LONDON, UK: Mobile operators' role as smart enabler is generating a lot of excitement.
However, a new report from global advisory and consulting firm Ovum, titled "The role of smart enabler: positioning for growth in the open mobile market: dissecting the role of smart enabler", warns that despite the potential of this role, the industry is once again in danger of dressing it in too much hype, and viewing it as a magic bullet that will solve the challenges facing mobile operators today.
Mobile operators aiming at establishing themselves as smart enablers will face a profound change and not all players will be able to make the transition to achieve best-of-breed smart enabler status. Operators in fact, need to view their network assets, communications expertise, customer intelligence and other capabilities as resources that can be marketed to third parties, not just end users.
If on the one hand, a business model for first-generation enablers is established, on the other there is no consensus on the commercial framework under which third parties utilise network application programming interfaces (APIs).
A range of different models are being used, including revenue share on the applications sold, revenue share from advertising and also from a variety of fee specifically tied to activating APIs. The latter in particular can prove expensive, particularly for those applications that are transaction intensive. Experimentation and flexibility are understandable at this early stage, but the industry should move quickly to establish a consistent commercial framework.
Eden Zoller, principal analyst, Ovum and co-author of this report, says: "At Ovum, we think the most equitable model is one where there is an element of risk sharing; for example a tiered approach where operators only charge for API access once an application reaches a certain revenue threshold."
A robust technical, operational and commercial framework is what operators need to build in order to support their assets and capabilities.
Michele Mackenzie, principal analyst, Ovum and co-author of this report, says: "Creating a developer ecosystem is part of the smart enabler framework and one of the most challenging tasks for operators. Most operators' developer programmes do not compare well to those offered by device/platform vendors and online players."
