia content and games: behind all of this is the notion of security and trust and the transaction opportunities that enable us to transform our lifestyle that centers on being mobile, yet connected, anywhere, anytime.

These are examples of Truly Mobile experiences. An outcome of Transformation, Transaction and Trust. You feel safe when you push a phone button or app. You get what you expect – and it is and does what you want, or so you think, because your mobile life depends on it.

The Netsize Guide by Gemalto: Truly Mobile shows us how these three themes interplay to enable the experience. So, let the cover image inspire you to discover what is behind that first page, and be inspired by the content of the book to do discover the world of mobile.

The Netsize Guide by Gemalto: Truly Mobile – design & layout: Marko de Hoop (markodehoop.nl)

Gemalto and Netsize launch the brand new Netsize Guide by Gemalto today, the comprehensive reference work on the state of mobile technology and its impact on business and society.

Available as a free PDF download today from www.netsize.com, the 10th edition has identified three themes that characterize the state of mobile today and its future:

• Transaction – How we’ve come to rely on mobile devices for commerce from researching products to making purchases.
• Transformation – How mobile devices are increasingly driving content, communications and connectivity.
• Trust – How we require — and will soon demand — simple, transparent services and devices we can trust.

Aptly titled Truly Mobile, The Netsize Guide by Gemalto underlines these three key themes, supported by insights and interviews with over a dozen senior executives from companies across the business ecosystem including ARM, Atlas Premium Brands, BNP Paribas, CMO Council, The Coca-Cola Company, Gameloft, GlobalPlatform, Informa Telecoms & Media, Millennial Media, SingTel, Texas Instruments, Trusted Logic, Yahoo! and others.

We thank Peggy Anne Salz — chief analyst and publisher of MobileGroove.com, a top 50 source of analysis and commentary on all things mobile — who once again did a great job of interviewing the companies and writing the theme chapters of the book.

Highly rated …

In its 10-year history the Netsize Guide has built a large and loyal audience of readers who rate it among their must-read industry resources.

According to a 2010 survey of Netsize Guide readers, the majority of respondents — that is to say, YOU — gave the Netsize Guide high marks indeed! On a scale of 1-to-10, 75 percent of respondents gave the book an ’8′ or higher. Specifically, 37 percent gave it an ’8′, 29 percent gave it a ’9′ and 9 percent awarded it a perfect ’10′. You also told us you consider the Netsize Guide to be better or much better than other mobile industry reports. Allow us to thank you again for your participation in our survey and for your high appreciation of our work!

Packed with stats …

In line with our long track record for excellence the Netsize Guide by Gemalto uniquely brings together a wealth of market statistics from its partners Informa Telecoms & Media, comScore and SocialBakers. The 220-page book is packed with detailed market forecasts that reveal current operator market share, smartphone penetration, and consumer usage of mobile apps and social network Facebook across over 40 countries, and 3-year forecasts (2011-2014) for selected data.

An expert resource for benchmarking and planning …

Covering the use of mobile technologies for business and entertainment applications, the Netsize Guide has served as a beacon for business professionals and executives across industry sectors for a decade. Its unique format represents a balance of thought leadership and exclusive C-level interviews with in-depth market analysis, practical case studies and a wealth of practical mobile telecommunications data. Thus, the Netsize Guide by Gemalto is an indispensible knowledge resource for benchmarking and planning mobile services, allowing mobile professionals everywhere to stay up to date with mobile trends.

… available today as a free pdf download

The Netsize Guide by Gemalto is available as a free pdf download directly from the Netsize website and from our global launch partners including: 4A’s, AIME,the Mobile Data Association (MDA), Mobile Entertainment, the MEF, MobileGroove and ServicesMobiles.

We are confident you will enjoy reading this Netsize Guide by Gemalto and benefit from its insights. It is an essential read certain to serve you well as an industry reference for the year to come. Please feel free to contact us any time with your comments or ideas via Twitter (@NetsizeGuide and @NetsizeCorp), email [guide (at) netsize.com] or our websites www.gemalto.com and www.netsize.com.

Alexander Vlasblom
Marketing Communications Director, Netsize & Trusted Logic
Gemalto