By Merav Bahat*, VP Marketing & Business Development,
Flash Networks
Bringing anonymous subscribers into plain view to build customer loyalty They seem unreachable. Those prepaid users that buy a SIM card in a kiosk, leaving behind no trace of identity, preventing any future engagement around recharging, data packages and other products and services. These anonymous smart phone users are a frustration for marketing teams at operators. Indications are the problem will only get worse. Prepaid business for smart phones increased by 91 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period last year in the U.S, according to research firm NPD Group.
But this is just the beginning of the problem. If you add to prepaid users, users that can't be reached by bundled carrier app stores or software (iPhones, especially!) there are a huge number of subscribers who are out of reach from their operators. Where does this leave the marketers who are trying to engage with them?
Many respond with a “scattergun” approach – running massive campaigns in the hope that some customers will respond and make a purchase. However, this method usually results in low response rates and the offers are often perceived as intrusive, which can backfire with a negative brand association. Alternatively operators can create user profiles based on how often they recharge or where they recharge which is something to begin with, but it really is not enough to do effective mobile marketing.
With a new user engagement layer, operators can perform a more detailed analysis of prepaid likes and dislikes based on browsing patterns to determine which offers make the most sense and are most likely to be favorably received. Collecting user data including applications, devices, operating systems, and browsing patterns make prepaid users just as accessible as postpaid. This same solution can also unveil i-phone users, which can be hidden from mobile operators when purchased by third parties. With a new user engagement platform, providing the right message to the right person at the right time, operators can improve results dramatically. Compared with text campaigns, in-browser engagement can ensure delivery, more visibility, allow for multiple actions, and provide better measurements for success. This article will describe the technology behind the user engagement layer, including impact on user quality of experience and examples of how access to more subscribers can provide more revenue generating opportunities for operators.
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*Merav Bahat joined Flash Networks in 2008, bringing with her more than 12 years of marketing, product management and business development experience in the mobile industry. Prior to joining Flash Networks, Merav served as Associated Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the Value Added Services division at Comverse. She also held the position of Director of Marketing for the Voice and Video Applications business unit at Comverse.
ABI Research announced it has evaluated the "..leading vendors for Video, Audio, Web and Data Optimization the Gi-LAN space, and finds Citrix ByteMobile with the most compelling total value proposition, followed by Openwave Mobility and Ericsson. ABI Research finds web and video optimization performance as mainly determined by the x86 architecture, and the vendors differentiate along the lines of packaging and the depth of value adding features such as monetization, big data analytics and traffic management bundles.
Joe Hoffman [pictured], Practice Director, ABI Research said: “Nobody buys just video optimization, and now that the fundamental technologies are commoditized table stakes, we enrich the evaluation to consider the total value proposition including analytics and monetization, When an operator buys into one of these solutions, it is economically efficient to consider the big picture bundle.” 
Liam Galin [pictured], President & CEO, Flash Networks said: “What we actually do is allow operators to partner with OTT players by offering them the ability to appear on the mobile browser in the right context and at the right time in a clientless way without the need for any download. 
Nokia Networks announced it ".. has signed a partnership agreement with Flash Networks to include Flash Networks’ Harmony™ Gateway [see chart below] as part of its mobile broadband core network offering. The market leading solution [see "Flash Networks (40%) and Citrix (30%) Lead the Mobile Optimization Market" - here] enables operators to optimize video and web traffic for an improved user experience, including faster web browsing and downloads, smoother video viewing, and content control services. 
Thorsten Robrecht [pictured], VP, Head of Product Management, Nokia Networks said: “With the addition of Flash Networks’ offerings into our mobile broadband portfolio, we create a significant value-add and enable mobile operators to maintain a competitive edge by providing the fastest network possible while handling the dynamic growth in mobile data”.
Further consolidation is expected this week in the video optimization market.
A new report of the video optimization market, by Patrick Lopez [pictured], Founder and CEO at {Core Analysis} finds that "The market trend for the segment reaffirms its maturity. Like last year, the summer has been quiet in term of activity while spring and the fall remain the high RFx quarters. We have recently seen two large groups select their vendor in the space (Telenor and Orange), more or less wrapping up the tier one group selection process for this cycle in mature markets. Growth in this segment now comes from Latin America and South East Asia, where many groups (Singtel, America Movil, ...) have yet to formulate / finalize a strategy in the space".
Ronald Gruia [pictured], Director at Frost & Sullivan, covering emerging telecoms, analyzes in an article to The Street who is next on Oracle's acquisition list, following Acme Packet and Tekelec - "Oracle management hinted at financial services and retail as other verticals the company would delve deeper into via innovation or acquisition. However, I believe that the company will further bolster its telecom stack. Here are a few possibilities:
Merav Bahat (pictured), VP Marketing and Business Development, said: "Mobile operators are currently in a position to share valuable information about subscriber preferences that can unlock the key to realizing the potential of mobile advertising”
*Merav Bahat joined Flash Networks in 2008, bringing with her more than 12 years of marketing, product management and business development experience in the mobile industry. Prior to joining Flash Networks, Merav served as Associated Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the Value Added Services division at Comverse. She also held the position of Director of Marketing for the Voice and Video Applications business unit at Comverse.
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