AMTA Snapshot Edition 36

AMTA appears before Coalition communications committee AMTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Chris Althaus, presented to the Coalition’s Backbench Communications Committee this week at Parliament House in Canberra. He took the opportunity to update the Committee on some key issues for the mobile telecommunications industry.

Six million mobile phone shipments to September According to AMTA’s industry aggregate monthly shipping figures, there were 816,980 shipments of mobile phones to Australia in September 2006. The latest industry figures show that the total shipments for the year to September were 6,202,063. The cumulative figure for the nine months to September 2006 is 12.3% higher than for the same period in 2005. In 2005, there were 8 million shipments of mobile phones to Australia.

IMEI blocking sends clear message to thieves The mobile phone industry’s Mind Your Mobile program is having a marked impact in reducing mobile phone theft in Australia. There has been a clear downward trend each month in the average number blocked by anti-theft technology across networks, AMTA Lost and Stolen Committee member Glenn Brown said. He said a comparison of the first quarter International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) blocking activity for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 shows a substantial fall in the net blocking activity.

GSMA World Congress Asia ‘06 Adopting the central theme “Risk and Reward”, the GSM Association’s World Congress Asia ’06 in Singapore will next week cover the latest industry trends, such as HSDPA, mobile television and the booming market in India, while offering fresh angles on longer-standing topics, such as the role of China and mobile virtual network operators. Featuring the CEOs of many of Asia's leading mobile operators, the event will showcase the very best of the Asian market in a global context.

AMTA’s Member Forum in Melbourne AMTA’s Member Forum in Melbourne on October 26 will give a special insight into consumer wants. “Know which way the wind blows” will be presented by Mahssa Hosseini, Strategic Marketing Manager, Ericsson Australia. She will give insights into consumer decision making based on the findings of research from 25 countries as part of Ericsson’s ConsumerLab study.

MobileMuster Update From late October 141 Fone Zone stores Australia wide will join the industry’s official mobile phone recycling program to help boost recycling levels and increase community awareness of mobile phone recycling. This takes the number of MobileMuster drop off points to almost 1400 nationwide, continuing to make recycling simple, free and easy for consumers.

Survey finds demand for 3G mapping services 3G.co.uk reports that after years of eagerly anticipating video would be the "killer application" for 3G, a new survey from In-Stat finds that existing and potential 3G customers are much more interested in high-quality mapping and navigation services. However, 3G carriers that want to capture that market will have to expand the availability of compatible handsets.

Mobiles mean fewer travellers use hotel phones For hotels, a once-lucrative profit centre is disappearing. Joe McInerney, president of the American Hotel & Lodging Association, says phone charges were "a huge moneymaker," but now "everybody has a cellphone attached to their ears," and hotels "make almost zero." Internet access charges don't generate much revenue, he says, because service providers must be paid. "If they make $1 on a guest, they're lucky."