A new report by Ovum for DOCOMO Digital says mobile operators could command a $142bn mobile billing market in four years’ time, writes Tim Green from Mobile Money Revolution.
But it says MNOs, vendors and regulators will have to work together to ‘clear barriers’. If they don’t, carrier-driven payments as a share of total m-commerce spend will slump from 4.1 per cent in 2014 to 0.8 per cent in 2020.
The report suggests that a mindset change from all stakeholders, and the use of education and safeguards, will help mobile operators secure a bigger stake in the future of m-commerce.
But it doesn’t say what the barriers are. Here’s a guess: rev shares, universal connections, marketing and regulation to allow more types of products to be bought this way.
Hiroyuki Sato, CEO of DOCOMO Digital, said: “We already have the technology to create interoperable solutions that enable all stakeholders to participate in the future of m-commerce but it’s important that we work together to ensure consumers actually benefit and use them.”
