1. Be the Content Provider: 3 More Ways to Boost Mobile Internet Revenue
Posted by Brian Walsh on Oct 8, 2010 11:42:18 AM
In my last entry, I shared with you some ways that mobile operators can generate more revenue
by partnering with content providers. Today, I’ll touch on some ways that operators can build their own
value added services, including:
Rich Communications Suite (RCS) Services – Rich Communication Suite (RCS) is an industry effort
supported by operators and vendors to develop a common set of “beyond-SMS-and-voice” features that
are universally available to any mobile user and work seamlessly across mobile operators. Operators can
build a “Friends and Family” service that incorporates a user’s address book with location information and
supports chat sessions, video sharing and other services. “There’s nothing preventing video chat from
being an operator-run service,” Kevin Fitchard points out in a recent Connected Planet posting. “They
could feasibly offer a much better video calling service than Apple or Fring, and they have much more
flexibility in monetizing it.”
Social Networking Services – Mobile operators can offer on-net social networking applications that
create opportunities for subscriber community engagement and have a unique appeal over existing social
networking sites. One example is South Korea Telecom’s Cyworld, a virtual world social media site.
User Generated Content (UGC) – okay, not a new concept, but the UGC-based service deserves a
comeback. Operators can offer subscribers an on-net UGC application to share videos and other
multimedia content recorded with the ubiquitous cameras and camcorders on their smartphones. To
increase stickiness and subscriber participation, operators could pay users when their video clips are
viewed by others.
For some more details on these and other service ideas, take a look at the list of monetization
opportunities we’ve posted on cisco.com
Tags: mobile_internet, monetization, mobile_operators, mobile_applications