Mobile money to poor seen $5 billion market in 2012

Mobile money to poor seen $5 billion market in 2012

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The market of mobile financial services to poor people in emerging markets will surge from nothing to $5 billion in 2012, U.S.-based microfinance policy and research center CGAP said on Monday.

Mobile money is one of the hottest topics in the wireless world, but so far take-up of services has been mostly limited to a few emerging markets, as in developed countries the popularity of online banking has been a brake on mobile money.

"Theres a lot of excitement, but very little understanding what's going on as the number of implementations is still limited," said Mark Pickens, microfinance analyst at CGAP.

The market began in early 2007 with a launch of Safaricom's M-PESA in Kenya, which has attracted 6.5 million customers, or one in six Kenyans.

Operators in several emerging countries have followed, and by end-2009 CGAP expects more than 120 mobile money implementations in developing markets.
The new estimates are part of GCAP's joint study with industry group GSMA on estimating the size of mobile financial markets. The study is due to be published next week at the Mobile Money Summit in Barcelona.

Pickens said on top of the $5 billion, telecoms operators could save up to $2 billion from lower customer turnover, and the takeup of financial services would lift by $1.10 their average monthly revenue per user (ARPU).
In Africa only one in five people have bank accounts, mainly because of the prohibitive cost to the banks of operating branches in far-flung parts of a continent where many of the population of one billion live on a few dollars a day or less. Read Article... http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE55E10T20090615

Apple to expand DRM-free iTunes content, revise pricing

Apple to expand DRM-free iTunes content, revise pricing

(Source: Free Mobile Content)
Macworld rumor du jour: Apple will announce a series of new licensing deals that will expand its catalog of DRM-free iTunes downloads across all four major record labels--in addition, the computing giant will also embrace a more flexible iTunes pricing structure. CNet reports that Apple has inked deals with Sony BMG, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group to offer iTunes downloads free of digital rights management protections--the agreements follow close to two years after Apple announced a similar deal with the fourth major, EMI Music. Per terms of that agreement, iTunes introduced DRM-free EMI content at a higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for a premium $1.29 per-song price tag, but as CNet points out, the EMI catalog accounts for less than 10 percent of all music sold in the U.S.

In conjunction with the new label agreements, Apple will reportedly trim the cost of catalog music to 79 cents per song, down from the current 99 cents for each DRM-encoded track. CNet adds labels will now be given the flexibility to price some current chart blockbusters for more than 99 cents, but as those songs lose steam at radio and retail, their prices will fall back to the new 79 cents standard as well. The report adds Apple will also confirm the availability of over-the-air iTunes downloads, an announcement rumored since version 2.2 of the iPhone software appeared in late 2008: Citing leaked screenshots depicting an iPhone user downloading a podcast from iTunes via 3G connection, pundits have speculated that Apple would sooner or later activate an iTunes premium music download application as well