10 years back no one would have imagined in his wildest of dreams that a time will come when mobile phones will be attainable even for a rickshaw driver. Everything will be accessible on mobile devices. Bills will be paid, money would be transferred, online shopping done and data be stored on a single compact device called a mobile phone. This is what we call a revolution in mobile technology. This radical change has indeed taken us by a storm and transformed our lives for good.
Mobile communication is today growing by leaps and business communication bounds. The limits to what a mobile can do have become unfathomable. Its horizons are continuously widening and the bridge between people and technology is narrowing. If everything from news to sports, weather forecast, social media was once available online, all these are now available on mobiles too. This is all because of the boom in mobile technology. Today the whole world is connected with billions of users which make 80% of the world population. This means that only 20% of the world population has remained untouched from this mobile metamorphosis. This kind of surge has been unparalleled in human history so far.
Talking about India, we are the second largest mobile market in the world after China. We have the fastest growing market in terms of net subscribers added per month. The best part is that this quantum leap is not only coming from the urban sector but also the rural sector. GSM technology has become common and we also have the highest per user talk time consumption. In tune with the cultural diversity of India, our mobiles are also multi-lingual and multi-regional.
The introduction of value added services (VAS) is culpable for this plunge in mobile technology. Be it music, literature, TV or shopping, mobile VAS has touched every aspect of our lives. Music downloads, innovative ring tones, captivating games, GPRS services, missed call alerts, mobile banking etc are all part of the VAS package offered by mobile companies. It will not be wrong to say that these VAS services have become a USP for companies selling mobile phones. This mobile entertainment market has led to an evolution of mobile networks. No doubt the mobile service providers are reaping full advantage of this trend and going to their banks laughing.
According to trade analysts, the next big thing already hitting the mobile market is social networking. Social media has become a global hub to discuss issues affecting the lives of people around the world. The customer has become a focal point around which the whole world of marketing and campaigns revolve.
This social web of mobile has simplified lives and connected different people. It has enabled a two-way communication model and provided a platform to discuss global issues, events and brands. At a time when more of the people access internet on mobiles rather than their computers, the marketing world is also making optimum use of this platform for its advertising and marketing campaigns.
Moreover, apart from mobile service providers, it’s the mobile application developers who are consummating this trend and coming up with newer and innovative solutions for the customers. Indeed, the time is ripe for the application developer companies to leverage technology and put it to its optimum use.