Issue 36 • JAN 2013
#PRS Late MNO payments in PRS threaten operator role in m-pay revolution
THIS MONTH... News
The latest news from the industry, along with analysis of what that news means, including: • Opera and Neomobile bring one click m-pay to the world 3 • 10bn mobile coupons to be redeemed in 2013... 4 • ... while retailers set to spend £55bn on mobile marketing 5 • Adtheorent unveils m-ad platform that learns what you want 6 • WWF launches mobile fund raising network for conservation 7 • BlackBerry looks to crack BYOD market with 10 series 9
Analysis
one of the UK’s big four mobile network operators is rumoured to be delaying payments to its providers of mobile-paid services, widely enjoyed by consumers and businesses alike. According to industry sources, providers of PRS services that range from entertainment, competitions, voting, apps and even charitable donations, are still waiting for their November and December 2012 payments. This is bad news not only for the PRS sector, but also for the mobile payments market in general because both telemedia companies and operators need to get a foothold in the fiercely competitive micropayments market. Delays to payments are particularly damaging in the current financial climate. According to industry sources, no clear reason can be gained from this MNO for the continued delays to payments. Smaller providers of services, already struggling to survive, will be hardest hit and such issues will only encourage them to migrate their traffic away from PRS to other platforms and credit card billing. The wider impact will be a reduction of investment down the value chain, limiting service choice for consumers and disadvantaging consumers who like the spontaneity of being able to pay for services with the mobile bill or prepaid credit. On contacting AIME, the trade association for the PRS and associated industries, whose members are affected by these delays to payments, Telemedia-month was told: “Our members are highly dependent on payments for the services that they have provided to mobile users coming through as fast as possible from the network operators. Where operators have had issues that may cause delays, they have provided pragmatic solutions in the past to ease cash flow. A provider of a service has to pay for its costs such as advertising, royalties, staff and premises within contracted timescales, so if payments from network operators are delayed then it will create significant damage to our industry. Any network operator should recognise that it is a part of a long value chain and short term payment tactics will have long term effects on its own business margins. We cannot however comment on any specific issues as the confidentiality of our members business practices is paramount.” The issue arises as the mobile payment market is hotting up with retailers, content
continued page 2>>>
Editorial The rich pay late Oh dear, operators might be about to scupper the m-payments market, warns Paul Skeldon 11 TELECOMS 2013: what’s in store #1 John Strand makes his suitably aggressive predictions for the year ahead in mobile and social telecoms 12 MEDIA 2013: what’s in store #2 The MEF takes a look at what 2013 promises for the media and entertainment parts of mobile 13 PAYMENTS Micropayments and gaming AIME explores what the gaming industry needs from micropayments following its seminar 14 PRS 900 tends to zero Bob Bentz looks at why the US 900 market has effectively come to an end and why we should all mourn its passing 15 MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS Brave new world congress We take a look at what to expect from the revamped MW C 16
Directory
The leading industry directory of services 21
Latest news at www.telemedia-news.com Catch our blog at www.telemedia360.blogspot.com