The telemedia industry has long been one of entrepreneurs and has thrived on turning great ideas or technology innovations into money making services. Here in 2018, things are no different and the industry offers great opportunities to those with ideas and those looking to invest.
At this year’s World Telemedia Show on 8-10 October in Marbella, show organisers are hosting two invitation only lunches that aim to connect investors with those with great ideas or businesses that need to take that next step.
Focussing on value added services (VAS), these lunches will put buyers, sellers, investors and mentors all in touch with each other over a 5-star luncheon where three pitches per lunch will be made.
Proposals should be submitted to Jarvis@wtevent.co.uk no later than 21 July 2018
What makes a good VAS?
So what makes for a good value added service? Well, telcos want third-parties to create innovative and interesting services that have mass appeal or which can tap into a lucrative, under-served niche.
In the digital economy, the scope for VAS is huge, but what makes a winner? According to John Strand of Strand Consult in his report OneAPI – Next Generation Value Added Services in the Mobile industry, a good VAS has several components.
Firstly, it has to work across the whole eco-system and not be limited in terms of platforms or devices. It is also vital that VAS works not only on mobile but also on other devices that these days also connect to mobile networks. A good VAS also leverages as many aspects of the telco’s platform as possible and, naturally, brings added value and revenue.
Where is VAS heading?
Increasingly, with the proliferation of mobile services, there is a growing move towards adding value to the mobile world. Typically, we are seeing VAS move away from some of the services of old that connected people – chat, dating etc – towards connecting people with services.
Music, movies, TV and media are key areas where there has been considerable moves to VAS. Spotify, Netflix and a range of news services have risen to the top in recent times and are clearly very lucrative big boys in the market.
Similarly, there are new mobile VAS services coming along around transport, ticketing and motoring, all of which are the next steps in what value added services offer the telecoms market.
What are the telemedia VAS opportunities?
For telemedia there is much to be found in how its existing technologies around messaging and billing in particular that can be brought to bear on these established and emerging mobile VAS offerings.
Increasingly, offering content – be it music, movies, or media – on mobile needs to be monetised. As advertising models start to crumble, many are turning to subscriptions. Consumers already embracing subscription models to the services that they want to engage with. Witness how Netflix has flourished using this model.
This is a huge opportunity for telemedia companies. They can apply their billing and messaging nous to help engage and charge consumers for services as they use them. Thanks to PSD2 that can be done for many non-physical goods with a couple of clicks.
This sort of model is increasingly popular and offers a massive opportunity to investors. Companies in the sector that have perfected this flow or which have the tech but need some help to monetise it in new sectors are ripe for investment – and these are the kind of companies (and more!) that you will meet at the VAS pitches.
So let’s hear from those out there with great ideas or great businesses looking for a leg up.
Proposals should be submitted to Jarvis@wtevent.co.uk no later than 21 July 2018
