Syniverse Details the Needs of 'Transient Roamers'

Syniverse is a company that is well versed in all things Internet connectivity. The company recently released a study that showed just how many people can now be considered “transient mobile roamers.” What this term means is that there are now more people than ever who are looking to hook up to one network or another, located outside their home or usual base of operations.

Those looking to hook up to these networks will go to great lengths to do so, even if it means paying extra for services. Those who are looking for alternatives to mobile roaming are spending a pretty penny indeed. Syniverse says transient mobile roamers made up as much as $17 billion in revenue in 2012 alone.

The spending includes buying sim cards when they arrive at their destination, as well as paying for Wi-Fi services inside a hotel or at the airport.

When breaking down the numbers, Syniverse found that most roamers spent the most money when it came to hotel networks. People spent as much as $8.7 billion for their connectivity at these locations. Second highest on the list was paying for Wi-Fi in other locations.

That number totaled $3.9 billion.

The purchase of sim cards accounted for about $4.8 billion when factoring in the use of data and voice services. While impressive but not really in the same neighborhood of the other services was in-flight Wi-Fi, which brought in about $225 million in 2012.

Syniverse has managed to render a line of products that could actually come to the rescue of people who are finding they have to spend a lot of money out of pocket to get online. 

“By combining our Real-Time Intelligence and Wi-Fi interoperability solutions, mobile service providers of all types are able to seize the opportunity presented by ‘transient roamers’ while delivering the superior experiences these end users expect,” president and CEO at Syniverse, Jeff Gordon, said in a recent statement. “With billions of dollars at stake, achieving seamless, individually tailored end-user experiences are vital to long-term success.”