INTRODUCTION
The diffusion of mobile services is one of important technological phenomena of the twenty-first century (Dholakia & Dholakia, 2003). According to the International Telecommunication Union,1 the number of mobile service users had exceeded 1.5 billion individual subscribers by early 2005. This represents around one-quarter of the world’s population. The introduction of .mobi, a new top-level domain,2 is expected to further facilitate the usage of mobile services. Because of their high penetration rates, mobile services have received cross-disciplinary academic attention (e.g., Ruhi & Turel, 2005; Serenko & Bontis, 2004; Turel, Serenko & Bontis, 2007; Turel, 2006; Turel & Serenko, 2006; Turel & Yuan, 2006; Turel et al., 2006). While the body of knowledge on mobile services in general is growing (Krogstie, Lyytinen, Opdahl, Pernici, Siau, & Smolander, 2004), there seems to be a gap in our understanding of a basic, yet important service that mobile service providers offer, namely mobile portals (m-portals).
M-portals are wireless Web pages that help wireless users in their interactions with mobile content and services (based on the definition by Clarke & Flaherty, 2003). These are a worthy topic for investigation since, in many cases, they represent the main gate to the mobile Internet and to wireless value-added services (Serenko & Bontis, 2004). Particularly, users of premium wireless services typically employ m-portals to discover and navigate to wireless content such as news briefs, stock quotes, mobile games, and so forth. Given this, m-portals have a strong value proposition (i.e., a unique value-added that an entity offers stakeholders through its operations) for both users and service providers. These value dimensions, which drive the implementation and the use of m-portals, are explored in the subsequent sections.
Despite that a number of publications solely devoted to the topic of m-portals already exist, there are very few works that not only present the concept of mobile portals, but also portray their characteristics and discuss some of the issues associated with their deployment by service providers and employment by individual users. The value proposition of mobile portals was rarely explored in depth, and some motivational factors for developing and using mobile portals still remain unclear. To fill this gap, this article explores value proposition of mobile portals from both a wireless service provider and an individual user perspective. Based on this discussion, two conceptual frameworks are suggested.
The rest of this article is structured as follows. First, the key value drivers of m-portals from a wireless service provider’s viewpoint are portrayed. Second, a framework that depicts the unique attributes of mobile portals and their impact on the value users derive from these services is offered. This framework is then utilized for discussing some of the challenges mobile portal developers and service providers currently face. These obstacles need to be overcome in order for service providers and users to realize the true value of mobile portals.
WHAT ARE MOBILE PORTALS?
As defined earlier, m-portals are wireless Web pages especially designed to ease the navigation and interaction of users with mobile content and services. They are either based on existing Internet resources adjusted to the format of mobile networks or developed from scratch for wireless networks exclusively. Occasionally, m-portals are formed by aggregating several applications together, for example, e-mail, calendars, instant messaging, and content from different information providers in order to combine as much functionality as possible. Usually, mobile portals offer basic information on news, shopping, entertainment, sports, yellow pages, and maps. M-portals can provide access to specific niche content such as health care publications information (Fontelo, Nahin, Liu, Kim, & Ackerman, 2005), public services (Philarou & Lai, 2005), travel services (Koivumaki, 2002), and so forth, or offer general access to the mobile Internet (Jonason & Eliasson, 2001).
Although the field of research pertaining to mobile portals is relatively new, a number of studies have recently investigated the concept of mobile portals from both the technical and system adoption perspectives. From the technical standpoint, scholars have investigated various aspects required for service delivery including the development of the infrastructure required for m-portal services, hypertext languages for wireless content, personalization principles, and device optimization. For example, a context-aware mobile portal was developed (Mandato, Kovacs, Hohl, & Amir-Alikhani, 2002). It automatically adapts to user needs based on explicit preferences and implicit information derived from the content viewed by individuals and is achieved through the incorporation of leading-edge technologies and principles. This allows users to receive customized portal services in real-time at no cost. The usage of mobile agents was also offered as a solution to develop a personalization mechanism that considers both user and device profiles (Samaras & Panayiotou, 2002). From the technology adoption perspective, most scholars are concerned with the acceptance of wireless portals by individuals and organizations. For instance, a conceptual model of m-portal adoption was offered (Serenko & Bontis, 2004) and the role of marketing in the promotion of wireless portals was studied (Blechar, Constantiou, & Damsgaard, 2005).
