We estimate that a mobile network operator (MNO) with a 35% share of subscribers in a developed market that halts investment in its MCA proposition will lose 4 percentage points of its market share during the next five years.
The total negative impact on revenue of halting investment in mobile content and applications (MCA) will be in excess of nine times the loss of direct MCA revenue, because of the indirect revenue effects of losing market share and corresponding voice, SMS and other data revenue. From this, it is clear that investing to maintain a competitive MCA portfolio is significantly more important to MNOs than direct revenue suggests.
MNOs do have opportunities to develop MCA propositions that act as long-term competitive differentiators. These primarily relate to multi-platform plays that either take the differentiating qualities of exclusive content in a fixed environment and apply them to a mobile environment, or that include the synchronisation and management of content and information across both fixed and mobile environments. MNOs that are able to develop such long-term differentiating MCA services can expect to enjoy substantial indirect revenue benefits.
Most analyses of the market for mobile content focus on direct revenue. This report investigates what MCA can do for an operator's bottom line.
Value-added strategy is vital for mobile operator success answers your key questions:
- Why invest in an MCA proposition?
- What will be the consequences of not investing in MCA?
- How can operators differentiate their offerings in the MCA market?
- How can MCA impact subscriber churn levels?
- What are the merits of alternative MCA strategies?