A new study from Juniper Research has found that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will need to fundamentally change their mobile content business models by emphasizing ‘shared value creation' in order to avoid becoming ‘dumb pipes' in the future. Only if they can transform their businesses into ‘smart pipe' service providers, can they significantly increase their income from mobile content – estimated at $23bn in 2008, rising to $52bn by 2013 according to Juniper.

The global mobile content market will be worth $167bn by 2013, shared among players such as MNOs, Content Providers and third parties such as content aggregators and billing companies.

Currently MNOs take a significant percentage of the revenues generated by Content Providers when they use their networks. This has resulted in high prices for end-users and consumers being deterred from accessing mobile content on a wider scale. This unattractive situation has become a disincentive for MNOs and Content Providers alike, with some Content Providers attempting to bypass the MNOs or exit the sector altogether. Clearly, the situation needs to change. But it will be down to the MNOs to make the first moves, says the report.

The new report examines the three main scenarios facing the operators and the sector as a whole – the ‘Dumb Pipe', ‘Smart Pipe', and ‘On-Portal' routes. Modelling the market in such a way is said to have enabled Juniper to create a detailed forecasting and modeling tool to examine how a future market may develop under different conditions.

According to report author Andrew Kitson, "One single scenario will not win out since different business and revenue models have to co-exist in the mobile content market. Players will adopt multiple approaches that best fit their markets. Crucially, if MNOs are to benefit financially, they need to move away from their Dumb Pipe roots to the Smart Pipe model, though they will clash with the content providers which already dominate the Smart Pipe. A compromise needs to be found."

If MNOs can change their ARPU-driven mindsets to focus on value creation and support for their partners, they can swiftly make the change.

Other findings include

• Under the Smart Pipe model, MNOs will not see their share of the overall mobile content market rise appreciably, but revenue will rise in value by 125% over the 2008-2013 period.
• Under the On-Portal scenario, content providers will see their share of the market rise from 54% in 2008 to 68% by 2013, providing they can secure more attractive terms from MNOs.
• Third parties – especially aggregators and billing service providers – will come under pressure from larger players (such as MNOs) seeking to achieve horizontal integration and economies of scale.

The report provides coverage and forecasts from a global perspective as well as from a regional viewpoint by looking at how the market will grow or wane under the On-Portal, Dumb Pipe, and Smart Pipe scenarios around the world.

Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, has revealed the first insights from the launch of its Mobile Media View – how mobile Internet is growing, the age of consumers using it as well as how the most popular mobile websites perform on the PC-based Internet.
 
According to Nielsen, from Q2 to Q3 2008, the number of Britons using mobile Internet increased by 25% (from 5.8 to 7.3 million) compared to 3% for PC-based Internet (34.3 to 35.3 million Britons). The mobile Internet audience has a higher concentration of younger users than PC-based Internet; 25% of mobile Internet consumers are aged 15-24 compared to 16% for PC-based consumers. Whilst, 23% of the PC-based Internet population is 55+, only 12% of the mobile Internet audience is.

Kent Ferguson, Nielsen Senior Analyst: "The first insights from the launch of Mobile Media View confirm two things – that when it comes to the Internet, the huge growth is now happening through the mobile platform and that the mobile online audience is younger than its PC-based counterpart.
 
"The fact that almost seven and a half million Britons now access the web through their phone shows that mobile Internet is fast becoming a viable way for advertisers and publishers to reach important demographic groups."

Whilst Google Search is the most popular PC-based Internet site, on mobile Internet BBC News is the most popular, being visited by 24% of British mobile Internet consumers (1.7 million people).
 
Of the most popular mobile sites, BBC Weather (21% mobile, 17% PC-based) Sky Sports (11% mobile, 8% PC-based) and Gmail (9% mobile, 7% PC-based) have greater reach on mobile Internet than they do on the PC-based Internet.

Of the most popular mobile sites, Google Search (23% mobile, 79% PC-based) and eBay (13% mobile, 43% PC-based) have the greatest reach differential between mobile and PC-based Internet.

Ferguson concludes, "It's interesting to see that BBC Weather, Sky Sports and Gmail are amongst the few sites that have a greater reach on the mobile Internet than the PC-based Internet. This highlights the advantage of mobile when it comes to immediacy; people often need fast, instant access to weather or sports news and mobile can obviously satisfy this, wherever they are.
 
