OPENWAVE HOSTS CMO ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS AT MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS 2011
Openwave and Telco 2.0 Build Early Telco Consensus Around New Business Models for Mobile Broadband in a Metered World
BARCELONA, SPAIN, February 16, 2011 – Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions hosted two roundtable discussions on February 15 and 16 at Mobile World Congress. Senior marketing executives from leading operators across the world agreed that the broadband mobile opportunity is a “given”, but that adoption challenges varied by region. The consensus was also that voice and messaging revenues will undergo sustained decline and that this would lead to tariff rebalancing.
The senior executives took part in extensive, often lively discussions, facilitated by the Telco2.0 team, hosted and sponsored by Openwave at MWC 2011. Industry-wide collaboration was seen as key to filling this “white space” although attendees differed in their opinions over what shape this should take. Leading European operators shared the view that the industry’s historic experience in interoperability offered a model for and potential promise in rich communication suite (RCS) and the Wholesale Application Community (WAC). However, in a separate discussion, attendees from other regions were supportive yet skeptical of approaches “designed by committee.” All operators saw a role for operators in bringing local applications and content to their customers.
One attendee summarised the prevalent concerns voiced at the meeting in saying “We cannot and should not try to compete directly with the big Internet players, but there are white spaces that we should seek to fill.” Operators could seek to be “supermarkets” using their assets as core enablers and providing customers with the “proper infrastructure to exchange their information.” The difficulty for telcos is in matching the internet speed of product development. One leading strategy officer summed up the problem as “death by RFP.”
CMO Surveys Emphasises Need for New Sources of Revenues
The discussions included a review of earlier research conducted by Telco2.0 with the same group. This revealed that the most critical strategic priorities for the industry over the next three years were:
· Replacing declining voice and messaging revenues with new services and;
· Reducing churn by building closer customer relationships based on better experience, rewarding loyalty and creating new value (e.g. payments, identity, security).
About Telco2.0
Established in 2005 by analyst firm STL Partners, the Telco 2.0 Initiative (www.telco2research.com) researches and promotes new business models at the intersection of the telecoms, media and technology sectors. As well as its widely read blog (www.telco2.net/blog) the Telco 2.0 Initiative runs premium strategy events around the globe for senior executives (www.telco2.net/event) and undertakes consulting assignments on growth strategies for many of leading players in the market looking to think ‘outside the box’ about how to thrive in a fast evolving marketplace. Contact: Philip.Laidler@stlpartners.com.
About Openwave Systems
Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV) is a global software innovator delivering highly scalable platform solutions that enable operators to monetise the growing demand for mobile data while optimising their use of network resources. Building on its mobile data heritage, Openwave helps its customers adapt their infrastructure to the fast pace of web services so they can continue to add value to the end-user experience through contextually relevant content and services. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley, California.
Sarah Gregory
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Bite Communications
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