Not long ago I received a link from a friend to a TED talk
called “The Art of Asking” by Amanda Palmer. This
was a remarkable talk by music artist, Amanda Palmer, that demonstrated an
alternative kind of thinking about music fans, sales, and human interaction.
Instead of just selling her music to her listeners, Amanda
tries to connect with them. Rather than having people pay for her music, she
uses social applications to ask for donations while offering her art for free.
The results are astonishing. Amanda has made more money giving her music away
for free than she would having selling it. And at the same time, she has
developed a relationship with her fans that benefits both herself and her
listeners. This is an unprecedented phenomena.
Mobile operators can learn a lot from Amanda. Just as the
music industry and the way artists interact with their fans is changing, the
way operators do business should also be changing.
Now, as LTE becomes increasingly pervasive, operators are
looking for ways to return their massive investment in infrastructure. Some
turn to the promotion of sophisticated pricing plans as a way to increase their
revenues from LTE networks. However, taking an example from Amanda, mobile
operators could generate revenues by engaging with their subscribers, rather
than just focusing on selling data packages. They already provide their
subscribers the means to connect to online content, applications, emails, videos
and all other mobile data activity. And they now have a unique opportunity to
become an integral part of the mobile Internet experience.
By changing their business model, mobile operators can
generate revenues not directly from their subscribers, but indirectly from
revenue-sharing agreements with content providers. It’s a win-win-win
opportunity. Users benefit from more personalized and relevant content; content
providers can promote their content directly to their desired audiences; and
operators generate new revenues while offering their subscribers an improved
and differentiated user experience.
-- Yoav Shay Daniely, Director of Product Management