This week's formal launch of Ericsson's content provider management service, Operator Payment and Connection Services (OPCS), drew extra attention from mobile network operators (MNOs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). The services address most of the business and technical concerns that arise when operators want to offer premium services to their subscribers.

In order to provide content for subscribers, operators and MVNOs need to set up an interface with content providers and then manage the actual content - which is not as simple as it sounds. Christina Eriksson, Ericsson's sales manager for OPCS, says: “We incorporate our successful IPX (Internet Payment eXchange) solution into the service and leverage on its breadth, scalability and success.”

Ericsson's OPCS becomes a part of the operator's domain and acts as the access manager for all content provider services on behalf of the operator. “This means OPCS, in essence, will be an operator's content management platform,” Eriksson says. “And as such, it can handle both on and off portal content.”

This service offers the following kinds of benefits to both operators and content providers:

• It reduces costs as OPCS takes on the operational resources for this kind of platform, eliminating the need for in-house technical resources. Operators know what the service will cost every month because OPEX is predictable.
• IPX Payment services reach more than two billion mobile subscribers through more than 90 network operators with direct connections. The IPX messaging service is connected to more than 350 network operators and reaches more than 96 percent of all mobile phone users worldwide.
• Easily adapted and integrated components support very short delivery times, which is important for a start-up MVNO that needs to offer mobile services quickly. The timetable for IPX setup and content provider connection can be as short as one month.
• IPX application programming interfaces (APIs) are easy for content providers to connect to, allowing them to launch their services quickly. There are already about 1000 content providers connected to IPX.
• OPCS is a future-proof solution as platform (IPX) development is continuous. So any operator using IPX as a service benefits from advancements in other markets.

Juan Antonio Verde, Director Customer Unit Content and Media in Market Unit Iberia, says: “These benefits aren't hypothetical. We already have customers enjoying the rewards that OPCS offers.

“Spanish mobile operator Yoigo turned to Ericsson for help in deploying and managing its services in order to give its subscribers access to the maximum number of content providers. We offered Yoigo the possibility to delegate to Ericsson all their operations within the premium payment services arena. Thereby, they avoid having to invest in platforms and technical operations in order to manage all the content providers and aggregators. We also help them manage the commercial relationship and the settlement and payment processes.”

Verde says Ericsson has connected more than 90 percent of all content providers within the Spanish market and is achieving very good ratios of SMS premium content downloads. He also cites tremendous success in new technologies such as WAP Premium Services.

As mobile penetration increases, all operators are finding that there is a need for differentiation. Content is not only a good way for operators to distinguish themselves in a competitive market, but it is also a high-margin business, as long as they have an efficient interface for content providers.

Eriksson says: “This is a win-win arrangement for everyone. Content providers can easily sell and get paid for their content, and operators can cut costs while getting immediate access to premium services, and the profits that go with them.”