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can eat” variety, there is a generally diminishing ROI as end uses consume more without picking up the tab for the increased use. Downey sees potential for a great deal more through “innovation around business models, greater use of latent assets and the power of tight partnerships with third-parties. These elements have the power to transform operators’ businesses because the know-how is hard to commoditize.”
“Telecom companies of all stripes have always been in the business of facilitating communications,” said Lenahan. “As communications change, they need to change with it. The demands of a web plan are very different from the demands of a nineteenth-century voice environment. It’s not at all unrealistic to say you move your core competencies of authentication and authorization and billing and call session control into the new world.”
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The area of real-time, targeted advertising is raising privacy concerns among many end-users. |
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Mayer agrees, citing a specific example of a project Alcatel-Lucent is working on in Spain with Telefonica “to enable TV viewers to use their remote controls to access interactive content linked to a specific consumer brand product.” This, in theory, makes the TV viewing experience more compelling for end users and far more precise and targeted for advertisers.
Over-caution is a problem for CSPs, however. Lenahan mentions that in the realm of advertising, many CSPs are just “taking the direct-mail model that the third screen media and other over-the-top players are using and maybe adding some location information. There’s so much more that they could offer, as advertising is very contextual, and CSPs can and should move away from the
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However, that new world is not without new demands. “We need a smart pipe instead of a dumb pipe,” said Lenahan.
Limitations:
However, in an era in which the world is changing for CSPs, they must be vigilant in retaining customer trust while also seeking new revenue. The area of real-time, targeted advertising is raising privacy concerns among many end-users, and it is and should be incumbent upon carriers to provide safeguards against the misuse of private information gleaned from network activity.
“Right now, telcos have the public’s trust,” said Downey, “and that is because they have earned it by not violating subscribers’ privacy or exploiting this information.” Therefore, Downey surmises, the responsibility is theirs to preserve that trust if they want to preserve their level of access.
This will continue to be a growing concern. “Offering paying subscribers the opportunity to opt out is key in protecting subscriber privacy,” said Prudhomme, “but subscriber incentives like free-content can help drive acceptance of ad-supported business models.”
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nineteenth century model of advertising.” It’s not enough to “put a banner on a printing press, cut it in four and send it out” said Lenahan, and CSPs should begin to use readily available information for the benefit of the end consumer and the potential advertiser. A US mobile customer lands in Paris and turns on their mobile. CSPs know that the consumer is roaming internationally. Perhaps that end user needs goods and services that could be offered by advertisers. A smart CSP could capitalize upon that without ever sharing private information with an external party.
Possibilities:
Ultimately, CSPs are in a place in which overall revenue may fall, but smart, innovative providers can survive and thrive. There are shifting models taking shape as we speak all over the globe. However, with so much information being sought by so many people, worldwide, there is ample money to be made. That may require some creativity and some vision, but if CSPs can’t be counted on to provide such vision, they don’t stand much of a chance against over-the-top providers for whom innovation Is paramount.
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