Social networks most visited sites on mobile Web: Study

By Giselle Tsirulnik

October 12, 2009

Social networking on mobile

A study by Openwave found that four of the top 10 domains accessed on a mobile device are social networking sites.

This finding presents an opportunity for the wireless carrier to add value to a very popular part of the user experience. Options can include partnering with social networking sites through cobranding efforts, such as marketing and advertising.

“One of the key findings of this report was that bandit devices – a category of unknown devices – are driving even more data usage than smartphones,” said Mayur Pitamber, product management strategist at Openwave, Redwood City, CA.

Openwave offers companies tools to mobilize the Internet. Its Fall 2009 report highlighting key mobile Internet usage trends in North America are a result of Openwave Mobile Analytics, which collects and interprets traffic and subscriber behavior data from a tier-one wireless carrier over a five-day period. 

The study found that users of smartphone devices such as the Palm D062 and Samsung-PHTM800 are consuming at least three to four times more data volume compared to other, less sophisticated smartphones such as Palm D060 and feature phones.

Facebook Mobile

The device-based report also uncovered a category of unknown devices classified as bandit devices that are generating between 1.25 and 1.5 times more traffic than smartphones and nearly 5.5 times more traffic than feature phones.

Bandit devices may be unlocked devices such as iPhones, USB modems or net books from other networks.

As per Mr. Pitamber, the study's findings could suggest that bandit devices are being used on the wireless carrier's network.

MySpace Mobile homepage

Bandit devices could impact network performance in terms of congestion and latency problems that could have associated financial implications to carriers through increased CAPEX costs due.

“Remedies to the bandit device situation could include carrier offerings for exclusive content and device bundles with advanced personalization and service discovery features that encourage unknown device users to upgrade their device,” Mr. Pitamber said.

"The operator could also enforce new pricing policies for bandit devices that exceed their monthly data limits and persuade subscribers to upgrade to higher usage plans," he said.

Comments on "Social networks most visited sites on mobile Web: Study"

1. howie goldfarb says:

   October 12, 2009 at 9:50pm

   This article proves social networks are enabling technologies that should charge consumers to use vs ad supported business models. People using social networks on mobile devices do not want ads! It is like intruding on cell phone voice conversations. These networks need to view their technology as a product to be sold. That has made Apple such a success! Apple did not invent the I Phone to sell Ads. They invented it to sell Apps and the Phone!