News
Voda chief: we're no dumb pipe
Stuart O'Brien Nov 19 2007, 10:27am
Comments (9)
It's our way or the highway, Sarin tells rival content providers.
Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin says any content providers wishing to launch direct-to-consumer services will always have to work with Vodafone.
Speaking to the FT, Sarin argued that a mobile operator's 'unique gift' for billing secured its against becoming a dumb pipe for other people's data services, particularly those being offered by the likes of Apple, Google, Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
He said: "The simple fact that we have the customer and billing relationship is a hugely powerful thing that nobody can take away from us. Whoever comes into the marketplace is going to have to work through us."
The FT article points out that operators like Vodafone also manage valuable information about their customers, such as location for targeted search services.
However, with more than half of Voda's UK customers of the pre-paid variety there are obviously limits to that kind of data.
Comments
“we have the customer”
Posted by: Thumbcandy - Nov 19, 2:46pm
Voda’s myopic assertion that “we have the customer” is flawed with churn levels as high as they are.
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: Bob Morton - Nov 19, 4:21pm
Agreed. The writing is on the wall here. Many of the newer D2C content services from the likes of Nokia (eg Music Store) could easily incorporate credit cards, just like iTunes?
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: Jim21 - Nov 19, 4:23pm
What about Visa, paypal and google? Surely they all have plans to take billing away from the operators? If the big internet is just going to transfer to mobile, then surely so will its payment mechanisms.
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: Offer Yehudai - Nov 20, 10:08am
Hmm... It sounds quite familiar. I think my ISP said that 5 years ago. I wonder where they are now?
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: cbs - Feb 4, 4:19pm
Paypal, credit card, pre-pay pin code systems are all in place, check out soem of the D2C mobile platform providers . Its only a matter of time......Of course the operators may try to adopt anti-competitive positions like the US carriers have done and try to ban non-mobile payment platforms but where there's a wall theres a way
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: pjw - Feb 11, 1:57pm
By the time Arun gets his head out of the sand on this one the data content market will have passed Vodafone by. The MNOs have been universally **** at pushing data content to their customers......that is why content owners ahve gone D2C. Arun should focus on winning the data battle by offering a £5 "all you can eat" data package. Whether AS likes it or not, data network charges are his route to riches here, not content subscriptions. I am afraid that his content about not being a "dumb pipe" iws about as wrong as it could be.
“Re: we have the customer”
Posted by: SB - Mar 5, 5:47pm
The biggest challenge to Vodafone would come from Ovi services from Nokia and WiMax. The Service platform would have billing as well from various options discussed above. The phone would have a direct relationship with the consumer. It is better he takes his head out of sands and fights it with real strategies and implementation plans. There are ways to stand up to Nokia.
“Op billing not competitive”
Posted by: Braempa - Mar 16, 3:55pm
When operators offer billing at a cost that is closer to the transaction costs of credit cards, then we're talking. But I fear operator billing is just to cost ineffective to ever compete with that,,,,
“Re: Op billing not competitive”
Posted by: bill.i.will - Mar 25, 4:48pm
what he is saying subtly is that there will be further loss in revenues for voda as they move from being a telephony company with VAS to a pipe with billing.
VAS today favours voda in revenue share: 60-70% of revenues
Billing (ie Visa type): 5-6%
See the drop?