Ubiquitous demand masks the differences

The concept of the global village was heralded almost 50 years ago, and yet it is arguably the mobile revolution that has demonstrated the ubiquity of worldwide consumer choice. As each new market opens up, consumers are demanding the most technologically advanced equipment, products and services on offer.

Yet this omnipresent demand masks the underlying differences across markets. Virtually every country has different billing methods and network infrastructures, as well as data protection, content and music licensing laws. While some countries have a strong direct billing model, others still rely on SMS for payments.

Furthermore, the process of delivering mobile content differs not only between continents or countries, but also within each network provider. The global market has created a truly global competitive environment. The growth of easy-to-use, self-provisioning content tools has opened up mobile content creation and delivery to a whole new raft of organisations.

Being able to understand these market differences is critical if content developers are to maximise short-lived commercial opportunities.

While opportunities for global delivery still grows fast, it is the ability to seamlessly move between multiple-technology delivery options that will prove essential to deliver the right content in the right format and to minimise the overheads associated with reaching the broadest market.

Gary Corbett

Chief executive

Opera Telecom

www.operatelecom.com