Being Content

Mobile Carriers Have Lots of Options for Value-Added Services

In addition to a variety of specialized content providers, managed service providers like NeuStar, Syniverse and VeriSign Inc. — which offer such services as billing and settlements, SS7 and more — are also now increasingly pushing their ability to outfit service providers with content and related services.

For example, VeriSign now offers Digital Content Services for mobile operators. “VeriSign helped generate significant revenues for its carrier and content customers in 2004,” says Vernon Irvin, executive vice president of VeriSign Communication Services. “VeriSign’s comprehensive Digital Content Services portfolio allows carriers to continue to reap the benefits of rapidly offering subscribers new multimedia messaging and interactive digital content — without the hassle of managing the associated interoperability, mediation, clearing and payment issues.”

Digital Content Services includes Wireless Entertainment Services, which has a broad content catalog along with advanced user experience management, mobile content promotion and carrier billing integration.

More than 150,000 content items are available today to deliver via SMS, MMS, WAP or Web channels.

VeriSign earlier this year acquired a variety of content like ringtones and wallpaper through Jamba!, a leading wireless content provider out of Berlin.

VeriSign’s strategy centers on intelligent infrastructure, says Jeff Treuhaft, vice president of communications services. “We noticed in the content space all kinds of companies doing different parts of mobile content. But Jamba! did it all.” So now, with the Jamba! acquisition under its belt, VeriSign can deliver the content itself as well as related functions such as billing and settlements, marketing, content formatting for various flavors of devices and networks, and more.

Another feature of VeriSign’s Digital Content Services portfolio is Inter-Carrier Multimedia Messaging Services. That includes interoperability services that allow carriers to let subscribers send rich media via messaging on mobile devices. Intelligent Messaging Services, also part of the Digital Content Services portfolio, enable businesses to mobilize their communication, collaboration, workflow and entertainment applications on most popular mobile devices. And SMS Metcalf Inter-carrier Messaging (ICM) Service provides two-way messaging across most popular mobile devices that support messaging. It also offers various service options, including short codes and global access numbers. VeriSign is already a leader in providing SMS interoperability between carriers, which it offers in cooperation with Ztango.

VeriSign’s new Digital Content Services can be used in a multitude of applications, says Treuhaft. For example, in a voting application, VeriSign — which was involved in the MTV Music Awards — can take in messages from multiple types of devices in a variety of formats such as SMS, e-mail and instant messages. Wachovia Bank, meanwhile, is using VeriSign services to send customers electronic notices.

Nokia also announced at CTIA a hosted mobile content solution. Nokia’s Preminet solution sources Java and Symbian OS software from leading developers and content aggregators around the globe to give network operators a master catalog of applications, games and other mobile content. It also offers operators a complete solution for delivery, billing and revenue distribution, providing an end-to-end, operator-brandable platform for launching new applications and services to consumers. The client application works with an operator’s other discovery methods like WAP, SMS and the Web to let end users find, sample, download and securely pay for mobile software.

“Until now, each operator has been responsible for maintaining hundreds of relationships with individual Java and Symbian OS developers and sourcing, and testing each application before bringing them to the end user,” says Lee Epting, vice president of Forum Nokia, a 1.6-million member wireless developer community. “With Preminet, we now provide a single source for operators to acquire a comprehensive range of industry certified content, applications and services, and a complete platform for managing distribution to their customers. Operators now have the ability to launch a differentiated service offering in a very simple manner without major investment.”

Meanwhile, CTIA exhibitor NeuStar in late October announced it has begun to market its Identity Services eXchange, which allows wireline and wireless service providers to deliver new subscriber services based on secure, private identity-based information.

Identity Services eXchange helps deliver customized value-added consumer services including ringtone downloads, online gaming, music files, calendar sharing, viral marketing campaigns and other rich content while maintaining anonymity of individual subscribers. Privacy functions of the service allow end users to filter messages.

Syniverse is also in the content game, says Craig Smith, manager of sales new initiatives. “We give service providers one pipe to multiple content providers,” he says. Syniverse has relationships with Cellus USA and Downplay Inc., which both offer ringtones, graphics and more. By providing that one pipe to multiple content providers, he says, Syniverse masks from service providers the complexities of dealing with multiple content companies.

Even CDMA wireless air interface inventor QUALCOMM Inc. is getting into content. A subsidiary of QUALCOMM called MediaFLO USA Inc. in 2006 expects to turn up a nationwide network to provide U.S. CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) cellular operators with video and audio programming to deliver to third-generation mobile phones. The network will support 50 to 100 national and local content channels, including up to 15 live streaming channels and numerous clip-cast and audio channels. This content will "dramatically surpass" current mobile multimedia offerings through the use of QVGA video at up to 30 frames per second and stereo audio, according to QUALCOMM.

MediaFLO USA will aggregate and distribute the content to its partners and will provide integration of this content with unique content from carriers.

"QUALCOMM strongly believes that the broad delivery of wireless multimedia services is the logical next step in the evolution of the wireless industry," says Paul E. Jacobs, executive vice president and president of QUALCOMM Wireless and Internet Group. "Building on our deep relationships with wireless operators, handset manufacturers and content providers, we can accelerate the adoption of multimedia on wireless devices by making it truly cost effective using our FLO technology and prime nationwide 700MHz spectrum."

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