26th October 2010 - Telecom operators today are facing a revenue generating paradox in the area of mobile applications. According to technology research consultants Gartner Inc, traditional and over the top app Stores are set to account for over 80% of a near US$30-billion by 2013. Operators therefore are expected to have a minimum stake in what is supposed to be a lucrative app store business.
The Mobile applications business has expanded significantly over the past few years, with 2.5 billion downloads in 2009 forecast to exceed 21 billion by 2014. Majority of these downloads have been attributed to Traditional and over the top app stores such as Apple. With increased sophistication in handset interface, design, functionalities attributing most of it to the mobile web browser, app stores have capitalized in pushing through apps that take advantage of these advancements.
So far, however telecom operators haven’t been able take any significant advantage of the proliferation of mobile apps other than bear the burden of additional data usage which doesn’t necessarily translate into increased revenue due to today’s extremely nominal “all you can eat’ data plans. Operators therefore face the threat of being relegated to mere carrier bit pipes for traditional and over the top App stores.
Dinesh Saparamadu, CEO hSenid Mobile, suggests that Telco App Stores can play a key role in helping operators regain lost ground in the Mobile Applications market. With operators being able to harness developer communities rolling out Telco Apps and with intelligent subscriber identity management and targeting capabilities, there is immense potential for the rebirth of the Telco App Store.
hSenid Mobile, a leading provider of the Cloud Telco Applications Platform, moderated a panel discussion at the SDP Asia Summit, the largest conference of its nature in Asia, held in Singapore recently with the topic centring on the battle of Telco App Stores to regain a foothold in the Apps market. The discussion focussed on what directions the Telco App store is to take in terms of market reach, features, availability and channels creating a wave of interest amongst Telecom operators present at the event.
Saparamadu went on to further discuss on how the Telco App store can help operators monetize network assets with network centric “Telco Apps” such as those based on SMS, MMS, Location based etc generating recurring revenue as opposed to one off download fees of the traditional app store model.
seated from left to right: Dinesh Saparamadu, CEO hSenid Mobile.
Tan Tiong Heng, General Manager, Core Network Planning, M1 Ltd.
Dumindra Ratnayaka, CEO Etisalat Lanka.
Fellow panellist Dumindra Ratnayaka, CEO Etisalat Lanka, assessed the Operator’s capabilities in marketing applications themselves. “Operators could benefit from their strong brands in their local markets – where they know their subscribers better than most and this combined with capabilities in convergent technologies such as location based etc enables the operator to offer the right applications to the right person at the right time using the right channel. This provides the opportunity to attract and inspire application developers based around their localities to come up with applications suited to their surroundings. “
Saparamadu then went onto make a made a crucial point on the diversity of market potential for Telco Apps being a highly distinguishing factor against the apps on traditional stores. “It cannot be denied that traditional apps and the mobile web have brought out a rich wave of sophistication enhancing user experience. However this doesn’t utilize the potential of reaching out to the diversity of the masses that GSM coverage has enabled today. Operators with the Telco App Store can exploit the advantages of its network capabilities with channels such as SMS made available on every mobile handset and it is one that nearly every mobile user understands how to use.
This potential materializing should spark the possibility of apps serving various spectrums of a market and operators will therefore have the unique strength to attract low to very high-end application developers. And more so with the subscriber being provided with multiple user interfaces to access the Telco App store via channels such WAP, USSD etc to reach out to those who have smart as well as standard feature phones further exemplifying the unique proposition of the Telco App store being able to serve a diverse mass market and not a privileged few.”
Tan Tiong Heng, General Manager, Core Network Planning at one of Singapore’s leading operators M1 Ltd, also a member of the panel, laid out the consuming benefits, subscribers will be able to discover with telco apps. “Subscribers will now have a plethora of utility as well as downloadable apps at their choice on a dimension they are so used to, on channels that are easily accessible and functional, irrespective of handset types or systems. Subscribers of all tiers in the market will now share the app store experience on at least one interface that is certain to be available on their phone.
With the advent of the “Telco Developer Community” that operators have to cultivate in the country they are based in to ensure a rich supply of apps onto the store – subscribers will therefore enjoy apps that are relevant to their day to day lives and their communities as most of these apps will be developed by one of those from their own backyard. The Operator for their part with the understanding of subscribers better than most and the multiple service interfaces they reach out to them – underlines the rich relevance that these Telco Apps possess for subscribers.”
The 5th annual SDP Asia Summit focussed on how telecom operators utilise the Service Delivery Platform (SDP) to rapidly create and deliver new value-added services to improve revenues, tackle commoditization and decrease customer churn in the presence of a dynamic pool of regional and international experts across the entire Telecom services value chain. hSenid Mobile also conducted the Conference’s masterclass on SDP in the Cloud : Strategies, Experiences and Business Models for Telcos, demonstrating how SDPs can now be leveraged on the Cloud as a Platform as a Service (PAAS) for enhanced and rapid service creation. hSenid Mobile was invited to present at the event as a thought leader in line of its recent initiatives in the field of Cloud Service Delivery & Telco Applications – most significantly the launching of its Cloud Enabled Telco Platform with a state of the Telco Application Developer Portal and the revolutionary Telco App Store, soon to be launched with one of the leading operators in the region in the next few weeks.
For more resources on the Cloud Telco Application Platform(TAP), click the link below
http://www.hsenidmobile.com/cloud-tap-resource-center
About hSenid Mobile(www.hSenidMobile.com)
hSenid Mobile, is a multi-national Telco-Mobile Software solutions company in Sri-Lanka, that provides a next generation Cloud Enabled Telco Application Platform (Cloud TAP) based on its Cloud SDP enabling end to end service creation for Telco Apps with the Telco Developer Portal & the revolutionary Telco App Store.
Its dynamic portfolio converging Messaging, Mobile Money, OSS/BSS & Core Signalling also contains a Subscriber created application platform, an End-to-end Customer Churn Management Solution, A Multi-Channel Top Up system, Location Based Solutions, Mobile Banking & Payment solutions, Telco Reporting amongst others. hSenid Mobile has been enabling the mobile world for well over a decade now, with a solid history of implementing cutting edge Telco middleware platforms globally. Its customer base spans across continents with some of the key being, M1 (Singapore), Telcel (Mexico), DST (Brunei), Etisalat, Dialog-Axiata, Hutch, Airtel & Mobitel (Sri-Lanka) and its Research and Business Development offices in Singapore, Malaysia, USA, India & Sri-Lanka.
Media Contact:
Muzackir Nadim
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Tel: 94.722311088, Email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
