Opera Expands Mobile Advertising Reach in Latin America:

Mobile advertising agency, Opera Mediaworks has announced an expansion of its presence in Latin America with the addition of a team spanning multiple countries to service the regional needs of advertisers and publishers.

The team now joining Opera Mediaworks has formerly operated independently as Hunt Mobile Ads.

The Opera Mediaworks LatAm team will span and service the continent with offices in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mexico City, Mexico; San Jose, Costa Rica; Bogotá, Colombia and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well as the U.S. Hispanic market through Miami, Florida, and will continue to leverage the Hunt Mobile Ads brand, because of its extensive recognition in the region.

"Latin America, from Mexico to Argentina, represents a market of over 600 million consumers that are rapidly adopting the mobile internet," says Mahi de Silva, CEO, Opera Mediaworks. "We are particularly excited about the hundreds of millions of global consumers, whose eyes will turn to the World Cup in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016 - both in Brazil. Opera Mediaworks aims to play an integral part in helping advertisers reach their audience and publishers make the most of their inventory in this region."

Apps, data changing mobile:

Mobile voice revenue is declining fast, while data use is surging, driven by instant messaging and apps, say new reports on the state of mobility in South Africa.

The findings of two reports -The Mobile Consumer in SA 2014 and The Mobile Internet in SA 2014, were presented at a media briefing in Johannesburg, South Africa, this morning. The studies, by World Wide Worx in partnership with FNB and Dashboard Research, found that 65% of South Africans – around 13 million people – now have internet access. Around 29% - 5.8 million of them - access the internet using mobile devices only, while 32% - or 6.4 million – access the internet using mobile devices and laptops or PCs, and 4% -  under one million - access the internet using only laptops or PCs.

Arthur Goldstuck, MD of World Wide Worx, said voice usage is declining steadily, particularly among younger cellphone users, while data spend is surging. In the biggest data user group – people aged 19 – 24, only 56% of mobile budget is spent on voice (down from 66% last year), while data spend has increased from 17% last year to 24% currently. Overall, voice spend has dropped from 73% of mobile budget to 65%, while data has increased from 12% to 16%. At the beginning of 2010, voice stood at 77% and data at 8%. All ages are moving to increase dat

Africa leads in mobile growth and impact:

Mobile telephony is an economic booster in Africa and would create 6.6 million jobs in the region by 2020, a new GSMA report reveals.

Released today, the report, “Sub-Saharan Africa Mobile Economy 2013” shows that mobile contributes over six per cent of the region’s GDP, higher than any other comparable region globally, and this would rise to over eight per cent by 2020.

Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer at GSMA, said despite the significant impact of the mobile industry in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, even greater opportunities are ahead.

According to the report, Sub-Saharan Africa’s unique mobile subscriber base has grown by 18 per cent annually over the last five years, making it the fastest growing region globally.

“Beyond further growth for voice services, the region is starting to see an explosion in the uptake of mobile data. However, a short-term focus by some countries on generating high spectrum fees and maximising tax revenue risks constraining the potential of the mobile Internet,” said Phillips.

"Last year, the mobile ecosystem directly supported 3.3 million jobs and contributed US $21 billion to public funding in the region, including licence fees. By 2020, mobile is set to double its economic effect, employing 6.6 million men and women in the region and contributing US $42 billion to public funding," reads the report in part.

Vodafone slashes 2G data prices by up to 80 percent:

In a Diwali bonanza to its customers,Vodafone, India Thursday said it has slashed data rates by up to 80 percent across the country, with effect from November 1.

In June, the company had reduced the price from 10 paisa per 10 KB to 2 paisa per 10 KB in Karnataka, UP West and Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh circles and it has now extended the same rates to all its circles from November 1.

"Post the successful pilot launch in three circles in mid-June, this attractive and lowest mobile Internet charge is now being rolled out pan India," the company said in a statement.

It added the rate would be applicable from November 1, 2013 for all pre-paid and post-paid customers on 2G on a 'Pay as you Go' basis.

The company said same rates will be charged even if the customer is in roaming.

"When a mobile Internet customer roams anywhere in India on Vodafone, he/she is charged like home rates for mobile Internet," it said.

Vodafone said the new Pay as you Go rates, which are the same for both 2G and 3G, are the lowest in market.

"This 80 percent reduction in mobile Internet charges for customers using 2G is an important step in our strategy to drive mobile Internet and we are confident that this move will facilitate in faster adoption and better usage," Vodafone India Chief Commercial Officer Vivek Mathur said.

As part of its strategy to "democratise" data, Vodafone is educating current and potential users about how Internet can add significant value to them.

The company is also building content partnerships, simplifying pricing, educating retailers and offering choice to customer on the basis their interests and consumption patterns, it said.