The report argues that a typical two-sided model sees content owners, brands and software developers on one side and end-users on the other. The telco’s role is to create ‘platforms’ that enable them to connect and allow either or both to pay. The critical difference is that it isn’t always the end-user that pays in a two-sided model.
“We believe that if the industry gets its act together, like it did with GSM, there is big money to be made,” said Simon Torrance, leader of the Telco 2.0 team. Torrance believes that some work has already started within telcos on this issue, in particular around advertising.
“Advertising is perhaps one of the earliest examples of where two-sided models can work, but it’s a small market at present and critically it is very far from the whole picture. Our latest research has uncovered a much broader world of opportunity.”
