The conflict over who owns the customer continues as service providers, "over-the-top" players and device manufacturers decide on partnership terms.
A global survey conducted by Amdocs found that 66 percent of service providers said they must own the customer in a partnering agreement, while 13 percent of device manufacturers and 14 percent of OTT players said they would give up ownership of customer experience.
On the other hand, Amdocs found that all three of the groups agreed on service providers' unique core assets: brand strength, network quality and customer data.
Contrary to popular belief, the survey revealed that service providers view OTT players as potential partners and sources of innovation rather than as a threat and 42 percent of service providers said they could offer any service an OTT player can deliver, but better.
The three groups also said they were willing to expose their core assets to achieve partnering goals.
Different reasons were given in the survey for why the groups would partner. About 40 percent of service providers wish to extend network reach, and 34 percent view partnerships as a tool for developing new products and services. Device manufacturers ranked quality of service as a key value, and 69 percent of OTT players also said quality is important to compete and survive.
“One of the key findings of this research is that while service providers, device manufacturers and over-the-top players may have different sets of interest, they increasingly recognize the need for collaboration and partnership to achieve common goals," said Rebecca Prudhomme, Amdocs vice president for product and solutions marketing.
"... Successful partnerships demand open and effective partner management systems for revenue sharing, easy onboarding of new partners, high QoS, and a winning customer experience that is only possible with integrated IT systems that effectively leverage the customer data," she added.
