More Mobile News and Research, August 2, 2011

Below are some links to recent research news, studies and lists regarding mobile technology that MarketingCharts didn’t get to writing up this week, but still may be worth a peek:

A new study released by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) and Nielsen indicates that 63% of survey respondents said that “free or low subscription rates” is the most important attribute for a video app. In fact, as long as consumers can get the video app for free, or at a low cost, more than half (56%) of respondents said they don’t mind mobile advertisements on video apps, especially if it allows them to access content for free.

• Worldwide mobile payment users will surpass 141.1 million in 2011, a 38.2% increase from 2010, when mobile payment users reached 102.1 million, according to Gartner, Inc.
• Despite some estimates of mobile ad spending currently totaling about $1 billion USD, Borrell Associates is estimating that mobile ad spending is close to 10 times that amount.
• Mobile network operators (MNOs) must explore means of addressing data delivery costs and inefficiencies in base station operations if their networks are to remain economically viable, a new report from Juniper Research has found.
• In 2016, ABI Research forecasts there will be 103 million 4G wholesale subscribers, or subscribers managed through a MVNO that buys wholesale access from a mobile operator, for mobile operators, an increase from just 3.8 million in 2010.
• Data from the comScore MobiLens service shows that 13.5 million users across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), accounting for 5.8% of all mobile subscribers, accessed online retail sites in the three month average period ending May 2011.
• While Europeans and Americans traveling abroad still face steep roaming charges, travelers from mainland China can call home for as little as it costs to make a local call in that market, reports the New York Times.
• More than one-third of children in the UK (35%) own a mobile phone by the time they are eight, according to data quoted by The Telegraph.
• Restaurant chain Hooters of America is running a national mobile sweepstakes campaign that lets consumers enter for a chance to fly out and see Kenny Chesney’s concert in Boston, according to Mobile Marketer.
• eMarketer estimates more than 91 million US consumers will use a mobile device to access the internet at least once monthly this year.