What if... mobile operators fail the content challenge?

How should operators and developers be offering content over mobile? Dale Vile hypothesises...

Every mobile operator has a forum or programme for wireless developers, the aim of which is to provide a framework within which good ideas and technologies can be nurtured and brought to market. After an enthusiastic start, however, many of these now have an air of frustration about them.

One of the problems: there is no longer a shortage of wireless technology as there was when most of the development firms started out. Think of a requirement and you can often find dozens of technology companies that can solve it.

Neither is there a shortage of ideas for wireless services. When a new company approaches us now with its story, it is not uncommon to be able to pull 10 or more similar stories from the briefing file. The wireless solutions space has thus become very crowded.

The other more fundamental problem is that the wireless data services market has still not yet materialised in the consumer space. A big contributing factor here is the mindset of development firms and the mobile operators. More specifically, the issue lies with them regarding what the operators are doing as the end rather than a means to the end.

Operators have traditionally defined the end as the provision of compelling data services that help them differentiate themselves and win customers from the competition. The first manifestation of this thinking was own branded portals such as Genie, Vizzavi, Orange Multimedia and so on. These failed to make a dent in the mainstream market as we know.

Some argue that this was because the necessary devices and network capabilities weren't ready when such services were launched. It is therefore tempting to think that everything will now be OK as decent multimedia phones are becoming available and the networks are now much more capable of delivering a good user experience. But the mindset has been as much of a problem as the limitations of the technology. This could easily result in just a souped-up version of the own branded services approach.

If we think about this in the broader context, operators who are taking this approach are asking consumers to think of them as providers of content, goods and services that people would naturally get elsewhere.

Take something simple like the news. The newspaper you read is very much a personality and lifestyle thing and people identify with specific brands - "I read the Sun", "I take the Telegraph" and so on. The same goes for magazines whether you are a Cosmo Girl, sensible Good Housekeeping reader, GQ Lad or Economist Intellectual.

Some might be offended by the stereotypes implied here but it's these kinds of lifestyle and brand value associations that sell stuff. Consequently, the big corporates spend huge sums in creating and reinforcing brand association through every kind of medium.

Operator branded alternatives are always going to look a bit lame against this background. It's difficult to imagine anyone making the transition from Telegraph reader to Vodafone news reader. It's not a concept that feels right or plausible. However, the concept of reading your Telegraph on your Vodafone mobile (assuming the device is appropriate) is very easy to grasp.

There are other examples of this principle we can consider. When Nintendo launched the Gameboy Advance, it knew the importance of having titles available on it that were heavily promoted and therefore popular on other platforms. Being able to say that Tony Hawks Pro Skater and other top titles were available on the new platform was a message that people could relate to.

The key to serious mass-market adoption of wireless data in the consumer space is therefore to get the big brands extended into the mobile medium - just like they embraced platforms like the PC, the fixed internet and satellite TV in the past.

There is an important link here between the consumer and the business markets that many in the wireless industry are missing. Behind every big brand is a big corporate that needs to be motivated to take the mobile channel seriously and invest in exploiting it. The operators' own brand services are no substitute for this.

Some operators are beginning to get it and we see more plans from them that embrace the recognised brands from the media industry along with powerful merchants such Tesco and McDonalds. However, our research indicates most large corporates are putting investment in B2C wireless low down the priority list, with the short to medium term spend on wireless being targeted at employee solutions.

We have a classic chicken and egg situation here. Corporates won't invest in wireless B2C until there is enough penetration of wireless data usage into the consumer space. Yet it is the extension of the big brands these corporates own into the wireless medium that will drive serious mass market demand.

The deadlock breaker could be multimedia messaging, or 'picture messaging', as it is being promoted. This stands a chance of driving enough penetration to elicit the interest of the big brands but it is imperative that the operators follow up aggressively through their IT alliance partnerships to stimulate B2C corporate activity.

The worse thing that could happen is the operators over estimating the power of their own brands, trying to go it alone, or failing to look beyond their captive developer communities (the answer does not lie there). The end is to have consumers using their mobile to interact with the big brands they know and associate with, hence the operators' activity constituting a means to that end.

If they play it right, mobile operators and the wireless development community can assume the role of facilitator and/or intermediary, both of which can be very profitable positions. If they get it wrong, picture messaging could easily end up representing little more than an unsustainable blip on the adoption curve, and the wireless development community will continue to starve.

What are your thoughts? Post a Reader Comment below or email editorial@silicon.com to let us know.

**Dale Vile is service director at analyst house Quocirca. His C.V. boasts years at Nortel Networks, Bloor Research, SAP and Sybase and his job now involves working with vendors and users wanting to tap the business benefits of technology. For more information see: http://www.quocirca.com

Past columns:
What if... everyone always knew where you are?
http://www.silicon.com/a52368
What if... the sales and marketing director was put in charge of IT?
http://www.silicon.com/a51814
What if... 3G was available right now?
http://www.silicon.com/a51156