Who said that Telco operators are old school, slow on innovation. ATT and Verizon proved the pundits and critics wrong. Today both ATT and verizon launched mobile social networking applications that provides a unified interface to multiple social networking platforms. ATT calls this app “My Communities” and Verizon has named its app “Social Life”. Welcome to the world of Telco 2.0!
What this launch means is that, operators have realized lately that just being a dumb pipe is not gone help sustain the revenue model long-term. By providing an application that can interface with different social networking platforms, they are providing a utility to the consumers to use more data, messaging(SMS and MMS). This will bring in additional revenue stream from data and messaging. This is in addition to that lucrative $2.99 or $1.49 monthly charge. I’m a little surprised that they are charging users for using the application. They should have let the users download the application for free and make the money from messaging and data package. Oh did I say free. Free is so alien to Operators :-)
Both these apps are powered by Intercasting Corporation , a leading mobile social networking company. So according to intercasting corp., there are some differences between the two deployments. AT&T is offering more features than verizion. I think this is one of the cool companies to watch for. 
This is what verizon has to say about SocialLife
Social networking is fast and spontaneous, which makes it a perfect fit for a wireless phone. SocialLife gives people the opportunity not only to get to all of their social networking communities at once, but to update, communicate and stay in touch with friends,” said Jennifer Byrne, director of digital media at Verizon. “By bringing all of these communities together in one place, SocialLife makes it easier for people to stay connected and up-to-date.
ATT My Communities currently offers couple of social networks interface that include MySpace, the mobile-only community Rabble, blogging sites including LiveJournal and Xanga and the photo-sharing site Photobucket. Using this app, users can upload photos from their phone to social networking sites, view and post comments and perform contact management all in a single interface.
Our social networking applications are among our highest-performing category, and we anticipate sustained interest from consumers as social networks continue to explode in popularity and diversify in purpose," said Mark Collins, vice president of Consumer Products for AT&T's wireless unit. "The My Communities application brings unmatched simplicity, increased functionality and deeper integration to this space, a combination we believe will win over active users and newcomers alike.
Is yahoo again too late for the party, what is going on with their OneConnect. Where does this leave startups like xumii, jibe and juicecaster ?
2 comments:
Looks like Social networking bug has bitten everyone :). Hi I am Meghan who had commented on your "1 year completed" post. I have finally started the blog about Telecom I had planned.Its nothing great, just a modest attempt to understand and discuss whatever I understand in Telecom.
Good luck to you
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