"The fact that the most weather, sports, news and email sites make up the majority of leading mobile sites show that mobile Internet is mainly about functionality and need at the moment as opposed to the more entertainment and ecommerce-focused makeup of the leading PC-based sites."

GeoSentric Oyj's, GeoSolutions BV Business Unit (GyPSii), the mobile digital lifestyle application and geo-mobility social networking platform, has today announced that it is the first location-based social networking application with touch screen experience to be able to support the Nokia 5800  XpressMusic.

"GyPSii is ideally placed as the leading innovative application that incorporates social networking and communities with location-aware features – in particular, the ability to provide a location and social graph context to any media captured on the device. GyPSii's ability to deliver a touch screen experience in one integrated application is key to the Nokia Touch device customer," said Jure Sustersic, Business Development Manager at Forum Nokia EMEA.

GyPSii's launch on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is said to further support the company's capability to deliver on a global reach and extend reach into more mass markets. As a member of Forum Nokia, GyPSii says it has developed a strong relationship with the world's largest handset manufacturer.

GyPSii is already available for current Nokia S60 devices – including the N95, the N73, the N78, the N82, N6210, N6220, E66, E71 and the 6110 Navigator phone. The continued expansion onto devices further opens up the application to mass-market adoption.

"GyPSii allows people to record their lives, and explore and share their world with their social networks and communities," said Dan Harple, Executive Chairman of GeoSentric.  "And unlike any other social networking platform, GyPSii is designed and built for a mobile device and uses location information and social graph relationships to not only drive details about where you are – but also about who or what is close by."

GyPSii members can 'uniquely' experience a broad range of location-specific functions and mobile lifestyle services – including user generated content, content-sharing, mobile geo-location content search and social networking, as well the ability to view it all on a map – all within a single user experience. Using GyPSii, members can access and "real-time" mobile features on their device, such as "Locating Friends" and sharing information on nearby point of interests, including places – restaurants, bars and clubs – contributed by friends and fellow GyPSii members.

Mobile Streams, a global mobile services enabler, and mobile entertainment company Playphone, have teamed up to provide mobile users in the UK, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France and Norway with the latest mobile.

Mobile Streams will be licensing content for Playphone to distribute direct to its customers via the Splash Portals in the above countries in the first instance and with expansion into new markets over the coming months.  Content can be downloaded by users in video, audio, wallpaper and screensaver formats from Mobile Streams' catalogue which is said to include some of the world's leading media companies.

Some of the titles on offer include animation favourites; ‘Mr Bean', ‘Suicidal Squirrels', ‘Cat Bastard' and the ‘Pink Panther'.  Splash users will also have access to ‘Goal Parade' where customers can download over 200 video clips of the greatest football goals and ‘Hidden Camera' video containing hilarious pranks and stunts played on the unsuspecting public.

As well as licensing content assets to Playphone, Mobile Streams will also license its proprietary platform, Vuesia, as part of this deal.  The platform is claimed to ensure a smooth and uncomplicated experience for customers from entering the portal to making a purchase. It also makes new content available into Splash Portals guaranteeing regular content updates.

Simon Buckingham, CEO of Mobile Streams said: "Once again our content is reaching new customers and we are pleased to be licensing our content to the team at Playphone and enhancing the mobile experience for more users in Europe".

John Radford of Playphone added: "Playphone is a global company offering users great content.  This partnership adds great value to our service and enhances our consumer offering".

Red Bend Software, the market leader in Mobile Software Management (MSM), has today announced that its market-leading vCurrent Mobile software has shipped in more than 410 million mobile devices worldwide. The milestone represents a 105 percent year-over-year growth since third quarter 2007, when the company's firmware over-the-air (FOTA) software shipped in 200 million devices. Red Bend also reported a promising wave of devices adopting FOTA beyond mobile phones, including WiMAX modems and data cards as well as machine-to-machine (M2M) modules. Red Bend projects in the fourth quarter that its software will reach 475 million mobile devices.

"Red Bend continued its record of growth amid the tough global economic conditions affecting our customers. In the third quarter, mobile phone manufacturers deployed Red Bend's FOTA software in 20 new handset models-from smartphones to feature phones," said Yoram Salinger, CEO of Red Bend Software. "For the first time, nearly the same number of other types of wireless devices shipped with vCurrent Mobile. Customers in the WiMAX and M2M markets adopted Red Bend in 17 wireless devices, demonstrating the growing need to manage software and devices across the network in a unified way."

