In a world where data is the ‘new oil’, telcos could lose out if they cede control of their customer information to OTT players, according to a new report.
This is especially true in the growing NFC sector where telcos concentrate on the wrong things, suggests “Mobile NFC – what’s all the hype about”, a report from management consultancy Arthur D Little.
Although they don’t have to change anything about networks, instead focusing on standardising critical systems and collaborating, operators may miss out.
“Telcos still believe they are a key enabler just because of the tag ‘mobile’ and seem to have learned close to nothing from the negative app store experience,” Nicolai Schattgen, report author and Global Head of ADL’s M-Commerce Competence Centre, told Mobile Europe.
“Whoever manages to enable the ecosystem has the opportunity to take a controlling gatekeeper role.
“There are no opportunities for operators to get a slice of the transaction pie. SIM rental fees are small and not sustainable. But, there are huge NFC opportunities from location-based services,” Schattgen continued.
“Operators can leverage existing data about who and where subscribers are and what they’re buying to send very targeted advertising. If they provide clear value, subscribers won’t turn off phones. Operators can provide a powerful, flexible tool,” he added.
Mobiles can be at the centre of a whole new suite of valuable and flexible services from couponing, to loyalty cards, retailing and beyond.
Applying to more than payment, Schattgen believes NFC is moving into healthcare, authentication, identity and fleet management, promotion, shopping, smart cities and sharing.
The NFC market is ready to take off now and operators can exploit the trust and physical relationships they already have with customers, the report believes.
“The coming two to three years will be a challenging battlefield in which there will be lots of losers and failures but it will settle down after that,” Schattgen said.
Mobile NFC is flexible in that multiple applications can be managed over-the-air: added, removed, extended or renewed any time.
Real innovation is low but healthcare, business applications and smart city concepts are becoming increasingly visible.
Most of the critical standards are set, point-of-sale NFC terminals installed and there are over 100 NFC enabled phones worldwide.