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.