Despite the differences in research directions, all academics agree that having mobile portals available is not sufficient to ensure the commercial success of this novel technology. As such, m-portals should present strong value proposition for both end users and service providers. The following section discuses the value proposition of mobile portals in detail.
THE VALUE PROPOSITION OF MOBILE PORTALS
M-portals offer various value propositions for both wireless service providers and users. These value dimensions are essential for driving the development, deployment, acceptance and usage of mobile portals by various stakeholders. Value perceptions are a key driver of consumer behavior in terms of services and products in general (Zeithaml, 1988), and with regards to mobile value-added services in particular (Turel & Serenko, 2006; Turel, Serenko, & Bontis, 2007). Service providers are also motivated by value when implementing and offering services (Afuah & Tucci, 2001; Porter, 1980, 1985). To better understand the value of these services for the two key stakeholders, namely, wireless service providers and users, the following two subsections outline some of the key value drivers of m-portals.
Value for Wireless Service Providers
From the wireless service provider perspective, m-portals are important since they enable providers to create a “walled garden” of services,3 direct users to their controlled premium content, and maximize their revenues. The voice communications market has become extremely competitive in most developed countries (Paltridge, 2000). This results in price wars and a steady decline in the average voice-communications based revenue per user (ARPU) (Hatton, 2003; Swain et al., 2003). To stay competitive, wireless service providers have begun offering value-added services (VAS), such as mobile gaming, music downloads, and so forth (Barabee, 2003). Typically, these premium wireless services are facilitated throughbranded m-portals of the service providers. This makes it easy to access these premium services since they are readily accessible from the first screen of a portable device. In contrast, it is relatively difficult to access external Web sites (i.e., outside of the “walled garden”) since it requires more tedious navigation, especially when a 10-button keypad is used for data entry.
M-portals enable service providers to increase their revenues from value-added services due to three unique service characteristics. First, m-portals make it easier to navigate to the desired wireless content because the portal groups its content in a meaningful way (e.g., games, news, finance, etc.). That is, users do not have to search for specific content using the QUERTY keypad. Instead, they can use hierarchical tree menus to navigate through the content by using only the OK button. For example, to reach a specific stock quote, users may choose finance, then select latest stock quotes, browse through the list of stocks and finally click on the preferred one. It should be noted that although usability is considered one of the growth drivers for wireless devices adoption (Guy, 2003), mobile services are still relatively difficult to use and fail to fit various important tasks (Buchanan, Farrant, Marsden, & Pazzani, 2001; Perry & Ballou, 1997). Thus, to help people partially overcome the usability and accessibility barriers of the wireless Internet, service providers offer m-portals.
Second, m-portals enable service providers to direct users to the premium content for which the service providers have revenue sharing. Mobile service providers may not only charge users for pure connectivity services or traffic (per minute in circuit switched second generation networks such as GSM or CDMA, or per kilobyte in packet switched networks such as GPRS or UMTS), but also profit from the actual content. For instance, people may access the premium content of a wireless service provider, such as ringtones and icons, and pay a premium fee. This fee is typically shared between the content aggregator or provider, and the wireless carrier. Therefore, the carrier may gain revenue from two sources: connectivity/traffic fees and premium content charges. The wireless carriers’ share of the content revenue is flexible and may range from 9% to 80% (ARC Group, 2001; MacDonald, 2003).
Third, m-portals enable content quality control. That is, wireless service providers can ensure that the content presented on their portal is appropriate (e.g., no offensive content) and meets their service standards and portfolio of handsets. This is important since unlike the regular Internet, which is mostly free of charge, users of mobile services may pay connectivity, transmission, and premium content fees. In addition, interoperability issues may affect service quality.
