WASHINGTON—Wireless industry trade association CTIA is hoping to spur direct-to-consumer revenues by expanding the industry’s short code program.
The industry group, along with short-code administrator NeuStar Inc., announced open registration for six-digit short codes, which allow mobile users to access content or services by sending a key word or phrase to the code. The move allows businesses more flexibility in creating memorable short codes—a music label could use the code HIPHOP, for instance—and increases the number of available codes tenfold. The previously established short-code program only supported five-digit codes.
“The expansion of our [common short code] program is just another example of how wireless is revolutionizing the way we communicate and connect with the world around us,” said Steve Largent, CTIA’s chief executive officer. “Only wireless can offer businesses the ability to meet their customers on the move, and with this announcement even more enterprises can enter the game.”
Wireless subscribers can send a message to a short code in order to join chat services or to access content. Content providers such as VeriSign Inc.’s Jamster have generated substantial revenues in recent years selling ringtones and other content with short codes.
But while short codes have gained acceptance in Europe, where text messaging is far more common, U.S. consumers have been slow to embrace the concept. One recent study commissioned by startup Zoove Corp.—which markets a competing service—found that only 47 percent of mobile users know how to send a text message to a short code, and 85 percent of those users find the process too difficult or time-consuming for practical use.
Some believe short codes will become popular among U.S. subscribers as mainstream media companies and other brands increasingly target consumers on their mobile phones. A movie studio could use short codes to distribute advance clips of a film in an effort to create a buzz around the movie before its release.
But others believe short code usage will languish as content providers and marketing companies look to Bluetooth and other technologies to distribute content and create brand awareness.
“We’ve seen significant growth in the interest in SMS short codes (in Europe),” said Atte Miettinen, chief marketing officer of End2End VAS ApS, a Danish provider of content management and messaging services. “In the U.S., we’ve seen a lot of interest, but I think there have been issues holding back the development of the market. In the U.S., the operator wants to be in full control over what’s happening; therefore, the market has developed a lot slower than it has in Europe.”
