You may not have heard of Net-mobile yet, but my guess is, you will be hearing about them before long. And there is a high likelihood you are using a service they provide and aren’t aware of because it’s branded by your mobile operator.
Headquartered in Germany, but 87% owned by Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, they got their start with carrier billing platforms in Japan. Google Play and Windows phone purchases can be done directly through smartphones without the need to register with a credit card. The billing goes directly to the subscriber’s mobile billing. Telefonica O2 Germany is an example of a live case study for this solution.
They have live customers globally in 10 countries and of the 30 carriers that Google works with for billing, 50% of this activity goes through Net-mobile. In addition to transaction level analytics of purchases through Google Play, they can help operators to define and offer customized Google-oriented packages to their subscribers. Based on the learnings an operator can achieve through enabling app purchases directly through their billing infrastructure, they also have the opportunity to look at what and how their users purchase and create packages to drive additional purchases through the monthly bill.
Internet TV
Anyscreen is their Internet TV platform that works on any smart device – set top box, smartphone, or tablet. This is a white label product to enable mobile operators to offer their customers an Internet TV solution under their own brand. It’s an end-to-end solution exclusive of the content licenses, which the operators must secure themselves, although they can help an operator through this process if need be.
Next-generation cellular networks and Wi-Fi are supported along with high-definition video and one-click mobile payment functionality for purchasing viewing options via your mobile device. Some operators might choose to do a subscription option or a combination of the two scenarios. There can be a mix of live and pre-recorded content. Net-mobile has their own content delivery network and TV head end in Frankfurt. Anyscreen is live today in Europe with Vodafone Germany. Additionally they work with Telekom Austria and Sunrise and content owners such as Sky and Playboy to help them to achieve their Internet TV goals.
Innovation
Now for the really innovative part. Samsung held a smart TV “hack-a-thon” earlier this year which Net-mobile won. The feedback around their winning solution was so positive they created a commercial solution and hope to have announcement news in the very near future.
So what is so great about this solution? Second-screen social feeds. This takes Anyscreen TV a step further into becoming social TV. Take for example you’re viewing a football match and a side-by-side second social media screen appears. You can see what’s being said on Facebook and Twitter about the game by your friends and key influencers along with what is being posted on Instagram. Game statistics also appear in the feed. If a certain player comes on the field you might also track what his girlfriend is writing or posting during the game.
In a world where telecom operators are in a constant battle with over-the-top players to retain their relevance and not be relegated to simple transport, these are some options that might just help them to maybe win this battle.
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