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Brand Owners Move into Mobile Services

Third party providers are currently receiving less than 30 percent of mobile service revenues globally according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media. Traditionally the mobile network operator has controlled the billing relationship with the customer, and has played a leading role in partnering with content providers. Now however, this picture is evolving as brand owners and media companies start to leverage the consumer base they have developed through consistent marketing investment and branding over the years. Increasingly the strength of the media company's content and its associated brand are seen as decisive factors in bringing a mobile offering to market. The report reveals that there are a number of issues that are creating a more favourable environment for third party content providers. These include:

Mobile network operators opening up their content portfolios
Increased acceptance by consumers of subscription packages
Strong brands driving consumers to search out content away from operator portal.

The mobile data value chain has seen some radical changes in 2005, not least the emergence of 3G networks as a commercially viable factor in a number of major European markets. Traditional mobile value chain players such as the network operators have been joined by a raft of new entrants from other markets.

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