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Mobile entertainment
Service providers must address the opportunities and requirements of mobile entertainment throughout the entire content value chain, says Dr Graham Carey
The idea of delivering content on our mobile handsets is not new. For the last five years, 'power users' have downloaded text-based weather, travel and news information from mobile Internet or WAP sites. Those of us brave enough to try these services were either 'in the business' or the classic technology enthusiast. The user had to have patience and be persistent, subscribe to 2G data services, and have the latest WAP enabled handset. They also had to be forgiving of the seemingly ever-present technical glitches that would occur.
Today, things have become far more advanced. As the market moves from a technology-based to a consumer-driven market, these early adopters are being joined by mainstream customers looking for meaningful services that are instantly available and competitively priced. The desire for relevant services has replaced the technology as the primary motivator to adoption. While handsets remain a significant consumer fashion drive, for both consumers and service providers, it is now more about the range of services being delivered, how they are bundled and priced, and delivering value that is important. As this content market matures, new commercial realities are kicking in as users' expectations are increasing. Customers are increasingly fickle, loyalty to service providers is low, value is at a premium. Furthermore, as consumers become increasingly sophisticated, they know where and how to find a good deal.
The content asset management system must be able to deal with ingestion, cataloguing, search and discovery whilst the content delivery eco-system must address critical issues including content repurposing and rights management. Rights management is not just about digital rights but also about knowing the legal rights to distribute and deliver content to different devices and different geographies. Added to this we must also know what royalties are payable and to whom for any consumption. On top of these complications we are also seeing the emergence of more services that require real time transaction and payments. For example with the rise of on-line gambling it is important that the e-wallet of the consumer is managed in real-time. This e-wallet could be a separate account or it could in fact be part of an entertainment balance within a wider portfolio of balances that the user has access to via the service provider. Interactive gaming is another example where real-time transactions and balance updates will be important. Resources used for a game, which may not always be money-based, would need to be updated and managed for the user in real-time. Whatever the combination of balances and bundles, it is clear the consumer has multiple options and it is critical that we are able to track and bill for all of them. In summary, to make money in these extended and more complex value chains, all the revenues must be tracked and monitored as they happen.
Monetising content and value added services – and making sure each member of the value chain is compensated – is critical. To grow services and deliver value to the consumer, service providers must focus both on the content delivery and on the comprehensive order-to-cash process while proactively managing these new revenue streams. This requires more than simply charging or billing for a single piece of content. It is all about handling the complete revenue management lifecycle.
Billing and Revenue Management systems must address bundles of content from various sources, price content individually and/or as part of a wider bundle, instantly offer deals and promotions at the time of service consumption, and allow the user multiple and convenient ways to pay. As the service, content or bundle is delivered, the user must be charged and the service contributors and partners appropriately compensated through automatic settlement and remittance. The mobile content arena will also have to address sponsorships and advertising with real-time deals and promotions.
Managing revenues associated with the delivery of new media content is not an entirely new concept. Forward thinking service providers including Orange UK, Vodafone Live!, Telenor, Swisscom, as well as some ISPs, media companies, and broadcast networks have been more sophisticated in terms of how they view the entire revenue management lifecycle for mobile content. Companies such as these are able to offer innovative and exciting pricing models and, as a result, are no longer limited to selling a mobile or Internet game based simply on the file size or some other physical parameter. Instead, they have the ability to charge in real time for a service based on other considerations such as the number of transactions or usage.
For example, in an interactive gaming session the winner could be allowed to play the next level of game for free. Similarly, free music downloads provided by a concert promoter could be made available prior to a concert and, by integrating music downloads and rights permissioning, the music could then be restricted for play after the event only if the user either purchases the rights or attends the concert. The model could be extended to encourage further purchases by giving discounts based on today's purchase for future downloads or service consumptions.
Peer-to-peer marketing and super distribution represents another potential opportunity for revenues in the content value chain; because the latest standards for DRM allow super distribution, users who act in an 'originator' capacity can instantly claim affinity points or monetary discounts on their accounts when sharing and locally distributing content, in effect becoming a new channel partner for revenues.
As mobile entertainment moves to more sophisticated market-driven users, service providers must address the opportunities and requirements throughout the entire content value chain in an easy-to-understand manner. Properly handling the revenue management lifecycle in real-time is absolutely key to delivering these mission critical, and highly strategic, revenue generating services.
Dr Graham Carey is Director, Industry Solutions, Communications Global Business Unit, Oracle
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