OXFORD, United Kingdom—The 50 short message service (SMS) content channels being offered by the German cell-phone operator D2 Vodafone are being seen as the precursor for other service providers looking to encourage mobile data traffic use. The Yankee Group claimed that D2 is the most successful operator of premium SMS traffic due to its policy of positively encouraging and rewarding content providers.
According to Yankee, while other German operators have struggled to implement mobile data, D2 has attracted content developers by introducing reverse billing, fast decision making and an open attitude toward promoting data services. “This is what sets D2 apart from its rivals,” said a Yankee researcher.
This drive by D2 to aggressively grow its SMS content channels is in stark contrast to Vodafone’s U.K. subsidiary, which has only managed to launch 12 SMS channels.
A recent study by Yankee said that, despite adopting cell phones more slowly than other Western European countries, Germans have since developed a taste for mobile data services. In 2000, data traffic contributed roughly 11 percent of German mobile operators’ traffic revenues, placing Germany behind only Finland in SMS revenue. While the majority of this traffic was person-to-person SMS, estimates have placed roughly one-third as attributable to premium-content SMS.
