Mobile operators need to innovate and change in order to maintain marketshare and avoid becoming a commodity or “dumb pipe,” according to a report issued by Gartner. We’ve heard this so before, but this time Gartner suggests dealing with it by outsourcing traditional telecom operations, such as managing the network.
The theory goes that if a carrier doesn’t have to focus on the network, it can focus on making the user experience better. One way to do this is by making a desirable platform for other businesses to build on top of. This may sound contradictory to becoming a dumb pipe, however, the argument is that rather than sell content themselves, carriers should provide a platform for others to provide content and services — so companies choose to develop on that, rather than go straight to the open mobile web.
Gartner also recommends carriers invest in all aspects of network space rather than just wireless broadband technologies. Another trend Gartner sees is customers demanding more for less — with the economy in a shambles, people are less willing to pay for new services. “Mature carriers will focus on brand positioning and building customer trust, which will require retargeting the marketing budget and prioritizing projects that focus on retention, customer loyalty and demonstrable value. However, that is not enough; they will also need to manage the life cycle of their services more aggressively and refocus innovation on improving the customer experience in terms of value and ease of use by offering context-based services, targeted advertising, social networking and user-generated content,” writes Gartner. (release)
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