The role of smart enabler: positioning for growth in the open mobile market

Executive summary

In a nutshell

Ovum view

Don’t underestimate what a smart enabler strategy involves

Key messages

Consider all positioning scenarios before committing to the smart enabler role

Think of smart enablers as part of a holistic telco platform, not a string of isolated assets

The industry should move quickly to establish a consistent commercial framework for opening network APIs

Operators are not the only players positioning as smart enablers

The move to an open mobile market: change drivers

Mobile-web convergence is changing the mobile market

Increasing competition

New-generation smartphones

But beware fragmentation

A shift in operator revenue dynamics

Changing consumer expectations

Operator positioning scenarios

Consider all the alternatives

The lean operator

The smart enabler

The smart player

The smart enabler framework

Draw on both first- and second-generation enablers

The story so far: traditional enabler services

Future outlook: using enablers to create a telco platform

Application developers are not the only audience

The search for an API business model

Revenue share from applications

Revenue share from advertising

API access and associated fees

Developments going forward

Help is available: enabling the enablers

Operators are not the only smart enablers on the scene

List of Tables

Table 1: High-level comparison of smart enablers from different players

List of Figures

Figure 1: The mobile and web ecosystem

Figure 2: Global annual smartphone shipments by OS

Figure 3: Global content revenues for mobile operators

Figure 4: Mobile broadband: active users and revenues

Figure 5: Global view: frequency of video viewing by device type

Figure 6: Operator positioning scenarios

Figure 7: Development of operator enabling services

Figure 8: Traditional telco business model

Figure 9: Conceptual framework for a holistic operator enabling platform

Figure 10: Examples of an expanded customer base supported by a smartpipe model