Pardon this somewhat brutal heading. But it was my immediate response after reading about this interesting report by Analysys Mason

In it the authors state that mobile operators strengths and unique assets should be used to build a strong position as a service enabler for mobile content. This as opposed to the trend for the last five years to build an entire in-house mobile content business. With the increased competition in the mobile content provider business with players like Nokia, NewsCorp, Buongiorno, Aspiro etc the operator is picking a battle that might be tough to win. But, with the unique assets of owning the carrier network and end-user billing relationship the operator can become a natural and strong player in the value chain as a service enabler.

I am sure Yanli Suo-Saunders, the lead writer on this report, has done a much better job backed by more data and facts than I could gather. Still this standpoint has been my mantra for a good few years now. Mainly backed by storied from the field and some hard data as well. I sincerely think and have seen proof of that the service enabler role is a place where the mobile operators can thrive in the mobile content business. Some operators are going down this route fast and I am sure we will read success stories very soon from them. Let’s hope it will encourage many followers. The mobile content business will go into overdrive when we have a critical mass of operators being strong service enablers.

AND!!….when we the content and service developers create great content that consumers actually care about. That is where it all starts.