article page |
1 |
2 |
3
However, the role of a service enabler could be an increasingly valuable—and lucrative—one, said Lancaster. “Enabling Services remain, in our view, the kind of thing that will enable CSPs to stay relevant (in fact, indispensible) if only they would focus some enthusiasm and attention.”
After all, the CSP has tighter control over and more direct access to the network than other entities can manage. “Enabling Services are tied tightly to the network and provide CSPs with an opportunity to differentiate themselves from other carriers,” said Lancaster. And there’s benefit for network users, as well, as allowing the CSPs to handle these services can “take away burdensome and 'unnatural' acts from users of the network and add real value to companies and consumers,” Lancaster said. Specific enabling services she mentions as being possible candidates for CSP enablement include Security, Authentication, Billing, Revenue Settlement, and Performance Management.
|
|
Enabling Services are tied tightly to the network and provide CSPs with an opportunity to differentiate themselves from other carriers. |
|
Controlling the Content
However, just as specializing in knowing the network and delivering external content can be a strong play for some CSPs, others realize the value in complete ownership of that content from top to bottom.
“For a service provider, they need to do everything themselves,” said Dan Baker, Technology Research Institute’s principal market synthesizer and co-founder. “I think that outsourcing is not really the name of the game. Every supplier out there is a conspiracy against you surviving.”
Focusing this idea specifically on the communications space, Baker used the example of Verizon diligently attempting to
|
|
|
|
|
Along similar lines, Ruzicka asserts that “network-based applications for businesses are the unexploited revenue opportunity”. As the network has become increasingly depended-upon by just about every major business out there, Ruzicka asserts that “it’s important to realize that there are applications that don’t work well across the internet and are best suited to running directly on the network,” pointing, like Lancaster, to security, and also noting collaboration, and machine-to-machine telemetry. “Machine-to-machine network and IT services are a specialized area of business services that CSPs can exploit if they sell it correctly,” said Ruzicka. “Most businesses admit that CSPs are the preferred partners for implementing the infrastructure for M2M applications and CSPs need to start focusing on that business.”
|
|
unseat cablecos with their FiOS service. “Meanwhile,” Baker said, “Comcast has NBC, they have ball teams, they have several content assets that they own.” In other words, Verizon is plugging away at getting a chance to deliver content only to have their competitor finding a way to own the very content they’re striving to deliver. “ If they really want to compete against those guys,” said Baker, “they need to diversify and become more than just a communications service provider.”
So, in addition to doubling-down on being a better service provider for external content, CSPs have the option of attempting to expand their reach into content creation, as well.
There are more options for expanded business models, as well.
|
|
