Jinny Software, which supplies messaging and media platforms and mobile advertising solutions to mobile network operators, has released a Whitepaper entitled Understanding the Mobile Advertising Business Model. 
The 3,000-word Whitepaper sets the scene of falling operator revenues and declining ARPUs from traditional voice and data services, as well as regulatory requirements forcing service pricing downwards. It spells out the need for operators to seek alternative revenue streams and explains how mobile advertising offers an exciting new revenue opportunity, though one that is complex and needs to be clearly understood.
Cathal OToole, Jinny Product Manager responsible for the companys work in mobile advertising and author of the white paper, stresses that it is important to understand some of the drivers of the business model of mobile advertising, in order to determine what impact this new revenue source will have on customer ARPUs and operators total revenue streams.
In this new business model, the customer is the advertising industry and the subscriber is the audience, says OToole. Rather than charging subscribers for usage of the telecoms service, the mobile operator will now earn money from the advertisers and advertising/media agencies. The subscribers, in fact, may actually end up paying less as some of their services are subsidised.
The Whitepaper goes on to consider the incentives operators must offer to subscribers in order to ensure they opt in to the advertising campaigns launched by advertisers across a network. It also looks in illustrative detail at the impact of mobile advertising on ARPU, the revenue earned and subsidy paid for SMS, MMS, WAP/HTTP advertising, and the net cash flows per quarter that can be expected by operators.
In relation to ARPU, and taking UK prepaid users as an example, detailed figures explain how the percentage impact of mobile advertising on prepaid ARPUs is likely to be up to three times higher, compared to prepaid/postpaid users combined, with ARPU improvements of between 10% and 20%. 
One key message of the Whitepaper is that operators must choose a mobile advertising solution that can deliver advertising on a variety of media and in a variety of ways. With detailed sections on: What the advertiser pays, The value of targeting, Buying subscriber buy-in, and Analysing the return on investment for the operator, Jinny says the Whitepaper delivers major, objective guidance that will help the mobile and media industries optimise and agree on the most effective ways for both to move forward and utilise this new opportunity, together.
The Whitepaper is available for download here.