Messaging as a Platform The Operator Opportunity - Network 2020 Network 2020 - GSMA

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Messaging as a Platform The Operator Opportunity - Network 2020 Network 2020 - GSMA
Network
           2020

           Network
           2020

Messaging as a Platform
The Operator Opportunity
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#network2020
Messaging as a Platform The Operator Opportunity - Network 2020 Network 2020 - GSMA
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                        Network                                              Network
                        2020                                                 2020
                                                                                                                      First Edition February 2017

                        Network
      The GSMA represents the interests of mobile
      operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators                      Network
                                                          The GSMA’s Network 2020 Programme is designed to help
                                                          operators and the wider mobile industry to deliver all-IP

                        2020                                                 2020
      with almost 300 companies in the broader mobile     networks so that everyone benefits regardless of where
      ecosystem, including handset and device makers,     their starting point might be on the journey.
      software companies, equipment providers and         The programme has three key work-streams focused
      internet companies, as well as organisations in     on: The development and deployment of IP services,
      adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces   the evolution of the 4G networks and the 5G Journey,
      industry-leading events such as Mobile World        developing the next generation of mobile technologies
      Congress, Mobile World Congress Shanghai, Mobile    and services.
      World Congress Americas and the Mobile 360
      Series of conferences.                              For more information, please visit the Network 2020
                                                          website at www.gsma.com/network2020
      For more information, please visit the GSMA         Follow Network 2020 on Twitter: #Network2020.
      corporate website at www.gsma.com.

                                                                                                                      Contents
      Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA

                                                                                                                        4
                                                                                                                               What is Messaging as a Platform?
                                                                                                                        6
                                                                                                                               Role of Artificial Intelligence
                                                                                                                        8
                                                                                                                               Chatbots for Business
                                                                                                                        10
                                                                                                                               The Operator Opportunity
                                                                                                                        12
                                                                                                                               The Challenge
                                                                                                                        14
                                                                                                                               Key Principles for MaaP
                                                                                                                        16
                                                                                                                               Building a Successful Ecosystem
                                                                                                                        18
                                                                                                                               Enabling Collaboration and Competition
                                                                                                                        20
                                                                                                                               Use Case Examples
                                                                                                                        24
                                                                                                                               The Value Chain
                                                                                                                        26
                                                                                                                               Monetising MaaP
                                                                                                                        28
                                                                                                                               Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging
                                                                                                                        30
                                                                                                                               GSMA Support
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4                                                                                                                                                                                   5

What is Messaging as a Platform?                                                      MaaP is expected to go mainstream in
                                                                                      the next 6-18 months and represents
                                                                                                                                  five apps see heavy use3. The GSMA’s
                                                                                                                                  vision is to establish a common,
                                                                                      an opportunity for operators to expand      global and interconnected messaging
Mobile messaging is undergoing                customers spend                         their existing SMS A2P businesses by        platform that removes the need for

                                                      85% of their
something of a renaissance with
                                                                                      establishing an advanced and flexible       multiple messaging apps and delivers
the rise of Messaging as a Platform.
                                                                                      MaaP ecosystem that capitalises on          a unified, consistent and engaging user
This is an exciting new area that
                                                                                      their pre-existing customer bases and       experience. Through partnerships and

