Smaller mobile content providers are beginning to offer mobile content through channels other than the operator…for example PlayPhone is selling pre-paid cards at various retail stores. Continues the article: “For major carriers, such “off-portal” activity can mean serious lost income in revenue-sharing or fee deals…Nearly $1.4 billion globally, or about one-third of all digital content sales, went off-portal in 2005, according to Qpass Inc., which provides billing services for mobile commerce. And the off-portal share is growing, Qpass said.” There’s no mention of the fact that carriers still make money from the data used to download mobile content from these services, nor that the amount of American content sold off-portal is a lot less than the global average.
Operators fight back with “if you don’t buy it through us we can’t guarantee it will work on your phone”…
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