Second, all-access passes to mobile game libraries present an attractive value-added service (VAS) for gamers; Deutsche Telekom, Verizon and SK Telecom offer premium subscription-based packages (versus a one-time payment) that grant users access to a large collection of premium games. 

Heikki Makijarvi, senior VP of group business development and venturing at Deutsche Telekom, recently commented on the merits of Exent’s GameTanium mobile service on the eve of its launch in Poland. “Subscription is the preferred consumption model for entertainment services, and we are working diligently to partner with leading players to bring the best of these types of offerings to our customers.”

Single-use performance boosts could be delivered on-demand for both nomadic and stationary users. While this requires real-time charging, advanced policy control, and dynamic network resource management, it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.

Microsoft is likely to leverage Skype for in-game communication, but there is no reason why, say, Orange couldn’t do something similar. In January, Orange became a minority investor in G-Cluster, a Japanese gaming company, and Orange already hosts a popular gaming service.

Virtual advantages in the gaming world, like more advanced characters and better machinery, are worth big bucks in the real world. If you want to start World of Warcraft with a level-90 character, you can do so…for just $60. If you want to own a massive starship in an online universe, you might have to shell out significantly more, like $8,000. CSPs aren’t going to profit from building virtual warriors and tanks, but they can get in the food chain as payment processors. T-Mobile is already doing this in Europe. T-Mobile customers in Germany can pay charge their monthly World of Warcraft fees to their phone bill. Nothing like this exists on the U.S. payment portal.

Advertisers lick their chops when they consider the amount of time people spend engaged in video game content. On the other hand, gamers are easily disturbed by anything that disrupts their seamless engagement with their virtual world of choice. “One way of making it more attractive is by making the ads more personalized and relevant to the consumer,” writes Ericsson Consumer Labs. There is a possibility to develop in-app ads that are a part of the virtual world, a hybrid reality, if you will. Additionally, if a CSP were to partner up for an in-game advertising relationship, both it and the game’s developer would stand to benefit from a better and more personalized experience.

Posting high scores

Some service providers are spending big to post high scores. Softbank recently invested $1 billion in mobile game developer Supercell, for example. (Supercell reportedly made $2.4 million per day off just two games last year.) This strategy may not be in the cards for every CSP, but every CSP should be making maneuvers to capture gaming revenue. Whether used for performance-based premium packages or to simplify login and payment, the value of the network is inarguable. Further, as games move the cloud—which is not only likely, but inevitable—the capabilities of the network will only become more important. In an era where traditional revenue is declining precipitously, CSPs must ditch the stigma of gaming as it once was, and approach it as a rich revenue stream, because it is the most valuable content on the planet.