AUSTRIA — DIMOCO and Juniper Research have released a report on Poland’s mobile digital content purchases — the first in a series that will analyze European markets.
The companies said that although only 17.7 percent of Poland’s users over 15 years old own a credit card, statistically everyone has a cell phone. The SIM card penetration is currently 144 percent and by the year 2017, the report predicts more than €5 billion (about $7 billion) worth of digital content will be billed via cell phone. The overall digital content market is expected to increase to a value of €29 billion.
“Together with Juniper Research we will analyze the top European mobile payment markets,” DIMOCO CEO Gerald Tauchner said.
He added, “With a credit card penetration rate of 17.7 percent, the question arises how digital content can be billed. This is exactly where mobile operator payment comes in. Besides advantages like a higher conversion rate, the broad cell phone reach makes billing via mobile operator payment so interesting for companies in the digital content industry.”
Juniper research director Windsor Holden noted that the figures show that Poland is one of the most important European mobile operator payment markets. In the third quarter of 2013, 55.2 million active SIM cards were registered in Poland. This corresponds to a SIM card penetration rate of 144 percent. “The fact that Poland has a majority of prepaid users — 29.8 million compared to 25.4 million postpaid — demonstrates that operators need to develop strategies designed to focus on and monetize this segment,” Holden said.
He also noted that the Polish mobile market is split among four mobile network operators: Orange (27.3 percent, Q3/2013), T-Mobile (28.2 percent, Q3/2013), Plus/Polkomtel (26.1 percent, Q3/2014) and P4/Play (18.4 percent, Q3/2014).
Accoding to the research, mobile operator payment allows digital content to be ordered from every mobile device in Poland. The payment flows are adapted according to each device. For example, a consumer could download an e-magazine to his/her smartphone, order the digital content on the mobile website and pay via one-click-payment — without needing to use a password.
