Although more and more mobile phone users in Brazil are adopting short message service (SMS) as a means of communication, the Brazilian SMS market remains smaller than other countries in the region. In Brazil, text messaging represents 37.1% of total value-added service (VAS) revenues compared with an of 51% across other Latin American countries, explained Vancrei Oliveira, Acision SVP and GM for Latin America.
Follow RCR Wireless News – Americas on Twitter, Facebook and subscribe to our free periodic newsletters
According to the Acision’s latest “Mobile Value Added Service Monitor,” VAS accounts for 19.8% of revenues in Brazil, of which SMS represents 37.1% and mobile broadband accounts for 54.3%. VAS revenues in Brazil totaled close to $587 million (R $1 billion) for local operators in the third quarter of last year.
Regarding the average rate in Latin America, VAS represents 25% of total revenues, while voice accounts for 75%. Within VAS revenues, SMS is 51%, mobile broadband is 38% and “other” services accounts for the remaining 11%.
“The messaging market still has significant room for growth in Brazil,” Oliveira said, adding that as well as offering new pricing models, operators should look to provide personalized messaging features such as those reflected in its report to ensure the messaging is more functional and relevant to the user, and also to generate additional revenue opportunities.
Oliveira believes that adoption of SMS is rising based on Q4 2011 numbers, when there was an average of 81 text messages sent per user per month. That was a 69% increase compared with the 48 messages per user per month sent during the fourth quarter of 2010. Oliveira attributes the SMS growth to more compelling devices, as well as more competitive messaging pricing models and packages offered by operators.
Oliveira also noted that in the survey users said they were willing to pay for personalized messaging services. Of the many options available, people are willing to pay for reminders (44%), automatic SMS forwarding to an e-mail account (43%), multiple SIM cards (43%), cloud storage (43%) and the SMS pager (41%). “These are examples of applications that carriers could sell to enterprise, such as healthcare companies that need to send reminders.”
When asked if new applications and social networks like BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp and Facebook Chat could be a barrier to the spread of SMS, Oliveira said that while instant messaging relies heavily on a data connection, SMS does not face these restrictions and is reliabile, ubiquitous and instantaneous in nature, working globally across any mobile device and network.
The report also found that IM usage has increased, with 44% of people interviewed adopting the service. The offering is concentrated among customers with access to data packages and, more frequently, people with smartphones. The Facebook Chat application registered the highest user levels (29% of IM users), with Twitter at No. 2 with 20%.
Be sure not to miss
