Title: A business model for mobile commerce applications using multimedia messaging service

Authors: Swadesh Kumar Samanta, John Woods, Mohammed Ghanbari

Addresses: School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK. ' School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK. ' School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, CO4 3SQ, UK

Abstract: The current adoption of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) by mobile consumers is far below that predicted when it was initially conceived. There are potentially a number of reasons for this, but most of the research focuses on the growth of person-to-person MMS messages and identifies the high price as the main deterrent. Drawing similarities from two-sided markets in the literature, we present a business model where the mobile operator and the handset manufacturer jointly subsidise the cost of the handset and generate revenue from mobile commerce (m-commerce) applications. The model suggests that an improvement in the current mobile MMS delivery mechanism is required. We show that the improvement can facilitate the introduction of m-commerce applications such as auctions, sale of perishable goods/services, and sale/delivery of multimedia content (e.g., digital music, movie songs and movie clips) through the mobile phone. The model has the potential to generate additional revenue for the operator via applications such as mobile advertisement.

Keywords: improved MMS delivery; mobile advertisements; mobile auctions; mobile commerce; m-commerce; multimedia content delivery; multimedia messaging service; two-sided markets; dynamic charging; business models; messaging services; mobile phones; cell phones; mobile communications.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBIS.2010.032940

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2010 Vol.5 No.4, pp.418 - 439

Published online: 05 May 2010 *

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