WAP Billing on the Rise at Bango

The company that brought you the first global exchange for the mobile web is now bringing good news for wireless operators that offer mobile content. Bango said this week that WAP billing is gaining momentum in the U.S.

The company has seen a fourfold increase in the number of WAP transactions in the U.S. in the last three months. Leading content providers including Gameloft and Dada Entertainment are choosing to sell their content using Bango's mobile billing relationships with AT&T Mobility, Sprint Nextel and Virgin Mobile USA.

Subscribers on these networks can now pay for mobile content either per download or as a subscription. They charge it to their phone bill using the same familiar "browse and buy" experience used on the PC internet and their operator's deck. They also can see pricing and the conditions of a purchase before they click to pay. Buying content and then paying in one seamless Internet session leaves little room for error compared to the two-step Premium SMS process.

Bango reports a shift in the way mobile content is sold in the U.S. With WAP billing gaining momentum, the industry is realizing the mobile Web delivers a superior and safer consumer experience. Key stakeholders in the mobile industry, including mobile operators, leading content providers, and the Mobile Marketing Association are supporting WAP billing for mobile content sales, according to Bango, which powers off-deck WAP services.

Anil Malhotra, senior vice president of marketing at Bango, said the shift to WAP browse-and-buy is a solid response to the recent claims of inappropriate charging of consumers. And according to research firm iGillot, the improved consumer experience delivered by WAP billing brings the benefit of significantly lower customer care costs with refund levels of less than 0.1 percent, compared to levels approaching 10-20 percent where content is purchased with Premium SMS.

Lauren King, manager of off-portal content at Virgin Mobile USA, said Bango's WAP Billing model enables an improved off-deck shopping experience and greater control for adherence to the MMA's best practices guidelines. “It provides a win-win situation for the operator, content provider and end-users," King said.

Executives from Dada Entertainment, Gameloft and the MMA believe the mobile Web market is booming in the U.S. and that WAP billing offers a more seamless, less error prone experience and a better, standards-based approach to off-deck services.

"Through the MMA's Consumer Best Practices, we've achieved the standardization of a cross-carrier, consumer-friendly model for off-deck WAP services, which today continues to influence the rapidly growing mobile marketing industry," said Laura Marriott, president of the MMA.

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