Figure 1. A conceptual framework of the value drivers of m-portals from the wireless service provider perspective
For example, a polyphonic ringtone that is converted for the use with a handheld device that supports only simple ringtones may cause incompatibility, lose its value, and lead to customer complaints. Therefore, service providers want to ensure the quality of their offerings. This is especially true since it was empirically shown that value-added services are perceived as the most important dimension of wireless service quality, and that they have a strong positive effect on subscribers’ satisfaction (Kim, Park, & Jeong, 2004). Such a quality control approach was proven successful in the case of i-Mode in Japan (Barnes & Huff, 2003; Jonason & Eliasson, 2001; MacDonald, 2003).
Overall, wireless carriers provide m-portals for quality assurance of premium content, traffic channeling for maximizing their premium revenues, and access control. In addition, m-portals are utilized for easing the wireless Web content search experience for both novice and expert users. This is expected to increase the usage of premium wireless services that, in turn, may affect service providers’ revenues. Figure 1 presents a framework of the value drivers of m-portals from the wireless service provider perspective.
Value for Users
Mobile portals allow subscribers to realize value beyond that delivered by the regular Internet or traditional commerce. Users’ value perceptions are defined as an “overall assessment of the utility of a product (or service) based on perceptions of what is received and what is given” (Zeithaml, 1988, p. 14). Value perceptions are important since they determine customer satisfaction (Anderson & Fornell, 2000; Fornell, Johnson, Anderson, Cha, & Bryant, 1996; Turel & Serenko, 2004), influence brand loyalty (Yang & Peterson, 2004), and affect user acceptance of wireless value-added services (Turel et al., 2007). Particularly, it has been demonstrated that a user’s assessment of the value of wireless value-added services has four dimensions: financial value (i.e., value- for-money), social value (i.e., the enhancement of the social self-concept yielded by the service), emotional value (i.e., the value derived from the affective states generated by the service), and quality/performance value (i.e., the utility derived from quality perceptions and performance expectations) (Turel et al., 2007). Based on strong empirical evidence, the value assessment of m-portals should encapsulate the abovementioned four value dimensions.
It is believed that the ubiquity, localization and personalization of mobile portals differentiate them from other Web portals. As such, these attributes are expected to be key value drivers for mobile users. Ubiquity is the ability of mobile subscribers to access information or services from anywhere at any time, and also, to be reachable at anyplace at any time (Watson, Pitt, Berthon, & Inkhan, 2002). Mobile portals are not limited to a permanent location or time zone, and therefore can support “any time” services. The notion of “any time” in the wireless services context goes beyond simple time issues because it encapsulates simultaneity (Jaureguiberry, 2000). While the wired Internet offers a limited capacity to perform simultaneous tasks (e.g., searching the Internet for a stock quote while walking), mobile portals can facilitate full simultaneity and support the broader “any time” concept. Given the increased ease of use provided by mobile portals through the presentation of efficient hierarchical tree menus, it is also expected that relevant information can be sent or received in a timely manner.
Localization is the presentation of relevant, timely location-specific information. Wireless networks are capable of determining the location of users (Karagiozidis, Markoulidakis, Velentzas, & Kauranne, 2003) and provide location-relevant services based on this information (Barnes, 2003). Services that utilize callers’ location information may include emergency caller location, asset tracking, navigation, location-sensitive wireless promotions, and so forth. Mobile portals can add location-based values to the overall service experience by tailoring service menus to a current user’s location. For example, airport-relevant hyperlinks (e.g., arrivals and departures, check in, transportation from the airport, etc.) may appear on the front page of the portal when the system identifies that the user is located near an airport.
Personalization is the utilization of personal profiles, needs and preferences for providing user-specific information or services over the wireless network. The need for personalization of mobile services is driven by various contextual dispositions; it can lead to cognitive, social and emotional effects (Blom & Monk, 2003). In the context of mobile portals, personalization is relatively easy to implement since most wireless devices are carried and used by a single person. The input for personalizing m-portal services can come from various sources. First, users can build a static profile. For this, they can enter their general preferences through a call center, a registration Web site, or a wireless device. These preferences may include the look and feel of the service and a general interest profile. This list of interests can be translated into the structure of the menu so that top menu items match the user’s interests. Second, the service provider can produce a dynamic profile, based on past user behavior, location data and other contextual inputs. For example, a stock quote that has been frequently viewed by a user can appear on the first page of the portal. Other contextual dimensions, such as time and location, can be added to the user profile. That is, the m-portal may provide a personalized menu only in certain times or locations. For instance, a menu for the retrieval of sports news can be provided only on weekday mornings when a person commutes. Note that this personalized menu approach may substantially improve the ease of use of mobile services because navigating to the desired wireless content by using a handheld device may be much more tedious than similar navigations by using a PC.
