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Entries in The Road Ahead (18)

Wednesday
Dec282011
DateWednesday, December 28, 2011 at 11:51AM

Video Streaming on Game Consoles on the Rise

Source: Nielsen Press Release

Streaming video on game consoles is up over last year, according to Nielsen. An October survey reveals that streaming and video-on-demand represent a larger weekly share of usage on Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii compared to last year.

Streaming now represents a reported 14 percent of Xbox 360 time, 15 percent of PS3 time and 33 percent of Wii time. This growth is fueled by the availability of services like Netflix, Hulu, MLB Network and ESPN3. Time spent on game consoles in general is also on the rise. Metered console usage data from the first half of 2011 shows that the three platforms combined are up 7 percent in user time versus the year prior. Taken together, these findings suggest that streaming is incrementally adding to the time users are spending with consoles.

While the rise of streaming is evident across all three consoles, each maintains distinct usage characteristics. On a share basis, Xbox 360 is most notable for online gaming (34% of usage), PlayStation 3 is most notable for DVD / Blu-Ray viewing (22% of usage) and the Wii is most notable for offline gaming (55% of usage).

AuthorDeborah Rand | Comments Off | | | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Thursday
Dec222011
DateThursday, December 22, 2011 at 5:54PM

U.S. Teens Triple Data Usage

Source: Nielsen Press Release

According to a new State of the Media report by Neilsen, Teens have officially joined the mobile Data Tsunami, more than tripling mobile data consumption in the past year while maintaining their stronghold as the leading message senders. Using recent data from monthly cell phone bills of 65,000+ mobile subscribers who volunteered to participate in the research, Nielsen analyzed mobile usage trends among teens in the United States. In the third quarter of 2011, teens age 13-17 used an average of 320 MB of data per month on their phones, increasing 256 percent over last year and growing at a rate faster than any other age group.  Much of this activity is driven by teen males, who took in 382 MB per month while females used 266 MB.

Messaging remains the centerpiece of mobile teen behavior.  The number of messages exchanged monthly (SMS and MMS) hit 3,417 per teen in Q3 2011, averaging seven messages per waking hour.  Teen females are holding the messaging front, sending and receiving 3,952 messages per month versus 2,815 from males.  Aside from messaging, data heavy activities such as mobile internet, social networking, email, app downloads, and app usage are the most popular mobile activities.

Teens are not focused on making calls via their mobile phones. Voice usage has declined the most among this group, from an average of 685 minutes to 572 minutes. When surveyed, the top three reasons teens said that they prefer messaging to calling was because it is faster (22 percent), easier (21 percent), and more fun (18 percent).

AuthorDeborah Rand | Comments Off | | | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
Dec182011
DateSunday, December 18, 2011 at 11:25AM

FCC Releases Latest Telephone Subscribership Report

Source: FCC Release

The Federal Communications Commission released its report on telephone subscribership in the United States, based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the Census Bureau. Updated subscribership statistics for the November 2010, March 2011, and July 2011 CPS data releases are included in this report. Based on the most recent July 2011 data, the FCC estimates that 95.6% of all households in the United States had telephone service. In addition, the report presents subscribership estimates by state, income levels, race, age, household size, and employment status.

Statistical Findings in the July 2011 report:

  • The telephone subscribership penetration rate in the U.S. was 95.6%, a decrease of 0.4% over the rate from July 2010. This decrease is not considered statistically significant.
  • The telephone penetration rate for households in income categories below $20,000 was at or below 94.7%, while the rate for households in income categories over $75,000 was at least 98.9%.
  • Among the states, the penetration rates ranged from a low of 91.4% to a high of 98.5%.
  • Penetration rates ranged from 93.8% for households headed by a person under 25 to at least 95.9% for households headed by a person over 55.
  • Households with one person had a penetration rate of 93.5%, compared to a rate of 96.5% for households with four or five persons.
  • The penetration rate for unemployed adults was 95.1%, while the rate for employed adults was 96.7%.
AuthorDeborah Rand | Comments Off | | | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
Dec182011
DateSunday, December 18, 2011 at 8:49AM

6 Million US Households Now Using Wireless Only Broadband Service

Source: Strategy Analytics Press Release

By the end of 2011, 6.05 million US households will depend on a wireless or mobile platform (including 3G or 4G) as their only means of accessing the internet, according to research just published by the Strategy Analytics Service Provider Strategies program. This represents 6.9% of total US broadband connections—and a 430,000 net increase over 2010 levels. These “Mobile-Only” customers typically connect to broadband using 3G or 4G-enabled smartphones or PC dongles, and are unable or unwilling to use a wired broadband service such as cable, DSL or fiber.

Over 50 percent of US household broadband connections today are via Cable Modem, and this share is expected to increase slightly over the next five years, according to Strategy Analytics. However, the decline of Telco-provided Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) subscriptions is gradually giving way to Fiber and Mobile-Only connections.

While mobile network capacity and traffic are poised to explode in the near future, Strategy Analytics does not anticipate 4G taking over as a primary access medium in the home.

AuthorDeborah Rand | Comments Off | | | Print ArticlePrint Article
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Sunday
Dec112011
DateSunday, December 11, 2011 at 9:21AM

NTCA and OPASTCO Announce Joint Rural Industry Meeting

Source: NTCA Blog

Shirley Bloomfield announced on her blog the following statement: "...John Rose from OPASTCO and I announced to our memberships that we are going to jointly put together the first Rural Telecom Industry Meeting and Expo in lieu of our traditional respective annual meetings in 2013.  NTCA and OPASTCO have had some wonderful collaboration on some key initiatives over the years – certainly working together on the policy front as well as our work on IP Possibilities – that it seemed that it would be worthwhile to host a singular event representing the entire rural telecom sector. 

While we are at the early planning stages, it will give us a terrific opportunity for collaboration and program development that will be compelling to both of our organization’s membership.  As everyone is doing these days, we are seeking ways to create increased synergies for the rural telecom industry and elevate our impact and effectiveness.  John and I will continue to keep you informed about our progress in developing this event but are excited about the energy that can be created at this meeting with our dynamic partnership!"

AuthorDeborah Rand | CommentPost a Comment | | | Print ArticlePrint Article
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