By Dan Nguyen
The Internet ecosystem is always evolving, and I see a big change coming in the way operators use subscriber data. Operators have traditionally kept user data tightly under lock and key. But that’s changing as they see how personalization can influence brand loyalty, how contextual data can unleash further innovation in apps and services and transform the advertising market in the eyes of the both the consumer and the marketers.
Subscribers are growing accustomed to smarter mobile apps and personalized marketing offers, which leverage user data, such as location, online habits, and demographics. The demand for this type of data is growing quickly: Infonetics Research predicts that the worldwide total subscriber data management market will grow to $789 million in 2013, up from $128 million in 2008.
To meet subscribers’ needs and market new goods and services, operators are looking to do more with subscriber and device data. But they can’t do it alone. They need a way to safely share user information with application developers and third-party content providers to give their customers the types of applications powered by contextual information.
The result will be a unified Internet economy that will thrive on user data and continue to grow, unfettered by the limitations that exist today.
Now is the time for this evolution because there’s a vast opportunity up for grabs and operators don’t want to miss out:
- Although Apple and Google get the lion’s share of market attention for their platforms, app stores, and downloads, they capture only a fraction of current worldwide subscribers.
- Apple and Google have an addressable footprint of 100 million, but there are about 5 billion mobile subscribers worldwide, not including new devices in cars and homes that have screens and will require apps and services. That number is expected to grow to 10 billion (Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley).
- The Apple and Google marketplaces have approximately 400,000 apps combined, but they cannot adequately serve the 200 million Web pages that exist today.
How will application developers and third-party content providers leverage the coveted user data that operators alone possess today? In the face of bill shock regulations, competition, and an increasing emphasis on meeting consumer needs, we’ll soon find out. Operators are bound to unlock the gate to subscriber data – albeit a little at a time, as they realize that personalization in apps and services can influence brand loyalty and transform the advertising market in the eyes of the both the consumer and the marketers.
Dan Nguyen is vice president of product management at Openwave Systems Inc.
