Report: Mobile subscriber context data could generate $44 billion a year
Tampa, Fla. -- The global market for advanced services based on mobile context insights could be worth as much as $44 billion annually. A research report for Syniverse from economists at the Surrey Energy Economics Center (SEEC) values the market for operators providing services to brands based on end-user context data and proposes a sustainable long-term market structure with balanced, mutual benefit between operators, brands and consumers.
Mobile context is the insight into subscriber information, behavior and location that is available to operators and that can be offered to brands for the purpose of improving customer engagement and experience, resulting in increased brand loyalty and revenue. The economists at SEEC worked with Syniverse to model and value the mobile context opportunity and identified two distinct markets: context by geo-segment and context by individual.
• Context by geo-segment: Operators provide information about anonymous subscribers in specific locations to brands targeting precise geo-markets. The value of this model is calculated to be as much as $44 billion to mobile operators annually.
• Context by individual: Operators offer highly specific individual subscriber data to a single brand partner to provide tailored offers or information. The varying characteristics of particular vertical markets complicate the valuation of this market overall, but the opportunity may be worth even more than the context-by-geo-segment market. Calculations around just one use case, “Location-Based Fraud Services,” suggest a global opportunity for operators of $3 billion annually.
The optimum business model for the exchange of mobile context identified by SEEC is a “platform” market where insight from multiple operators is aggregated onto a single, neutral, trusted platform serving as a market maker. In the context-by-geo-segment market, brands could bid in an auction for segments of time for the exclusive right to deliver information to groups of subscribers in an audience. In the context-by-individual market, brands could target specific subscribers based on usage, demographics, location profile and more for specific uses.
In the future, the report predicts that evolved and highly personalized mobile context insights may be worth much more, depending on consumers’ willingness to opt in and engage.
“Mobile context is the key to unlocking the full potential of mobile for consumers, the companies they trust and the operators that serve them,” said Jeff Gordon, president and CEO, Syniverse. “But while the revenue potential is phenomenal, success is dependent on delivering mutual benefits to all three parties. Operators can access new markets and deliver enhanced subscriber experiences, expanding their position in the mobile value chain. Brands can embrace new engagement capabilities, enhancing customer relationships with unrivaled targeting. And consumers can gain new mobile experiences tailored to them as individuals, with stringent controls over their privacy and preferences.”