Bullet Business

The number of consumers using their mobile phone to access content online is increasing. The continuous and stable growth in the penetration of mobile web usage is a clear indicator that mobile browsing is becoming more mainstream.

In the UK, the Mobile Data Association reported that 17.38 million users used their phone to access the Internet in December last year compared to 16.7 million a year earlier. It is being acknowledged that mobile applications are steadily changing the marketing mix.

Non-verbal communication is starting to make up a much higher percentage of activity on mobile phones, which suggests that users are starting to use their mobile phones for many different things now.

And it is not difficult to see why this is so, says Marcel Puyk, chief executive officer, Cellectivity.

Utility

“For many people, especially the younger demographic, it (mobile phone) has become a camera, a music player, a SatNav as well as a means to stay in touch with friends. I think also it is more and more used to eat up dead-time, when waiting for something, or during the commute. Previously, when you may have had to wait or travel somewhere you may just look at the scenery, this ‘down’ time is now increasingly being used for mobile activity as people instinctively grab hold of their phones,” says Puyk.

Another trend on the rise is social networking via mobile, which is massively on the rise with SMS updates and applications that enable users to update their Twitter or Facebook via a Blackberry or iPhone for example. mBlogging is also on the increase.

With devices such as the iPhone closely integrating the web and cell phones, social networks are working towards establishing their mobile presence. In January 2009, almost 735,000 unique users visited the Twitter site through the use of mobile devices.

“A main driver of this is the introduction of the iPhone, which is so much more than a phone of course, and especially the iStore, which contains so many applications for consumers to discover. The app store concept is becoming much more accepted elsewhere as well, as they are also present on the Goggle phones and the Blackberries for example, and even Nokia is getting in on the act,” said Puyk.

Ultimately phones are therefore becoming multipurpose devices so there is a massive expansion beyond the basic calling and texting which prevailed as the main focus to begin with, later followed by its use as a camera and music storage device, and now as a games/entertainment/social networking device, much of it driven by the contract data costs which have homogenised and been reduced dramatically.

Bingo on mobile

Puyk says bingo playing, whether in a bingo hall, or online, has always had a very strong social angle so it is important to make sure that this element is also present on a mobile phone.

As far as playing bingo on mobile is concerned, the key to success would be to have an easily accessed service that is seamlessly integrated with the Internet platform.

According to Puyk, there are a number of decent applications out in the market but the ones which stand out are those that get as close to replicating the online offering as they can, always within the limitations of the device of course.

“That means for example that chat is massively important in the success of a mobile bingo game but lots of other aspects play a role as well of course...such as the design of the game, the way the game deals with a user playing many cards at the same time and so on,” he said.

“The importance of chat within the game makes a chat moderator an important offering for any mobile bingo company. It is a very social game, as much on the mobile as it is online. Virtually the entire mobile bingo offering is currently ‘mobile only’ but I can easily imagine the scenario where online and mobile is combined to offer greater liquidity and larger prizes. That would potentially open up the market even more, and convince more users to use their phones, rather than the home computer,” added Puyk.

There is some evidence that mobile gamblers enjoy the convenience of playing a game whilst sitting on the sofa watching television rather than being stuck behind a computer.

Bingo on mobile is played throughout the day and follows much the same pattern as online bingo.

“The only downside I suppose (in case of mobile) is that, unlike online of course, currently the bingo player cannot also play slots at the same time as the bingo game,” said Puyk.