Given that the past 18 months have seen an explosion in the number of applications that are available to end users - mobile applications, widgets on TVs and PCs, as well as enterprise applications of all types - network operators are compelled to reconsider their business models and look for new streams of revenue to succeed.
As people continue to vigorously adopt a mobile and social lifestyle, it is increasingly important for service providers to move beyond traditional models and embrace an application enablement vision, according to the experts at Alcatel-Lucent.
Finding new sources of sustainable, profitable revenue isn't an option for service providers, but rather a strategic and financial necessity. Working with application and content providers - or ACPs - can give network operators leverage and new capabilities that will increase the relevance of their value chain.
According to Alcatel-Lucent, new partnership structures and business models allow network providers to achieve several common goals: 1) offering greater efficiencies in serving the demand for long tail applications; 2) allowing network providers to tap new sources of innovation spawned by broader development communities; 3) offering improved scale and speed in application delivery and; 4) establish new revenue opportunities both directly and indirectly associated with greater application adoption.
There is no "one-size fits all" approach for network providers to accomplish these objectives, however, the combination of a vision of application enablement and the right business model and can lead to increased market relevancy and, ultimately, better potential to generate new revenue.
