eBay has predicted that mobile retail revenues will contribute £19bn to the UK economy by 2021 and made added calls for high speed mobile networks in the UK.
"Network coverage and reliability are massive frustrations for consumers. Our research shows that 16% of Brits are in an ‘m-commerce not-spot’, meaning mobile spending is lagging behind national levels,” he said. “In the current economic climate, that’s lost revenue that retailers can ill afford.”Citing eBay research, conducted by Verdict, the company’s UK retail director, Angus McCarey said m-commerce could near the £20bn mark in under ten years provided the correct network infrastructure is in place.
The online retail giant made the forecast after telecoms regulator Ofcom made a number proposals ahead of the planned 4G mobile spectrum auctions expected to take place in the second half of 2012.
The proposals include obligating one of the future 4G network licence holders to extend its network coverage to 98% of the UK population.
Separately, eBay has also predicted that its m-commerce revenues will hit $8bn (£5.2bn) this year after the retail giant’s mobile revenues hit $5bn (£3.3bn) in 2011.
EBay CEO John Donahoe made the forecast speaking earlier this week at an event affilitated to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where he also confirmed that its payments unit PayPal generated mobile revenues of $4bn (£2.6bn) last year. During his speech he also predicted that PayPal’s mobile revenue would also reach $7bn (£4.6bn) in 2012.