                                              smartphone
represents an incredible opportunity
                                                                                      key assets such as customer trust and       industry collaboration operators can
for businesses and mobile network
                                                                                      privacy. However, in order to achieve       create a community that can be scaled
operators to increase their
                                                                                      this, they must collaborate with large      to almost two billion users by 2020.
engagement with customers. MaaP               TIME IN APPS                            internet players to help develop new        This report highlights the key steps
enables communications services
                                                                                      value propositions. Operators are well      operators need to take to deploy these
between third party businesses              There are already a number of services
                                                                                      positioned to be part of this next wave     services.
and customers opening up a range            available today such as Apple Siri,
                                                                                      of transformation and the opportunity
of services that utilise chatbots,          Amazon Echo, Wechat, Google
                                                                                      is there for to build partnerships and      1
                                                                                                                                    http://www.gartner.com/imagesrv/summits/docs/na/
Plugins, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and   Assistant and Facebook Messenger,
                                                                                      engage with new entrants in this            customer-360/C360_2011_brochure_FINAL.pdf
industrial applications. This provides      however, the majority, with the notable                                               2
                                                                                                                                    http://www.mobilesquared.co.uk/blog/
                                                                                      emerging space, playing a central
users with direct access to a range of      exception of China’s Wechat, are in                                                   mobilesquareds-latest-databook-says-mobile-
                                                                                      role and helping to shape its future        operators-key-to-unlocking-massive-a2p-messaging-
brands and services from within the         their infancy in terms of customer
                                                                                      development.                                opportunity/
messaging app itself allowing them          reach and capability.                                                                 3
                                                                                                                                    http://www.businessofapps.com/we-spend-84-of-our-
to engage with virtual assistants to                                                  MaaP is an opportunity for operators        time-using-just-five-mobile-applications/
                                            Application–to-Person (A2P)
book flights, buy clothes or make                                                     to reshape and revitalise their
                                            services, are being upgraded by
restaurant reservations without having                                                messaging services and play a
                                            adding richer message functionality
to download multiple apps. It also                                                    central role in the future of IP-based
represents a number of advantages           via RCS and a diverse and more
                                                                                      messaging. According to Nielsen,
for businesses who can offer 24/7           flexible range of functions that can
                                                                                      customers spend 85% of their time
‘always on’ services to customers.          be taken over by chatbots, which
                                                                                      on smartphones in apps but only
Gartner predicts that by 2020 85%           will grow as functionality improves.
of customer interactions will be            A2P SMS provides operators with an
managed without a human1.                   opportunity to migrate ther SMS traffic
                                            to enriched RCS based messaging and                                By 2020
                                                                                                                   85% of customer
                                            then further into chatbots. A2P can be
                                            considered the precursor of chatbots
                                            and the first step in creating a full-
                                            fledged chatbot platform. This is a
                                            huge market - Mobilesquared estimate
                                            the chatbot market to be worth $58.75
                                            billion by 20202.
                                                                                                                   interactions
                                                                                                                     will be managed without a human

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6                                                                                                                                                        7

Role of Artificial Intelligence
The development of artificial intelligence has paved the
way for a rise in the number of virtual assistants that are
helping to make our lives a lot easier and change the way
we interact with businesses.
AI based assistants have the ability
to learn and incorporate information
in their knowledge bases as well
as recognise speech and provide
messages. Indeed, Google estimates
that 50% of all searches will be voice
searches by 20204. Amazon’s digital
assistant, Alexa, for example, can tell
you the news, play music or adjust
your lighting or heating settings via
voice commands. Or Apple’s Siri,
which is used for a range of services
including financial transactions. It is a   This, in turn, has kick-started the
huge growth area that has seen huge         development of chatbot services by
investment from internet giants such        third party organisations opening
as Google, Facebook and Microsoft.          up the number of services available
More than USD$300 million was               to customers. This is no surprise
invested by venture capitalists in          considering the Digital Virtual
AI startups in 20145.                       Assistants market is expected to
                                            be worth USD$15.8 billion in 2021,
                                            according to the consulting firm,
                                            Tractica6.                                                    Digital Virtual assistants market
                                                                                                             is expected to be worth
                                                                                                             USD$15.8in 2021billion
                                            4
                                              https://www.branded3.com/blog/ok-google-give-
                                            stats-voice-search/
                                            5
                                              https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-
                                            03/i-ll-be-back-the-return-of-artificial-intelligence
                                            6
                                              Virtual Digital Assistants: Virtual Agents, Chatbots, and
                                            Virtual Assistants for Consumer and Enterprise Markets
                                            Utilizing Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language
                                            Processing, and Conversational User Interfaces.
                                            Tractica, L.L.C. 2016

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8                                                                                                                                               9

