Network operators strangling m-commerce

Mobile phone operators are hindering m-commerce by refusing to determine how revenue will be shared between content and application providers.

The association for German ebusiness, Eco, has accused phone operators of hoarding revenues in the m-commerce market and keeping content providers and independent portals out in the cold According to Bettina Horster, a representative for the m-commerce division of Eco, the arrangement has little effect on the B2B sector, but mobile applications are being stifled and consumers are missing out. Horster told silicon.de that operators should concentrate on network access, freeing up the arena for content providers to develop their own revenue streams. In the short term, companies involved in m-commerce have resigned themselves to high losses as there are so few attractive B2C applications on the market. However, Horster predicted that network platforms will be forced to open up the money pool by the advent of UMTS phones. Licence contracts for these, she said, will not include the control of content and applications by the network operators. By Irene Binal, journalist, www.silicon.de