The Mobile Entertainment Forum and Ovum guide to smart enablers
The basic concept of a smart enabler involves a service provider, network operator, or other player leveraging core assets and offering them to third parties to enhance their D2C services. Interest in smart enablers is growing and the proposition becoming better understood. But there is still uncertainty over what the future holds for smart enablers and where the key opportunities lie. In this collaborative report, created jointly with the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), we aim to answer these questions. Successful service enablers already exist, including bulk SMS, premium billing capability, short-code number rental, and location lookups. A recent MEF member survey reveals an optimistic outlook among respondents that believe smart enablers could have a positive impact on their revenues. But this doesn’t mean the industry can rest on its laurels: there is still work to be done, notably in defining a collaborative framework that reduces the danger of fragmentation across the smart enabler’s value chain.
Executive summary
In a nutshell
Overview
About this guide
The smart enabler ecosystem
The proposition: enhanced service value and revenue opportunities
The smart enabler framework
Operators are viewed as strong partners, but they are not the only ones
Smart enabler benefits and opportunities
A growing range of increasingly sophisticated enablers on offer
Potential revenue benefits for all
Smart enabler services facilitate innovation and differentiation
An improved user experience
The application store opportunity
Application stores are a logical part of the smart enabler framework
Smart enabler challenges and how to address them
Do not underestimate what is involved
Smart enabler action points
The smart enabler value chain could turn into a battleground
Smart enabler action points
Fragmentation
Smart enabler action points
A key role for network aggregators
Inconsistent commercial models
Smart enabler action points
Best-in-class developer programs needed
Smart enabler action points
Smart enablers in action: MEF member case studies
About the case studies
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Catering to complex, diverse customer needs
Location services
Quality of service
Setting cost expectations
IMImobile
Opportunities and challenges: why enablers are important
Quick, simple, and easy to use
Increased revenues – intelligent billing system
Subscription management to social networking – next-generation service enablers
The evolution of enablers
mBlox
Sender-pays data: what is it?
Why is it important? Opportunities and challenges
Why are enablers important for mBlox?
How do we see enablers advancing in the mobile industry?
OpenMarket
Mobile crediting
The evolution of mobile crediting
Mobile crediting opportunities
Why is the mobile crediting enabler important?
The future
Telefonica O2 UK
What are the opportunities and challenges?
Why are enablers important?
Why are enablers important for you as a company?
How do you see this space working in a few years’ time?
Vodafone
Creating the next wave of mobile Internet services
Appendix
Acknowledgements
In a nutshell
Overview
About this guide
The smart enabler ecosystem
The proposition: enhanced service value and revenue opportunities
The smart enabler framework
Operators are viewed as strong partners, but they are not the only ones
Smart enabler benefits and opportunities
A growing range of increasingly sophisticated enablers on offer
Potential revenue benefits for all
Smart enabler services facilitate innovation and differentiation
An improved user experience
The application store opportunity
Application stores are a logical part of the smart enabler framework
Smart enabler challenges and how to address them
Do not underestimate what is involved
Smart enabler action points
The smart enabler value chain could turn into a battleground
Smart enabler action points
Fragmentation
Smart enabler action points
A key role for network aggregators
Inconsistent commercial models
Smart enabler action points
Best-in-class developer programs needed
Smart enabler action points
Smart enablers in action: MEF member case studies
About the case studies
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Catering to complex, diverse customer needs
Location services
Quality of service
Setting cost expectations
IMImobile
Opportunities and challenges: why enablers are important
Quick, simple, and easy to use
Increased revenues – intelligent billing system
Subscription management to social networking – next-generation service enablers
The evolution of enablers
mBlox
Sender-pays data: what is it?
Why is it important? Opportunities and challenges
Why are enablers important for mBlox?
How do we see enablers advancing in the mobile industry?
OpenMarket
Mobile crediting
The evolution of mobile crediting
Mobile crediting opportunities
Why is the mobile crediting enabler important?
The future
Telefonica O2 UK
What are the opportunities and challenges?
Why are enablers important?
Why are enablers important for you as a company?
How do you see this space working in a few years’ time?
Vodafone
Creating the next wave of mobile Internet services
Appendix
Acknowledgements
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: The smart enabler service spectrum
Table 1: The smart enabler service spectrum
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: A wide spectrum of smart service enablers
Figure 2: Who is your preferred partner for service delivery?
Figure 3: Top five smart enablers
Figure 4: Figure 4 How will the adoption of smart enablers affect your revenues? (Aggregate view)
Figure 5: Revenue expectations by different players, 1–25% bracket
Figure 6: Sample application stores
Figure 7: What do you think are the key requirements for a smart enabler?
Figure 1: A wide spectrum of smart service enablers
Figure 2: Who is your preferred partner for service delivery?
Figure 3: Top five smart enablers
Figure 4: Figure 4 How will the adoption of smart enablers affect your revenues? (Aggregate view)
Figure 5: Revenue expectations by different players, 1–25% bracket
Figure 6: Sample application stores
Figure 7: What do you think are the key requirements for a smart enabler?