UK’s big three combine for m-commerce services

M-payments, advertising, commerce, marketing all under one roof

The UK’s three largest operators have announced their intention to combine their m-commerce activities into a single joint venture.

Everything Everywhere, Telefonica UK and Vodafone UK want to create a joint venture before the end of the year that will act as a single point of contact for marketers, banks, retailers and anyone else that wants to create a mobile commerce service.

A release from the operators said that the JV would bring together the operators’ development efforts in NFC, for payments and other services, as well as provide a single contact point for advertisers, media agencies and retailers looking to reach consumers on their mobile phones. The JV will enable them to book advertising space and create campaigns as well as provide offers, coupons and loyalty cards which can be stored on the phone and redeemed in shops. For consumers, the JV means that they will be able to receive discounts and offers from brands that are relevant to them and that they want to receive.

The operators said that they would continue to compete, but base their services on “the open platform infrastructure provided by the JV”.

There are lots of CEO-type quotes about the brave new world of m-commerce that you can read here .

Meanwhile, if you think we’ve been around this course before – you might be half-right. The JV has echoes of a much grander (ie not just the UK) attempted alliance – SIMPAY – that folded six years ago when T-Mobile decided it was better off out of it.

Rather marvellously, Vodafone’s UK CEO Guy Laurence was director of consumer marketing management at Vodafone when Simpay was formed, and was Vodafone’s point man for Simpay at its final ever press conference before it folded. Perhaps that’s an itch he’s been scratching at for years.

Some intitial questions for the operators are:
Why the cross-operator approach – and why now? What exactly is being combined?
Is there a danger a JV will slow development rather than speed it up?
How will this “open platform” approach work in terms of their competing “own brand” services such as O2’s and Orange’s shiny new mobile money services.
Where is 3 UK?

If you’ve got others, then leave them in the comments or drop me a line at keithd(@)mobileeurope.co.uk or tweet at @keithdyer (twitter link). There’s a press call at 1pm – we’ll see if we can get your question answered!