Operators Increasingly Outsourcing Mobile Content Delivery

The outsourcing of content delivery propositions has become big business in Europe according to new research from End2End. The trend of operators choosing outsourced solutions as opposed to in-house is on the increase and statistics show that End2End has emerged as the market leader with a 23% market share. End2End carried out a proprietary survey of 57 European mobile operators across 18 countries in August 2005 and again in January 2006. The results of the survey revealed that 45% of mobile operators are now using outsourced solutions compared with 35% in August 2005.

This statistic also means that 39% of all subscribers are now receiving content on their mobile via an outsourced provider, compared to 30% in August 2005.

Atte Miettinen, Chief Marketing Officer at End2End, commented: "With growing complexity and competition in mobile content, operators of all sizes are partnering with specialist companies to benefit from their expertise, experience and economies of scale to maximise revenues and profitability."

The survey revealed that smaller operators, with less than five million subscribers, which made up a significant share of the market - 61% - are more inclined to outsource than choose an in-house solution. The figure has grown dramatically from 45% in August 2005 to 60% in January 2006.

The larger operators have also been influenced by this phenomenon. The survey indicated a sharp increase in the switch from in-house solutions to outsourced solutions, from 33% in August 2005 to the latest figure of 42%.

Miettinen explained: "We expect the outsourcing trend in content delivery to continue strong in 2006. Outsourcing of content delivery solutions will be closely followed by outsourcing of business processes such as content provider management and content management as more and more operators recognise the concrete value outsourcing can provide them."

On the subject of outsourcing, Matthew Hatton, Senior Analyst, Yankee Group, commented: "There is a clear trend towards network operators outsourcing the management and delivery of their mobile data. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw more and more operators making deals of this kind over the next 12 months."

Posted to the site on 13th February 2006