Chatbots for Business
A chatbot is an intelligent ‘agent’ or ‘software robot’
that mimics human conversation to communicate with
customers through a messaging interface using artificial
intelligence. It can help enterprises and service providers
add customer value for comparatively little effort by
helping people to send money, order food or book flights
by using simple chat style interactions. It is a fast-growing
market; developers have built over 30,000 bots in six
months for Facebook Messenger7.
Chatbots represent a tremendous             Opening hours no longer exist;
opportunity for enterprises and             customers are savvier and prefer social
businesses. They provide a simple,          media and messaging platforms to
convenient and interactive way of           organise their lives. They want a less
connecting directly with customers          formal, instant and more personal
on their devices offering a similar         touch from businesses. Chatbots are
experience to conversing with a human       the answer to this and are the present
agent or employee from a service            and future of customer engagement.
based organisation. Chatbots can            They augment existing human staff
be purpose built for any messaging          to fulfil customer demands.
platform and can support businesses in
ways a human team can’t by offering a       According to the consulting firm,
24/7/365 online presence, support and       Tractica, there will be an estimated
direct customer engagement.                  1.8 billion unique, active chatbot
                                            or virtual assistant users by 20218 and
                                                                                                          51% of people expected a
Research by mobile messaging software       a market worth more than $600                                 business to be available to them
                                                                                                              24hrs a day
platform, Ubisend, highlighted the          billion in revenues by 2020.9 This is
changes in customer behaviour in the        an opportunity that operators cannot
internet age. It found that 51% of people   afford to miss.
expected a business to be available to
them 24/7, that 45.8% would rather
                                            7
                                              http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/09/more-
                                            seamless-more-ways-to-share-more-ways-to-buy-                   7days a week
                                                                                                          365 days a year
contact a business through messaging        more-context-introducing-messenger-platform-v1-2/
than email and 49.4% would rather
                                            8
                                              Virtual Digital Assistants: Virtual Agents, Chatbots, and
                                            Virtual Assistants for Consumer and Enterprise Markets
message than phone.                         Utilizing Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language
                                            Processing, and Conversational User Interfaces. Tractica,
                                            L.L.C. 2016
                                            9
                                              Inbenta: http://sjstransky.writerfolio.com/
                                            attachments/81067.pdf
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10                                                                                                                            11

The Operator Opportunity
The user base for major IP messaging services is
projected to exceed four billion10 by the end of the year.
 This is a larger user base than the
 entire social media market and is
 approaching parity with the number of
 unique mobile subscribers worldwide.
 In 2016, the top two over the top
 (OTT) IP messaging services both
 surpassed a billion active users each.
 OTT messaging services are now
 becoming platforms to introduce
 and monetise other services such as
 music, gaming and payments that are      The commercialisation of messaging
 enhanced by the use of chatbots and      platforms has opened up the
 AI. This approach is most evident in     ecosystem to other suppliers. Adjacent
 Asia via providers such as WeChat,       industries such as energy, retail,
 Line and Kakao. With the emergence       automotive, manufacturing and
 of chatbots and AI, Facebook, Apple,     construction have undergone a digital
 Microsoft, Samsung and Amazon            transformation in recent years and are
 have all begun to establish platforms    looking to provide consumers with
 to leverage these new innovations        digital services that enhance their
 choosing to either compete with          user experience on top of existing
 operator messaging businesses or         services as well as improve customer
 partner with them by integrating their   engagement and increased revenues.
 platforms.                               The third quarter of 2015 saw the
                                          largest amount of venture-capital
                                          activity on record in the mobile sector
                                          which was driven by mobile commerce
                                          as new companies and services like
                                          chatbots continued to emerge and
                                          scale rapidly.                                                  Market worth
                                          10
                                            https://www.gsmaintelligence.comresearch/
                                          ?file=8750c0890d2671335ceee4b3c19738c0&download
                                                                                                             USD$74
                                                                                                           by 2021
                                                                                                                    Billion
gsma.com/network2020                                                                         Messaging as a Platform
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The Challenge
The challenge for operators is to seize the opportunity                                  The GSMA’s vision is to establish a
and respond through innovation by reshaping messaging
to build relevant service features for industry partners as                                  “Connected
well as more attractive propositions for their end-users.
                                                                                         standard      or platform”
                                                                                                next to existing OTT
 According to research by analyst
 house, Informa, the rise of OTT
 messaging applications means
                                                                                         “Single Islands”.
 operators can no longer depend on
 person to person SMS revenue, and in
 time A2P SMS revenue will also come
 under pressure. In future both should
 be replaced by launching Advanced
 Messaging and augmenting and
 migrating the A2P business to the new       The large messaging platforms in the
 technical basis. Informa estimates that     market today are proprietary solutions,
 this will be a market worth USD$74          characterised by a few dominant
 billion by 2021.                            players where new entrants find it
                                             difficult to compete. Messaging app
 MaaP is an opportunity for operators        users can only communicate with
 to grow revenue by augmenting and           other users of the same app, forcing
 then migrating their A2P business to        end users to have multiple applications
 a new technical basis that offers new       installed on their devices. The GSMA’s
 capabilities and shares in the revenue      vision is to establish a “Connected
 generated by new business paradigms         standard or platform” next to existing
 such as Artificial Intelligence, chatbots   OTT “single islands”. Operators could
 and in-chat search. If operators do not     then offer their own MaaP service
 respond quickly to this opportunity,        or partner with global platforms to
 they could lose out on this part of the     enable co-operation models with
 communication value chain.                  different third parties. Operators
                                             are well positioned to be part of this
                                             next wave of transformation and
                                             the opportunity is there for them to
                                             build partnerships and engage with
                                             new entrants in this emerging space,
                                             playing a central role and helping to
                                             shape its future development.
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14                                                                                                                   15

