Mobile network operators will generate an additional $700m annually by 2020 from new universal log-in and mobile identity services - from a base of just $20m this year, according to Juniper Research.

New data from Juniper Research has revealed that global e-retail sales are expected to reach $1.7tr this year, up by more than 17 percent on 2014's total. It argued that while recent growth had been buoyed by factors such as public Wi-Fi deployments and 4G rollout, in the medium term sales would receive a strong fillip from the trend of social media companies to act as direct sales platforms.