DIMOCO Unveils Top Five Trends in Carrier Billing for 2017

Industry carrier billing expert presents the trends and topics that will drive industry growth and adoption in 2017

VIENNA, 12 December 2016 –DIMOCO, a leading payment institute for carrier billing, today announces the key trends slated to drive the carrier billing market in 2017. Carrier billing offers content owners and merchants the ability to do business with consumers that do not own a credit or debit card by offering them a reliable and simplified payment mechanism. It uses the pre-existing, trusted billing relationship with mobile carriers that enables consumers to make purchases through the operator’s billing system. DIMOCO enables almost 1 billion European subscribers to purchase goods and services from merchant and aggregators with their mobile phones.

The trends that will drive carrier billing market growth and adoption in 2017 are:

  • Digital content consumption is on the rise: Digital content revenues are expected to increase from just under $140 billion worldwide in 2015 to $180 billion in 2017, according to a Juniper Research report. The primary driver is consumer demand for digital content on multiple screens, including connected TVs and in-car entertainment options. Content producers that offer carrier billing as a payment method will win over consumers for the simplicity of the payment option. What categories will drive digital content consumption next year?
    • Gaming will continue to account for the largest share of carrier billing digital content consumption.
    • Video on Demand (VoD) will experience significant growth in the coming year with consumers taking advantage of real-time acquisition and consumption of their entertainment whenever and wherever they are.
    • ePublishing is expected to grow significantly in 2017. This growth can be attributed to an increase in digital book sales.
  • Tech-savvy, always connected consumers looking for better payment options: More industry players in the digital services and digital content arena will choose carrier billing as their preferred payment method. This move will open their market to audiences who are tech-savvy, always-connected and have a low credit card penetration.
  • Flexibility and new subscription models are on the rise: Digital content producers will explore new subscription models, including one-off purchases and daily/weekly/monthly subscription plans that are charged directly to the customer’s phone bill. 
  • New European regulations to open up new opportunity: The new European regulation Payment Services Directive #2 will enable companies to offer additional service transactions to take place via carrier billing. This includes online ticketing, donations via mobile phone, as well as loading of goods such as gift cards. 
  • Physical good carrier billing transactions are on the horizon: While carrier billing has become one of the more popular payment methods for digital service and content transactions, it has yet to be used for purchasing physical goods online. 2017 will be a pivotal year in taking the industry one step closer to this becoming a reality.

About DIMOCO Carrier Billing

DIMOCO is a payment institute for carrier billing enabling almost 1 billion European subscribers to purchase goods and services from merchants and aggregators with their mobile devices which are charged via the operators’ billing system. For more information on DIMOCO Carrier Billing, visit www.dimoco.eu/carrier-billing.html

DIMOCO Unveils Top Trends in A2P Messaging for 2017

A2P messaging expert presents the trends and topics that will drive industry growth and adoption in 2017

VIENNA, 12 December 2016 –DIMOCO – While person-to-person (P2P) text messaging is decreasing due to the growing IP-based messaging market, companies are turning to the benefits of Application-to-Person (A2P) messaging to reach their target group via SMS in a fast, secure and direct way. The A2P SMS market is on the rise, enabling companies to directly reach consumers via a two-way interactive application. By 2018, some 1.7 trillion A2P SMS messages will be sent worldwide, according to Portio Research.

DIMOCO, a leading A2P SMS provider that offers outbound messaging products to enable clients to communicate from their enterprise application to billions of consumers across the globe, today announces the key trends that will foster the A2P message market growth in 2017, including:

  • 2-factor SMS authentication will address security needs – Recent data breaches have raised concerns about user information and data security. To combat this issue head on, businesses will turn to A2P SMS for 2-factor authentication. This second layer of user and account authentication is the most cost-efficient and easiest way for companies to securely share notifications, login confirmations, password resets and updates on status or content shares with users.
  • A2P SMS and IoT – a winning combination – With IoT adoption on the rise, the great value of connected devices and sensors will be in real-time information and alerts. A2P SMS will be adopted as one of the best channels for IoT devices and technologies to communicate with consumers.
  • A2P messaging growth to come from specific markets – Specific markets such as transportation, utilities and even government will interact more actively with customers in 2017. Some of the key verticals to emerge as drivers of A2P message adoption will include:
    • Retail: There is strong opportunity to easily communicate with customers and offer them exclusive vouchers and promo codes, provide updates on product availability or alert them of product recalls.
    • Financial services: As more consumers are opting for paperless communication, companies use A2P SMS to alert customers about billing cycles, transaction alerts, payment notifications, among other uses.
    • Travel: Expect to see more companies adopting A2P SMS to inform clients about booking confirmations or updates to itineraries, to offer simple options for check-in, as well as having this channel to offer promotional and marketing messages targeted to existing customers.

About DIMOCO Mobile Messaging

DIMOCO Messaging provides carrier-grade, high quality messaging products enabling businesses to communicate to their customers on a truly global scale. For more information on DIMOCO Messaging, visit www.dimoco.eu/mobile-messaging.html

Netflix finally caves in to download demands

Consumer power has finally bought Netflix to its knees… well not quite. Netflix will now offer downloadable content much like competitors such as BBC iPlayer in the UK and Amazon’s Prime video service.

Still seen as leading the SVOD service the company has given in to what its audience wants. With recent research from Ovum claiming that Netflix’s current business model is “unsustainable” and “spending on content is out of control,” is this a reminder that in today’s competitive media landscape the audience is still king and will always get what they want… eventually?

Even though today we’re practically connected everywhere we go (Netflix’s previous argument against downloading), is watching content offline of major importance to your on-demand viewing experience?

Share your opinion with us.