Mobile ticketing to explode by 2014, says report
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Tickets on mobile phones for rail, air and bus travel are set to explode over the next three years, according to a leading IT analyst.
Juniper Research predicts that by 2014, 15 billion tickets will be delivered via a mobile phone around the world. As well as transport tickets, this will also include cinema and sports tickets. Juniper predicts that around 2 billion mobile tickets will be issued this year.
The transportation sector leads mobile ticketing, particularly for airlines where "paperless boarding" using email or iPhone apps has experienced considerable growth in the past year. In December, US airline Continental became the first carrier to implement paperless boarding on a transatlantic flight from Frankfurt airport. Air Canada and American Airlines also offer apps with similar technology for North American flights, whilst Air France and KLM expanded its mobile boarding service to most European destinations last Autumn.
Juniper suggests that by 2014, Western Europe will have overtaken Asia as the most prolific user of mobile ticketing, although it believes that there is even more space for exploitation of the services to offer added convenience for consumers.
The integration of NFC "near field communication" devices (similar to technology currently used in public transport smartcards) to western mobile phones is expected to provide an additional boost to ticketing services.
"Although 15 billion sounds large, it is in fact it a small percentage of total tickets issued - there is plenty of scope for innovative solutions to penetrate this market," said report author Howard Wilcox. "Next steps will see more widespread purchasing on mobiles, as well as use of NFC tickets."
http://www.juniperresearch.com/
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments