Today’s mobile operator faces a struggle to recreate a role for itself: To adapt to an environment which has altered dramatically over the past 3 years, and which is continuing to evolve at a disconcerting rate. To do so, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will be obliged to evaluate both the business models under which they currently offer content, and the nature of the partnerships with both Over-The-Top (OTT) providers and service enablers in order to obtain a maximal share of the revenues within this burgeoning space.

As revenues plateau, costs (both CapEx and OpEx) are rising. To meet the demands of consumers, MNOs must upgrade their networks to offer 3.5G and 4G services, thereby paying both for new spectrum and new infrastructure; during this transition (and beyond) they must cope with the surge of traffic engendered by the consumer smartphone boom, which has implications from both a network congestion and cost perspective. Furthermore, as MNOs find themselves obliged to expand both the breadth and depth of their network coverage, they may incur far greater operating costs, ranging from site leasing expenses to electricity costs.

Margins will be squeezed quite dramatically if remedial action is not taken to address data traffic costs; if there is a lack of planning prior to network deployments, resulting in inefficient networks; if decisions are not made to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Worse still, there is the very real prospect that within 4 years, costs could exceed revenues.

This is very much a nightmare scenario.

Thankfully, operators are taking some action to address the issues under discussion in this report. But the fact remains that even with the measures that the MNOs are taking, costs are rising -- and margins are, in most cases, falling. Hence the need to do more; to implement more of the adaptive strategies that are outlined in the full report from Juniper Research: Mobile Operator Business Models, Challenges, Opportunities & Adaptive Strategies 2011-2016.

This information is an excerpt of the white paper Mobile Operator Business Models, Challenges, Opportunities & Adaptive Strategies 2011-2016. For more information, visit Juniper Research at www.juniperresearch.com.