Key Principles for MaaP
MaaP will require a paradigm shift in the way operators
work and require closer relationships with partners
and a mindset shift to deal with them as partners and
not vendors. This has implications for business models,
business architecture and customer experience. The
following principles are essential to ensuring Advanced
Messaging emerges as the communications platform
of choice.
•Openness: Universal access              • Reward: Parties in the ecosystem,
  for customers and partners               such as MNOs and partners will
  ensuring all participants can            share the rewards according to
  contribute to and enjoy a                contributed value.
  competitive marketplace with           • Value: commercial agreements will
  simplicity underpinning the              underpin access to MNO MaaP.
  connection and operation               • Transparency: Ensure that
  of the platform.                         participants in the value chain
• Innovation: Increased                    have visibility of the value flows
  competitiveness of new and existing      and benefits accrued to each party.
  services based on messaging            • Privacy: customer privacy and
  bringing innovative new products         the value of the MNO customer
  to market.                               base shall be protected through
• Reach: Realising the value of the        optional anonymity.
  global MNO user base, where any
  chatbot can reach any advanced
  messaging user.
• Quality: Messaging performance
  and partner applications and
  interactions must adhere to the
  highest standards respecting
  customer preferences and privacy.                                              operators working
• Protection: MNOs will retain
  the ability to control access to its
  customers and maintain adherence
                                                                                     in partnership
                                                                                 for benefit of the end user
  to standards.

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Building a Successful Ecosystem
MaaP can’t be created in isolation and requires operators to
develop industry partnerships and work collaboratively with
service providers, internet players and the wider ecosystem
to deliver a business model that can scale globally and
deliver collective long-term commercial success.
 In order to compete with the richness    can generate revenues from this and
 of the experience on other platforms,    for access to the customer. It may
 operators need to collaborate with       be difficult, however, to quantify and
 other players in the content and         account for this value created outside
 devices world in a way that goes         of the messaging client.
 beyond the current vendor-customer
                                          MaaP is ideally placed to act as an
 relationship.
                                          enabler to a potential ecosystem
 Successful platforms have often          of developers and service providers
 prioritised scale over value.            in much the same way as Apple,
 The ecosystem strategy should            Google and Salesforce have with
 focus initially on determining the       their platform business models.
                                                                                                            PAY YOUR
 requirements of the platform, the        By bringing all operators                                         BILLS
 products and services, and the           together behind a single MaaP                    FIND A                                    CHECK THE
 partners and collaborators that will     strategy a community of                          RESTAURANT                                WEATHER
 drive uptake and achieve scale. Once     almost two billion users
                                                                                                           ssaging is th
                                                                                                         Me
 achieved the core offering will emerge   can be created.
 and evolve. As scale develops, the       A community of this

                                                                                                                             en
 focus can build on the initial value     scale gives MaaP the
                                                                                   PLAY                                                      ORDER

                                                                                                                               ew platform
 propositions with network effect         scale to compete
 driving uptake and further creation of   at the global                            GAMES                                                     A TAXI
 value.                                   level.
 The discovery and adoption of
 new business models are critical to
 capturing value. One of the most
 important revenues streams will be in                                                     BOOK                                      PLAY MUSIC
 building or enhancing “user profiles”                                                     A TABLE                                   AND VIDEO
 which will lead to personalised                                                                            MONITOR
 advertising and branding. Operators                                                                        FITNESS

gsma.com/network2020                                                                        Messaging as a Platform
                                                                                                              Framework
#network2020                                                                               The Operator Opportunity

