While paging carriers work to upgrade their network technology to fit the advanced messaging paradigm, several also are working to upgrade the services available on their networks, namely content.
For about a year now, information content has been available to subscribers for free. The idea initially was to enhance the value of what customers already were paying for service. In addition, the available information was fairly generic and not valuable enough to command an extra monthly fee.
But the industry is preparing to take the next step in content delivery, shifting to a model where the customer will be asked to pay extra for information services. The difference is carriers are preparing content packages that allow the user to customize the type of information sent and the way it is received.
By allowing the customer to personalize information content, the service becomes something unique to that user.
The question remains, however, as to what effect the services will have. Will the content be so compelling it draws new subscribers to the network, much like HBO drew subscribers to cable, or will it merely be a way to stop churn?
Most agree on the need to model content services after the success of Internet portals. Companies like Excite and Yahoo! are popular Internet portal sites where Web users go for information. Once there, users select subjects that interest them and narrow down the vast wealth of information available on the Internet into a usable and valuable format.
The first paid information package out of the gate is Metrocall Inc.’s OnTheGoInfo service, offered today in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore market, with plans to go systemwide by the end of the second quarter.
Metrocall is offering three levels of service, which allow customers to choose from categories organized under eight InfoChannels, including news, business & finance, health, education, weather, lifestyle, sports and entertainment. Each channel contains several sub-categories. The news category, for instance, is broken down into U.S. news, high-tech news, world news and so on.
Metrocall plans to offer three pricing plans that allow customers to choose any six, 10 or 15 sub-categories from any of the eight channels for $3, $6 and $9 a month, respectively.
The service uses the i Kno! architecture platform developed by Motorola Inc., which includes a core set of content providers as well as an over-the-air programming capability and a self-provisioning Web site. Essentially, i Kno! is the Web portal where users may go to select and change their categories.
Paging Network Inc. is expected to launch its own suite of paid information services by mid-year. The company has offered the CNN Interactive news service free of charge for more than a year, grooming customers for the leap to paid service. PageNet is unique in that it plans to offer information services from providers with which it has exclusive agreements, playing the brand card. Other than CNN, PageNet has exclusive agreements with such recognizable names as Forbes, The Golf Channel and, most recently, Bloomberg L.P.
PageNet also has signed an agreement to distribute personalized Internet services from Yahoo!, such as Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Calendar and others. Under the agreement, PageNet subscribers will be able to access the Yahoo! Web portal and set up a personalized calendar to schedule dates and appointments. When those appointments near, the service will page the user with a reminder.
