The Phone-paid Services Authority, the organisation which regulates premium rate services, and Ofcom have announced today that regulatory responsibility will transfer to Ofcom in late 2023, subject to further DCMS approval. From that point, the PSA would cease to operate as an independent body.
This proposed transfer of regulatory responsibilities has been approved by the Ofcom board.
For full details of the story please visit the PSA website: The Future of Phonepaid services
More than £6.8m has been raised by the UK public via text-to-donate so far, to support the aid effort in Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.
Since the beginning of March text-to-donate has been promoted across the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky, Radiocentre, BT Sport and Co-op to name a few.
Concert for Ukraine, which took place in the UK on 29 March, raised more than £4.9m in mobile donations, helping contribute to the £13.4m raised on the night of the Appeal.
The two-hour show brought together names from the world of music for a unique event spreading a message of hope and support, and most importantly, raising funds for the ongoing DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The live show was broadcast across ITV, STV, ITV Hub and STV Player.
The show promoted text-to-donate, allowing donors to donate via text at one of four price points: £10, £20, £30 and £40. Donations were charged to a donor’s mobile phone bill.
Rob Weisz, CEO of Fonix, said: “We are so very proud to be able to work with the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to help the humanitarian effort to support those affected by the crisis in Ukraine.”
Simon Beresford, Director of Fundraising and Marketing of DEC, added: “We’re thankful to Fonix for enabling mobile donations so quickly and to the generous UK public whose donations will go on to make such a difference. As humanitarian needs continue to grow, the money raised will help to provide vital support to families caught up in this devastating conflict.”
As a leading mobile compliance and fraud specialist company, MCP Insight continually tests and validates potential issues coming from websites or malicious applications.
MCP have put together their document ‘MCP Mobile Malware Update‘ to reflect on a recent discovery of a malicious application called “Blood Pressure Tracker App”.
MCP understands the brand damage such fraud does to the mobile payments Industry and we will work with partners to ensure that fraud and the malicious operators perpetrating
fraud, are shut down. MCP work helps mitigate the impact of malicious activity, whilst also showing the importance of anti-fraud solutions and the role they play protecting business and consumers alike.
The aim of the event was to provide an introduction to Charge to Bill, as an additional payment method for the transport and parking sector. The event demonstrated how – by giving a wider choice of payment options to their customers – the transport sector could reach those that may not wish to or are able to buy transport tickets the traditional ways.
Naomi Hone, Charge to Bill Manager at EE/BT said: ‘there are 72 million mobile phones in the UK, and carrier billing is already automatically enabled on most of them. This essentially means that the majority of people are walking around with a ticketing vending machine in their pocket!’
With speakers from aimm, EE, Kaleyra and Plusdial, as well as a panel featuring Fonix and DMB, answering questions from the audience, it was a great opportunity to start the conversation around the opportunities that mobile billing can provide the transport industry.
The European digital content industry reached last year almost €45.3B in terms of revenues and will reach €114,6B in five years (x3). These data result from an analysis carried out by Telecoming, a company specializing in monetization technology (Adtech and Direct Carrier Billing) since 2008. The firm has studied the evolution of digital content consumption in Europe.
Last year, 498M Europeans accessed digital content and spent on average €15 per month. 52% of total revenue came from video, games (34%) and music (14%). The study concludes that the consumption trend will go up. In 2026 a total of 606M users will consume digital content and increase their monthly spending to €30.5 per month. The video games sector, perhaps driven by the metaverse, will be the sector that will experience the highest growth. In five years, it will account for 47% of the total income of the digital content industry, above video (42%) and music services (12%).
Roberto Monge, Chief Operations Officer at Telecoming, stated, “the European digital content industry is very dynamic, and the average spending will continue growing. The subscription model will predominate because it meets users’ expectations. The UK and Germany are the leading digital entertainment markets, with great growth potential.”
The UK, the leading video consumer
In 2021, the UK was the country that consumed the most digital video services (44% of the population). In 2026 it will also be the top country, with 59% (41,3M users) of the active population appreciating this type of content. The UK has the most profitable digital video services market: €4,2B in 2021 and €5,7B in 2026 (62% will come through subscriptions). At some distance, Germany will follow with a volume of €5B in the coming five years. It is estimated that the entire European market will reach €30.6B in that period.
Video games will register the highest growth
According to Telecoming’s research, 62% of Europeans will enjoy mobile games in 2026 (+9 points vs 2021). Germany led the ranking with 49.8M users last year, followed by the UK (44.8M). Both countries will add followers in the coming years (+14 M in Germany and +11.4 in the UK). European mobile gamers played almost 2B games in 2021.
The evolution of the mobile gaming market will be an unprecedented growth. €15,6B generated in 2021 will become €68,6B in 2026. This growth will go hand in hand with the consolidation of the metaverse, the next big thing where the leading technology industry players are already investing.
9 out of 10 Europeans pay for digital music services. However, the UK is the largest market (€16B in 2026). 18% of Britons accessed a digital music service in 2021. This percentage will increase to 22% in 2026. 97% of these will also subscribe to a digital music service and pay €10.8 per subscription (average). This is also a general trend in Europe. In 2026, 98% of users will subscribe to at least one music service.
Telecoming is an international company specialized in digital services monetization technologies. It deploys solutions aimed at improving mobile payment processes and advertising technology. A scalable, flexible, and secure platform seamlessly integrates revenue generation tools for companies operating in the digital environment. Leader on the economics of digital content since 2008, Telecoming currently operates in 21 countries.