                                                                                                            Value for MNOs
                                                                                                            by customer
                                                                                                            relevance and
Messaging as a Platform The Operator Opportunity - Network 2020 Network 2020 - GSMA
18                                                                                                             19

Enabling Collaboration
and Competition
Ecosystems, particularly around platform business
models, require collaboration. However, the realities
of contracting, on-boarding, knowledge sharing and
technical integration all represent challenges, particularly
for operators that have traditionally operated in a ring-
fenced manner where interoperability dominates over
collaboration and commonality.
Players within ecosystems work both        metered usage charging; accessible
cooperatively and competitively            support and a developer engagement
to support new products, satisfy           programme to communicate, educate
customer needs, and eventually             and motivate.
incorporate the next round of              Collaboration and co-creation within
innovations. Co-operation is the new       the ecosystem allows each participant
business model for the platform            to access skills and capabilities from
generation and where operators act         others to create synergies and achieve
in the role of a platform provider,        scale (the co-operation business
they will need to be subject to the        model). Each participant has to have
same principles of collaboration and       a clear understanding of the role or
competition, no different to third-party   roles they can play and a focus on
platform providers.                        the strategic threats and potential
                                           opportunities that make part-
Successful platforms invest significant    ownership of a large platform business
time and resource into generating          model more valuable than complete
demand side value. Developers, brands      ownership of a small single business
and other demand-side providers            model.
need a simple route to connect with
and utilise the platform. This could
take the shape of a standard approach
for connecting chatbot platforms to
operator networks such as a single
contract for services and access
or other forms such as self-service
or one-stop shop usage models;

gsma.com/network2020                                                                 Messaging as a Platform
#network2020                                                                        The Operator Opportunity
20                                                                                                                                                                   21

                                                                                    • The seller can have a conversation        and insert them into your
Use Case Examples                                                                     with you to find you the best offer
                                                                                      or product.
                                                                                                                                conversation exchange with any
                                                                                                                                contact.
There are a huge number of areas where innovative                                   • Once you have made your choice
third-party services can be supported by chatbots                                     you can confirm and initiate the
or plugins. Here are some examples:                                                   payment within the conversation.
                                                                                    •	Your retailer will keep you updated
                                                                                      with messages to indicate the           Information exchange and media
                                                                                      delivery to you.                        subscriptions
                                                                                    • After you have received your item       • Send a one-off message
Travelling                               Customer Services and Support                you can share a rating and review          to anonymously vote in your
• Query your airline about available     • Send questions and concerns                about the service and the                  favourite TV show
   flights and make a booking through      directly to a company about                purchased item.                         •	Receive confirmation and
   the conversational interface.           your subscription through a 		                                                        a reminder about the next
•	Receive flight check-in reminders,       conversational-based messaging                                                        opportunity to vote.
   change seat or select your meal         interface instead of waiting in a long                                             •	Receive an offer to watch premium
   in advance. Receive boarding 		         phone queue.                             Geo-location and calendar-based              content e.g. pay and watch the
   passes within the conversation        • Compose a message with your 		           services                                     video of the winning song through
   thread as well as flight status 		      request at your convenience and          • Combine location, calendar and             the messaging interface
   notifications.                          receive meaningful feedback in             public APIs to receive information
                                           return.                                    from a chatbot suggesting
                                                                                      times and routes to your next
                                                                                      destination based on the events         Gaming
Mobile Banking                                                                        in your calendar. For example,          • Keep yourself amused with
• Contact your bank and using secure     Resource reservation and Personal            you could receive a message 		            conversation-based games and
  authentication, use financial 		       organisation                                 from the chatbot to let you know          puzzles in a gaming chatbot.
  services with another bank such        • Book a ticket for the cinema,              when you have to get on your way        • Interaction within a game is saved
  as transfer money or request             select your movie, your seat and           to your next event, with directions,      and accessible to be continued at
  account balance.                         finally complete the booking 		            best route, traffic information, and/     your convenience in the messaging
• Inform your bank that you are            by triggering the payment and 		           or public transportation details.         conversation.
  going to a specific foreign location     receiving the ticket (e.g. QR code) in                                             • Communicate with others on the
  beforehand to pre-authorise foreign      your conversation screen.                                                            top scoreboard and pay to keep
  usage of credit cards.                                                                                                        privileges (e.g. gold star for not
• Be reliably contacted by your bank                                                Stickers and other content                  missing a day).
  checking on a suspicious credit card                                              • Browse and download stickers,
  charge. Block the card and obtain      Shopping & Purchasing                         pictures, animations or cartoons
  new one while taking the necessary     • Purchase goods online. Contact the
  fraud reporting steps immediately        seller and explain exactly what you
  from the conversation.                   want.
22                                                                                                                                        23
                                           you could receive a message
                                           from the chatbot to let you know
                                           when you have to get on your way
Intra-company communication                to your next event, with directions,     Fitness
•	Receive messages from a closed           best route, traffic information, and/    • Track fitness using the smartphone’s
   user group such as an intra-		          or public transportation details.           activity data and share this with the
   company communication designed                                                      fitness tracking provider of your
   for employees of the same                                                           choice.
   company.                                                                         •	Receive regular information
• Support confidentiality obligations    Location tracking                             on sports exercises, messages
   i.e. communications are not subject   • Share your location with close ones         of encouragement, health tips
   to data mining etc.                     so that they know where you are.            and recipes etc.
• Initiate a voice call to a number      • Agree on a meeting venue with
   associated with the chatbot owner       friends in a group conversation and
   during the session.                     track each other on your way to the      Non-conversational
                                                                                    use cases
                                           venue.

