 | Issue: | North America 2011 |
| Article no.: | 10 | |
| Topic: | The smart phone challenge – reconnecting with subscribers | |
| Author: | Eran Wyler | |
| Title: | CEO & Founder | |
| Organisation: | InfoGin | |
| PDF size: | 295KB |
About author
Eran Wyler is the CEO and Founder of InfoGin; he has over eighteen years of experience designing and developing state-of-the-art hardware and software solutions for leading Israeli high-tech companies. Prior to establishing InfoGin, Mr Wyler served as senior ASIC R&D Engineer for the network system division at ECI Telecom, where he was responsible for developing intelligent optical networking ASICs. Prior to ECI Telecom, Mr Wyler held senior R&D positions, including as head of R&D for Giga, a software and systems house, and at ORAD Hi Tec Systems. Mr Wyler served in the Israeli intelligence force in an elite R&D unit as a hardware and software developer. Eran Wyler is often called today to share his vision with analysts and leading industry policy makers.
Article abstract
Mobile communication has gained enormous acceptance, but problems still exist for users and operators alike. Function-rich smartphones let users go directly to Websites without passing through operators’ portals and this has reduced the operator’s opportunity to monetise data service, differentiate services and reduce churn. When operators resolve users’ quality, accessibility and ease of use issues everyone wins and operators can regenerate their revenues. By delivering branded content and value-added services, operators become more than empty pipes from which others profit.
Full Article
The smart phone challenge – reconnecting with subscribers by Eran Wyler CEO & Founder, InfoGin In recent years, mobile operators have found it challenging to protect their ‘walled gardens’ and keep users engaged with their service offerings and brands. The widespread adoption of function-rich smartphones lets users go directly to their preferred websites without passing through operators’ portals. This trend has caused a reduction in data service monetization and differentiation opportunities. As smartphones are the main traffic drivers, with more than 75 per cent of global data traffic, operators are now missing out on monetization opportunities for a large part of their throughput. With the constant introduction of new and more affordable smartphones, this percentage is likely to continue to grow. If operators are to stay relevant to the user experience, they will need to develop solutions that deliver significant added value to subscribers. Challenging environment for operators There are three main areas in which operators are suffering under current mobile market conditions. 1. Service monetization – The reduction in portal traffic results in fewer opportunities for the operator to monetize its data services. As profit margins for smartphone data services continue to decrease, the loss of portal-associated revenues compounds the problem. 2. Branding – When users browse directly to their preferred websites, the operator loses the branding opportunities previously available through portal pages and additional data services. This substantially weakens the operator’s brand awareness and is a contributor to overall churn. 3. Added value for subscribers – Without the ability to differentiate the operator’s service and provide true and unique value to subscribers, the operator loses service ‘stickiness’ and the ability to combat churn. Operator value-added content strategies As operators struggle in the face of these challenges, many have recognized the need to deliver something new – content that integrates well with a user’s browsing activity while connecting customers to the brand and driving revenues back to the operator. Content overlays enable operators to deliver a customized experience to users with quick and easy access to their favourite Web content, applications and services. At the same time, this approach provides operators with the means to boost revenues and reduce costs. It’s time for operators to put their own stamp on the smartphone browsing experience. With a second, transparent, layer on top of a device’s built-in browser, operators can control what, how and when content is displayed. This enables users to see the operator’s ‘floating’ layer on top of a browser session, providing a natural, seamless experience. Operator-controlled content Laying content over a device’s native browser gives the operator a new channel of interaction with subscribers, and the possibilities of that channel are vast. They include: • Premium content and services – This can include content and services traditionally offered by the operator’s portals, such as ring tones, true tones, fun tones and wallpapers.
