This year’s World Cup in Germany is set to be the most photographed sporting event in history says mobile device management company SmartTrust. Based on existing rates of camera phone usage, the company estimates that 4.5 million images will be captured on spectators’ phones over the tournament’s four week duration.
The challenge for operators, SmartTrust says, is relating this opportunity into revenue. A photo taken with a camera phone has only a 30% chance of being forwarded by MMS. When being sent from overseas (roaming) SmartTrust suggests that the figure could drop even further.
Fewer than one million of the 4.5 million photos taken on a mobile phone during the tournament will be used in an MMS during the four week period. Existing barriers to using the service, such as inaccurate configuration of the handset, and consumer concerns over pricing and interoperability will be exasperated by the fact that users will be ‘roaming’ on a foreign network.
“Three million fans are expected to attend games during June. There is enormous opportunity to benefit from spectators keen to make their friends jealous by sending home an MMS of one of the greatest tournaments in the world. This is exactly what MMS was designed to do; enable a mobile user to capture a moment and share it with friends.
“Mobile operators have made significant investment in MMS – most notably in subsidising camera phones for their customers.” says Tim De Luca-Smith, communications manager at SmartTrust.
“Despite the popularity of the camera phone, we know that there are barriers to MMS usage Something is blocking the camera phone experience going full-circle and, ideally, culminating in the sending of an MMS. It’s too easy to chalk it down to cost alone; we know consumers are willing to pay for mobile services that they value. Instead, there needs to be a combination of simplicity and transparency, especially for those looking to make the most of their handset when overseas,” adds De Luca-Smith.