                                                                                    Mobile messaging services already
Payment                                                                             provide the communication
• Pay for products or services with      To do lists
                                                                                    infrastructure for many other use cases
  end to end encryption within the       • Set up and manage shopping lists
                                                                                    that do not require chatbots,
  messaging app.                           or to-do list within a 1-to-1 or group
                                                                                    for example:-
• These interactions can have              conversation.
  different levels of authentication     • Cross off items once they are
  based on the service (i.e. buying a      purchased or completed and share
  sticker can occur anonymously, but       the list with contacts as desired.
                                                                                    Appointment alerted service
  transacting with your bank account
                                                                                    management
  requires higher levels of security).
                                                                                    • Get reminders on tasks that need to
  Geo-location and calendar-based                                                     be completed.
  services.                              Voting and polls
• Combine location, calendar and         • Set up a poll or quiz for invited
  public APIs to receive information       contacts to participate in.
  from a chatbot suggesting                                                         Promotional codes
  times and routes to your next                                                     •	Receive marketing messages that
  destination based on the events                                                     contain brand logos and images
  in your calendar. For example,         Translation                                  of products as well as promotional
                                         • Translate text in any language as          codes.
                                            you type.
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24                                                                                                                      25

The Value Chain
The user base for major IP messaging services is
projected to exceed four billion11 by the end of the year.
This is a larger user base than the entire social media
market and is approaching parity with the number of
unique mobile subscribers worldwide.

Ensuring openness in the ecosystem         Operators should consider an agreed
provides the opportunity for increased     contractual and technical framework
competition and innovation of new          or set of principles in order to provide
services, especially in cooperation with   a consistent entry point to the MaaP
local and global partners or operators     ecosystem regardless of which operator
who will provide platforms on top          an A2P partner contracts with.
of Advanced Messaging. Operators
are strongly positioned in the value
chain. The chatbot platform can be a
content provider and may provide the
messaging backend to the operator. If
an operator takes the role of a chatbot
Store or A2P partner and distributes
content across other networks, they
must enter into equivalent agreements
with other operators as any other
chatbot platform would do.

gsma.com/network2020                       11
                                              https://www.gsmaintelligence.comresearch/       Messaging as a Platform
#network2020                               ?file=8750c0890d2671335ceee4b3c19738c0&download   The Operator Opportunity
26                                                                                                                                        27

