September 24, 2008
Report: Mobile Social Networking Services to Benefit Mobile Operators
By Nitya Prashant, TMCnet Contributor
Analysys (News - Alert) Mason has released a new report that states mobile operators will be the most immediate beneficiaries of mobile social networking services. Entitled, "Mobile Social Networking: Strategies and Case Studies," the report provides insight on the spread of social networking into the mobile market.
In the report, Analsys Mason points out that social networking has gained great momentum on the Web as online social networking providers add mobile interfaces to their services. Operators, handset vendors and social networking service providers are interested in business models that will help them transfer the popularity enjoyed by social networking services on the Web to the mobile market.
"Mobile social networking is stimulating growth in mobile data usage and revenue, which is crucial for mobile operators as their voice revenue comes under increasing pressure," said Katrina Bond, author of the report.
The findings in the report are based on interviews with online social networking service providers Facebook (News - Alert) and MySpace, as well as emerging mobile-specific networks such as Bluepulse and GyPSii. Vodafone UK is one of the many operators observing the spread of social networking to the mobile market. According to Vodafone (News - Alert) UK, Bebo, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are among the10 most-visited sites for its Vodafone Mobile Internet customers.
Bond notes in the report that generating profits from online social networks will be challenging for mobile service operators. Bond also states that the "the immature state of the mobile advertising market" increases the difficulties.
The report stresses that discovering and subscribing to new services on mobile devices will be more difficult that those using PCs. The reason behind this conclusion, according to Bond, is the smaller form factors and less advanced search capabilities of mobile devices.
Facebook and MySpace (News - Alert) have formed partnerships with mobile operators to provide easy access to their sites from mobile devices. Bond comments that, "ISPs provide only a transport layer for online services, but mobile operators can help to facilitate discovery of and access to mobile services."
"Mobile Social Networking: Strategies and Case Studies," identifies key questions on maximizing this emerging market opportunity, the dominant revenue models and possible symbiotic relationships between operators and social networks.
The report is aimed specifically at mobile network operators and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), handset vendors and other social network enablers as well as online social networks and mobile social networks.
Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Cambridge, UK, Analysys Mason provides strategyadvice, operations support and market intelligence to commercial and public-sector organizations in over 80 countries. The company serves telecommunications, information technology, and media sectors.