Intec, a global provider of business and operations support systems, has today announced that it has deployed three significant billing installations with VimpelCom subsidiaries operating in Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Armenia; Ukrainian Radio Systems (CJSC), Unitel in Uzbekistan and ArmenTel in Armenia.

Last year, Intec signed a strategic group license agreement with VimpelCom, Russia's leading GSM communications provider. The agreement increased Intec's position as the number one supplier of intercarrier billing solutions in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).  The VimpelCom Group serves 240 million subscribers, making it one of the most important wireless providers in the world. Geographically, it covers 78 regions of Russia with 136.5 million people, representing 94% of Russia's population. Aside from Russia, VimpelCom offers mobile services in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Georgia.

Gary Bunney, Intec COO commented, "No other technology offers the same level of capability and scalability in interconnect billing as ours, giving these key VimpelCom subsidiaries the ability they require to optimise every opportunity to expand their business. Best of all, Intec Interconnect is a future-proof system with the flexibility to handle any type of traffic, from simple voice calls to advanced next generation services. This ensures that Unitel, ArmenTel and Ukrainian Radio Systems, all three their respective market leaders, will be prepared to manage any type of new innovation that comes to market. These successful installations provide further proof of the effectiveness of our solutions, and enable us to create a stronger presence in one of the biggest mobile markets in Eastern Europe. "

"Intec has established a reputation for delivering solutions that are in a class of their own. They offer superior flexibility and scalability to adjust to the billing demands of today's mobile providers" concluded Evgeny Saburov, Head of Intercarrier Traffic and Billing for VimpelCom. "It was easy to implement Intec Interconnect across our network, the cost was minimal and the solution has already proven its reliability and performance.  Thanks to Intec's software, we now have close to 100 % accuracy in our intercarrier billing operations, which is already delivering us incremental revenue."

EMCC Software has collaborated with DeFi Mobile to create a VoIP mobile client that helps enable DeFi Global Access, a recently launched unlimited global calling and data service that allows companies and individuals to eliminate expensive international long-distance and roaming fees. EMCC Software is a provider of mobile solutions and development services.

DeFi Global Access is a subscription-based service enabling its members to make and receive unlimited phone calls worldwide via WiFi access to DeFi Mobile's carrier-grade, global IP network – for a flat monthly fee.  The service also includes unlimited worldwide Internet and data access for mobile device web browsing and e-mail.  As part of the service, DeFi Global Access members' mobile devices automatically connect to millions of private, free and commercially available access points around the world.   This is said to be the result of more than 50 global partnerships involving 75+ countries and includes 15,000+ hotels, 120+ international airports and tens of thousands of coffee shops, restaurants and marinas around the world. 

Currently, DeFi Global Access supports the Nokia E and N Series Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices. Users of the DeFi Mobile service can subscribe online at www.defimobile.com and easily download the mobile client through the provisioning system both of which EMCC developed.

To support DeFi's development efforts, EMCC said it drew on its software library and its experience in mobile VoIP, Wi-Fi application development and provisioning gained through earlier efforts to help DeFi to improve its mobile client software implementation. 

"DeFi Global Access is the world's most reliable and highest quality, business-class mobile VoIP solution," says Jeff Rice, DeFi Founder and Chief Executive Officer.  "We achieved this by relying a great deal on EMCC's industry knowledge, implementation acuity and quality standards of the highest order.  Their extensive expertise in delivering mobile applications on Nokia devices has been invaluable in helping DeFi to deliver on our vision for ease of provisioning and seamless, large-scale use of DeFi Global Access."

Open-Plug, a specialist in software development environments for mass-market mobile phones, has announced that its ELIPS application suite is embedded in Sony Ericsson's J132 mobile phone. The J132 is a talk and text phone with FM radio and stereo hands free kit.

"We are very proud to be cooperating with Sony Ericsson, one of the top leaders in the mobile phone industry", said Eric Baissus, CEO of Open-Plug. "This is an additional demonstration of the maturity and performance of our ELIPS solution."

Open-Plug has developed the ELIPS software suite to address the strategic market of low cost and mass-market phones. ELIPS is said to enable fast development of new mobile phone models and simplifies implementation of new software features and user interfaces.

Open-Plug's solution is claimed to be a major step forward towards the reduction of development time and costs for handsets and mobile applications. ELIPS is claimed to be attracting more and more software developers and handset makers who want to re-use their investment from one platform to another and develop variants in record time. The solution is also said to be the result of five years of R&D and includes several patented technologies.