It should be noted that it is not easy for wireless service providers to deliver this value proposition to mobile subscribers. While the telecommunication infrastructure is mostly in place, various issues, such as device optimization, interoperability, privacy and security, still need to be overcome before users and service providers are able to fully realize the value proposition of m-portals. Device optimization refers to tailoring the same wireless content to multiple handhelds in an optimal manner. Due to a variety of handheld devices, service providers need to find a way to ensure usability across them. For example, one screen may contain up to 10 lines of content and another up to four lines only. In this case, the service provider needs to decide if a 10-line content item (e.g., news brief) should be summarized or presented with a scroll bar. Interoperability refers to the exchange of content from different networks and devices. For instance, service providers need to ensure that a CHTML4 Web site can be accessed from a GSM handset that supports WAP only. Privacy and security refer to the protection of user personal information and ensuring individuals have full control over their static and dynamic personal usage profiles. This is especially important in the wireless context since service providers have sensitive information such as user location. To summarize these value drivers and potential barriers, Figure 2 depicts the value dimensions of m-portals from a user perspective, taking into account the issues that service providers need to consider.
Figure 2. A conceptual framework of the value drivers of m-portals from the user perspective
SUMMARY
The purpose of this article was to introduce the concept of mobile portals and discuss several current issues associated with the employment of m-portals by individuals. For this, two conceptual frameworks were constructed. The first one refers to the value drivers of m-portals from the service provider perspective. Three drivers that increase service usage and improve profitability are suggested: (1) content control and quality assurance; (2) channeling users to their own premium content; and (3) ease of navigation to wireless premium services. The second framework relates to the value drivers from the end-user perspective. It is argued that mobile portal characteristics, such as ubiquity, localization and personalization, represent value for individuals. The m-portal value is described by financial, emotional, social and quality/performance dimensions. The relationship between m-portal characteristics and user value is moderated by several challenges such as device optimization, interoperability, and privacy/security.
Mobile portals are a novel technology that has become very popular among mobile device users. In order to deliver high-quality m-portal services and to meet customer expectations, providers should pay attention to the academic works emerging in this area. It is hoped that this article may potentially contribute in our understanding of this important phenomenon.
KEY TERMS
Compact Hyper-Text Markup Language (CHTML): A subset of HTML for small portable devices. (http://www. Webopedia.com/TERM/C/cHTML.html)
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS): A standard for wireless communications which runs at speeds up to 115 kilobits per second, compared with current GSM’s (Global System for Mobile Communications) 9.6 kilobits. GPRS, which supports a wide range of bandwidths, is an efficient use of limited bandwidth and is particularly suited for sending and receiving small bursts of data, such as e-mail and Web browsing, as well as large volumes of data. (http://www. Webopedia.com/TERM/G/GPRS.html)
Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM): One of the leading digital cellular systems. GSM uses narrowband TDMA, which allows eight simultaneous calls on the same radio frequency. GSM was first introduced in 1991. (http://www.Webopedia.com/TERM/G/GSM.html)
Mobile Portals (M-Portals): Wireless Web pages especially designed to assist wireless users in their interactions with wireless content and services (based on the definition by Clarke & Flaherty, 2003).
“Walled Garden”: Refers to the content that wireless device users are able to see. The availability and selection of this content is limited by a service provider. (http://www. Webopedia.com/TERM/G/GSM.html)
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP): A secure specification that allows users to access information instantly via handheld wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smart-phones and communicators. (http:// www. Webopedia.com/TERM/W/WAP. html)
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS): A 3G mobile technology that will deliver broadband information at speeds up to 2 Mbit/sec. Besides voice and data, UMTS will deliver audio and video to wireless devices anywhere in the world through fixed, wireless and satellite systems. (http://www.Webopedia.com/TERMU/ UMTS.html)
