SMS traffic on the rise … Bluetooth marketing … Extending mobile coverage … Matrimony myths dispelled

SMS rivers of gold continue to flow

SMS traffic volumes and revenues will continue to confound predictions according to a new report, Mobile Messaging Futures 2007–2012 from Portio Research. The report predicts that by 2012 annual SMS volumes will be 3.7 trillion, generating $US67 billion for carriers, reports ITWire.

That works out at an average of US018¢ per message, much cheaper than the 25¢ many Australians are paying today.

ITWire does a back-of-the-envelope calculation and concludes that SMS is an incredibly profitable service for cellular operators because text messages use minimal network recourses in relation to the revenue generated. At today’s rates you could talk and tie up network resources for about half a minute for the same price as an SMS, which transits the network in a fraction of a second, it says.

The good news for operators is that markets have continued to grow and greatly exceeded the predictions of similar research carried out in 2005. SMS traffic has not flattened out in mature markets but continued to boom and the US market has grown much faster than expected.

Bluetooth marketing

Marketers using Bluetooth to send their messages to mobile phones are getting good results. A Hoyts Cinemas trial of BlueZones, in which discount vouchers and movie trailers can be downloaded to mobile telephones, has been so successful the chain will be using mobiles in future marketing campaigns, reports The Australian.

Hoyts Corporation’s head of marketing, Anthony Thiessen, says the three-month trial target was met within the first two weeks. The technology can be used for providing any sort of information to people within the short Bluetooth range. It is being installed at information booths and street furniture sites, such as bus stops, in high pedestrian traffic areas.

Gizmos to make the world your oyster

In case you didn’t realise how quickly technology is making the business world smaller, check out these new distance killing gizmos found by inc.com:

Mobile phone range extenders: There’s nothing more frustrating than losing mobile reception when you need to make an urgent call. These gadgets use an extendable antenna to increase the reach of your mobile phone reception by 500 square metres – hopefully, just enough to get you out of a dead spot.

Long distance wireless: Dashing furtively from one wireless hotspot to the next could be a thing of the past if you pick up a wireless network booster. The booster ramps up your home or business-based wireless signal significantly, with some manufacturers claiming signals can be extended up to 60 kilometres. In effect, it makes your whole city a big wireless hotspot – although data speeds are slower away from the hotspot.

Harness satellite power: The granddaddy of them all, however, has to be the satellite phone. Previously satellite phones were so expensive and bulky they were of limited use, but now devices that can send and receive information by satellite are the size and cost of a laptop computer. You will have to pay $20 or more per megabyte for the data you download, but you get to pay for being able to get your email absolutely anywhere. (Well, as long as you’re not under something that blocks that satellite signal, anyway.)

Marital myths dispelled

The myth that well-educated or successful women are less likely to get married or have children has been well and truly dispelled, according this story in the Boston Globe.

Data from the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington DC suggests that, in the US at least, educated women generally have an equal or better chance of marrying than other women. It shows that although women in their 20s with advanced degrees are less likely to marry, by their 30s highly educated women marry at a higher rate.

Success is not a barrier to matrimony either, with women between 28 and 35 with a professional degree and high income equally likely to be married. The success rate gets higher for older, richer women: for those aged 30 to 44 who earn more than $100,000 a year, 88% are married, compared with 82% of other women in the same age range.