Ericsson can provide expert assistance in analyzing the business potential of end-user services. Operators can draw on Ericsson’s experience, through its Mobility World developer program, to identify and launch attractive applications that will increase traffic in their networks.

Some of the most successful services in recent years have become immensely popular largely through their innate simplicity. SMS is a prime example of this. It is intuitive to do and users quickly understand the benefits.

Mark Jefford-Baker, business innovation manager at Ericsson Mobility World, says most successful end-user services have four factors in common. “Not only are they easy to use, but they’re built on a business model that creates value for all parties involved,” he says.

“They also evolve what already works well, so they’re developed in line with user needs. Lastly, successful services exceed the target community’s expectations. To achieve this, it’s important to know who you are targeting and what their expectations are.”

Consumer understanding is, therefore, crucial. “At Ericsson, we learn vital lessons on consumer interest and usage via Ericsson ConsumerLab,” Jefford-Baker says. “We also learn through doing – working in end-user innovation projects with customers. It’s one thing to understand what an end user does and says they will do, but another to see what the user does in a new and specific situation.”

One example of this is interactive mobile TV. Ericsson was quick to spot the potential, and in cooperation with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, launched the world’s first live trial of interactive TV. Mobile phone users were able to watch streamed TV programs live, and at the touch of a button interact with the show by voting or chatting with the host or other viewers.

End users were clearly excited by the richer mobile TV experience and it more than doubled the average viewing time. Forty percent of people who downloaded the client used it daily and the most-used feature was chat, despite it being twice the price of voting.

Ericsson is also involved in the cutting-edge of mobile marketing. A recent collaboration with Proximity has seen a successful mobile-marketing campaign developed for Mercedes-Benz’s newly released C-Class model. In the first six months, 12,000 clients were downloaded and 50,000 wallpapers, videos and sounds fetched.

Ericsson can help operators with everything from identifying end-user needs and services, and efficient service delivery environment, to marketing, launching and hosting services.

“We have a deep understanding of what works,” Jefford-Baker says. “We apply this knowledge every day in projects with our customers and partners, piloting and pioneering end-user services.”