A frustrating twist is that despite their relative lack of innovation (when compared to Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.), no one has access to more subscriber information than CSPs; they are literally sitting on a goldmine. And as a result of CSPs' inaction, over-the-top (OTT) players are finding ways to take their personalized web experiences to the mobile world. In fact, Google already leverages a mobile analytics platform that pulls data from Android devices, determines location through triangulation, and makes this data available to app developers and ostensibly third-parties. Apple has a similar program in place. 

Personalization Boosts Revenue

Personalization doesn't just boost the customer experience, it has been shown to increases revenue as well. This was a lesson learned in the early days of the World Wide Web. During the first internet boom, advertising was either static, or token dynamic (rotating ads served from a static repository). As the inefficiency of this advertising model became clear, banner ad rates plummeted and the business of advertising on the internet underwent a mandatory reformation. Now, internet advertising is highly personalized, much more effective, and has been effectively monetized. For instance, I am an avid guitar player, and Google knows this. When I use Gmail, I am served ads for guitar repair shops in my neighborhood, which is not only useful and relevant, but it has often resulted in a sale, or at least a click-thru and genuine interest. On the other hand, I have never once been served a relevant ad from my CSP through my mobile phone. 

Taking these concepts a step further, personalization strategies have been effectively applied across numerous entertainment and communications service models. Tweaked for personalization, everything from news feeds to music channels and video can create more revenue for CSPs. As you can see in figure one below, data from Digitalsmiths reveals that personalized video-on-demand offerings result in significantly higher revenue (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1- The Effect of Personalized Video on Revenue
Source: Digitalsmiths