Have you begun to think that the Verizon TV spots with the “can you hear me now” dude are getting tiresome?

I have. Verizon takes pains to test the availability of their nationwide network and they have made sure that we all know it. But is it that much better than AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile’s? Maybe a little, but for the most part the ability to make a clear voice call anywhere you want has become a non-differentiating aspect of service. So now what?

This question, in one form or another, is asked of our analysts every day. I believe that a long menu of subscriber-centric services will supplant reliable mobile voice service as the killer network application over the next several years. For this reason, the “crown jewel” asset under an operator’s control will rapidly shift from the network itself to the subscriber-centric data it contains. We define this valuable data as rich subscriber context; and it can generally include information that the network provides such as a user location and their current state of presence. It can also include information about a subscriber’s usage rights, individual preferences, credit worthiness, etc. As most network operators are set up today, the data described is found in various nooks and crannies throughout the various network and application stovepipes. We have begun to explore the strategies available to bring all of those data sources together, either logically or physically, to provide a centralized view of the subscriber.

The appropriate use of rich subscriber context, once/if it can be obtained, offers infinite possibilities for new revenue streams by enabling new services including those enabled by 3rd parties and advertising-based business models. [Check out the U.K. based Blyk if you want to read about an interesting mobile advertising business model which offers a limited amount of free service for its members in exchange for advertising exposure.] Blyk

The question remains….will they get it right?? The possibilities to screw this up are seemingly as numerous as the opportunities to cash in. Will the CEO of a Tier 1 operator have to “pull a Facebook” and send a mass apology to its users for violating their privacy? Will they sell our/their information to highest bidder to create a new revenue stream and the equivalent of mobile spam on our handsets? These are roads that demand to be treaded very lightly but you can almost hear the tanks firing up in the background.