Comverse Launches Mobile Ad Platform

Comverse, which provides communications and billing software to telecom companies, has launched a mobile ad platform for wireless operators worldwide. The Comverse Mobile Advertising Solution will handle ad-serving, campaign management, targeting and reporting on behalf of carriers selling third-party advertising.

The white-label service, announced Monday at the Global System for Mobile Association (GSMA) World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, will place ads both on carrier decks and the mobile Internet, covering formats spanning banners, video, SMS and MMS text-messaging, voice mail and ringback tones.

"We give operators the ability to maximize their ad space and enable them to launch targeted campaigns using all of their inventory," said Meidad Sharon, director of product marketing and business development for mobile advertising at Comverse. With the company already supplying voice, text, and billing software to 500 telecom and wireless providers, Sharon said the company was well-suited to serve up mobile ads as well.

"We're in an excellent position to understand the needs and challenges of operators," he said. In particular, the platform would help carriers to capitalize on the wealth of subscriber data they control to target ads demographically and behaviorally. It would also let them serve interstitial and banners ads off-deck, which represents the bulk of mobile ad inventory.

And with the 2 billion mobile subscribers in 130 countries served by its carrier partners, the collective audience for mobile ads is potentially huge, according to Sharon. Even so, mobile advertising is still in its infancy, with carriers, advertisers, publishers and others scrambling to devise ad models that will spur growth.

ABI Research recently forecast that mobile marketing worldwide will jump from $1.8 billion in 2007 to $24 billion by 2013.

So far, operators have adopted aspects of the Comverse mobile ad service, but none are yet using the full platform. At the time the new platform was announced, however, Sharon said the company was getting a "great response" from carriers at the World Mobile Congress.

In addition to charging a set-up fee for its mobile ad service, Comverse plans to enter into revenue-sharing agreements with operators based on ad dollars coming through the system.

Comverse is a subsidiary of Comverse Technology, which has gained notoriety in the last couple of years for its involvement in the options backdating scandal.

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