Nielsen reports Canadian mobile data surge despite slowdown

Mobile Internet adoption in Canada is showing healthy and ongoing growth despite the economic slowdown, according to Nielsen Online’s Q1 2009 Canadian Mobile Internet Report. “Market players are being very creative and progressive in their efforts at growing the data side of their business,” Eric Puterbaugh, director of client services at Nielsen Online, tells Report on Wireless. Puterbaugh says Canadian data tracks very closely to that in the US, where the highest growth areas are social networking and ‘adult’, though this latter category is coming off of a low base. “The top five of the top ten fastest growing sites are social networking,” says Puterbaugh. “We are also seeing growth in health and fitness, shopping, food and dining, and banking.” In Canada, Nielsen sells its findings to operators, advertisers, agencies, and major media companies, such as Bell Sympatico, Rogers Communications, Telus Corp., and CTV. “Any company that has a mobile or online presence – or any potential advertiser – has an interest in this data,” says Puterbaugh. “ are looking to understand the mobile advertising channel.” Research highlights include: Canadian mobile internet penetration increased from 16% in Q4 2008 to 21% in Q1 2009; there are 3.9 million unique mobile internet users in Canada, out of the 18.1 million with mobile phones; and Windows Live Mail was the number one site accessed on a mobile phone in Q1 2009, with 1.4 million unique visitors. “MSN is the most successful online portal,” says Puterbaugh. “This is more to do with the extension of email access to mobile devices – simply entering the MSN address and logging into existing email accounts.” Puterbaugh explains that email is often the first thing people try out when using the web on mobile devices, and that these clients are easy to use because they are browser-based. The other four sites in the top five were Google Search, Facebook, The Weather Network and Yahoo. Devices drive adoption “New devices like the Palm Pre, the Google Android platform, and the Nokia platforms are all delivering better user experiences,” says Puterbaugh. According to the Nielsen data, the top mobile phones in Canada were: Apple iPhone 3G, BlackBerry 8100, LG Rumor Series, Motorola Razr V3 and Motorola KRZ R Series. “In order to extend these capabilities so that users can afford them, the carriers will have to continue to subsidize,” he adds. Eamon Hoey, senior partner in Hoey Associates, a management-consulting firm in Toronto, says when it comes to the mobile web, advances in device capabilities are of greater relevance than network upgrades. “I think the network is secondary,” says Hoey. “You could have a lot of fast networks, but if people can’t get to them, then forget it. The iPhone and touchscreen technology have really ‘decomplexed’ things for the user.” The carriers may prefer, however, to keep things moving at an even pace because of serious concerns on the network side. “The carriers have some capacity issues,” says Puterbaugh. “If everyone starts using high capacity bandwidth and video, then carriers run the risk of being taxed to the point that they can’t deliver to all users.” Puterbaugh adds that not all consumers can afford a $40 to $60 a month charge for unlimited data services, and as a result more people will be dabbling. “As voice average revenue per user (ARPU) becomes commodified, the real growth is on the data side,” he says. “We are at the start of a lot of opportunity here. From a network perspective 3G makes the experience better, but 2.5G can deliver news and email.” For Nielsen, an “active” user must be on the mobile web once every 30 days. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit 50% sooner rather than later,” says Puterbaugh. “Kids will drive this adoption – they expect this to happen.” But Hoey believes Canada’s carriers, despite being in a position to make a lot for money off of the mobile web, will encounter some roadblocks. “The revenues of the wireless carriers will dramatically change,” says Hoey. “But the problem they are having is that penetration levels aren’t at the same as in Europe. We are not even close to that – mobility is not ubiquitous throughout the nation. Basically the carriers have focussed on the top 25 urban markets.”

Nielsen reports Canadian mobile data surge despite slowdown

News | 06/14/2009 4:01 pm EDT

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