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Personalized mobile services are potentially a new revenue stream for carriers, according to a new ABI Research study. In 2008, service customization returned only about $806 million to operators, but by the end of 2011 it will deliver about $2.9 billion in annual operators revenue. Moreover, ABI argues this market will continue to grow strongly in the following years.
These services are made possible by the technical evolution of real-time charging and subscriber profiling tools, but the business case is made by operator and customer demand.
One of the first areas of personalization is real-time charging for mobile content and Internet services. Previously it was difficult for carriers to charge customers for these services, as most users worldwide pre-pay for their service. However, with an increasing introduction of real-time charging capabilities, customers can do it by topping up their prepaid accounts or using a credit card.
ABI’s senior analyst Mark Beccue argues that in order to keep growing, operators must find ways to increase the ARPU of their subscribers they have. He said that prepaid customers are the low-hanging fruit, adding, “they want to buy multimedia content just as much as post-paid subscribers. It’s a huge opportunity.”
Then there’s the so called “metered broadband,” the service which allows carriers to sell Internet access on an ad hoc basis, or to extend in real-time the access bundled in a subscriber’s plan.
Other personalized services include customized Web browsing, parental controls, and SMS control services… More information about ABI Research’s report titled “Service Personalization” is available from their website.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