Monetising MaaP
There are two key models for monetising MaaP which are
direct and indirect based revenue models. A direct-based
model is where an operator collects value directly from
a user or content owner either through charging for the
messages or charging for the content of messages. The
indirect model is where the value is collected elsewhere
in the ecosystem, for example by a chatbot, Plugin
developer or AI and a share of the revenue is received
by the operator.
Operators currently enjoy a 100%         to Advanced Messaging. Operators
billing relationship with their          can also successfully build a MaaP
customers and billing is seen as a key   ecosystem capitalising on assets
asset and differentiator for operator    such as customer trust and
based MaaP. By enabling quick and        privacy as well as their
easy payment mechanisms with             larger customer base
low friction, operators can develop      and existing SMS
an additional direct revenue source.     A2P businesses.
With the emergence of new services,
indirect revenue models will need to
coexist with and supplement the direct                                            ORDER A
                                                                     FIND A       TAXI
revenue models. Bilateral commercial
                                                                     RESTAURANT
agreements will, therefore, need to                                                         PAY FOR IT
exist between platform or content
providers and operators as                      BOOK A TABLE
a precondition for access
                                                                                                               BOOK A HOTEL

                                                                                                                              CHECK THE
                                                                                                                              WEATHER

gsma.com/network2020                                                                                      Messaging as a Platform
#network2020                                                                                             The Operator Opportunity
28                                                                                                             29

Universal Profile for Advanced
Messaging
The GSMA’s Universal Profile for Advanced Messaging
(UP) has united mobile operators (MNO), operating
system providers and handset manufacturers behind
a single global specification for IP-based carrier
messaging.
A single, open and common UP              Messaging as a Platform (MaaP)
simplifies and accelerates the adoption   utilises the UP to enable a range
of interoperable communications           of services through the use of
services allowing customers to benefit    chatbots, plugins, AI and third-party
from a richer and more consistent         industrial applications providing
messaging experience regardless of        users with direct access to a range of
what device or network they are on.       brands and services from within the
It also removes the need to download      messaging app itself. MaaP will be a
multiple messaging apps. As this is       key component of the next Universal
adopted around the world customers        Profile release expected in Spring 2017
will benefit from upgraded voice and      providing MNOs and partners with the
SMS services and other enhanced           ability to shape the future
features such as instant messaging,       of messaging.
chat, photo sharing, live video,
video calling and file sharing that
work across any device and on any
network. It is currently supported by
58 operators, OEMs and OS providers
worldwide.

gsma.com/network2020                                                                 Messaging as a Platform
#network2020                                                                        The Operator Opportunity
30                                                                                                             31

The GSMA Support                                                    Making Messaging
The GSMA has a mission to help Advanced
Messaging progress as quickly as possible,
                                                                 as a Platform a reality
rather than be restrained by a rigid and
time-consuming release schedule. Each release                  “Messaging as a Platform offers
will be backwards compatible, ensuring the
advanced messaging apps can interact with                  significant advantages to operators
earlier back-end and handset software. The                           and the wider ecosystem’.
Universal Profile is a key building block in
the construction of an Advanced Messaging
proposition that delivers reliability and reach
                                                                             By establishing a clear ecosystem
without being rigid.                                                       strategy from the outset, MaaP can
                                                                         be successful. However, this requires
By delivering economies of scale and                                          a concerted and unified effort by
interoperability, the Universal Profile will ensure                        operators to move their messaging
mobile operators remain at the heart of the
communications experience. It is the next
                                                                          solutions to the next level and MaaP
generation of messaging and it is the right time                           acts as the launch pad for chatbots
to do it. Over 500 networks, billions of users                             and Plugins but also looks ahead to
from the existing SMS community, Android and                             other core businesses. All ecosystem
other OS users to engage with. Everything is in                              stakeholders must also work as a
place.
                                                                          collective and think creatively about
                                                                                business models, charging and
                                                                        interconnect principles to nurture the
                                                                        MaaP opportunity and help it achieve
                                                                               scale and long-term commercial
                                                                      success. MaaP will be a key component
                                                                             of the next release of the GSMA’s
                                                                          Universal Profile expected in Spring
                                                                       2017 and operators and partners have
                                                                          the ability to be involved and shape
                                                                                      the bright future of MaaP.
                                                                                     To find out more about
                                                                            Network 2020 please go to www.
                                                                                   gsma.com/network2020

gsma.com/network2020                                   Messaging as a Platform
#network2020                                          The Operator Opportunity
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