telecom

From 2015’s ad tech gold rush to today’s cautious comeback, telcos are once again testing whether they can turn subscriber data into ad dollars – this time with privacy as the selling point.

Tapad has tapped a new CEO. Are Traasdahl will step down as Tapad’s CEO, effective immediately, the company said Thursday. He will be replaced by Sigvart Voss Eriksen, a Telenor exec who’s been with the operator for more than 15 years, most recently as head of advertising technology. Telenor, a Norwegian telco with more than […]

It’s been a busy 10 months since AdExchanger published its inaugural Marketer’s Guide to Cross-Device Identity. Since then the market has seen significant developments, including technology evolution, merger activity and shots across the bow from government regulators.   Below, we pick up where we left off with an important update to our overview of the […]

[pullquote][/pullquote]Telcos continue to be big ad tech acquirers. Norwegian mobile carrier Telenor on Monday snapped up cross-device company Tapad for $360 million. Tapad is one of the two largest cross-device vendors in the space; Drawbridge is the other. It’s a move somewhat reminiscent of the AOL/Verizon deal, but with more global scale, said Tapad CEO […]

Ad blocking isn’t the only route to revenue for telcos. Sprint-owned Boost Mobile announced Tuesday that it had inked a deal with Unlockd, a mobile platform that helps telcos reward subscribers for viewing ads on their lock screen. It’s a move that’s nearly the opposite of Caribbean carrier Digicel’s arrangement with Shine to block ads […]

Carriers are looking for additional sources of cash (see the AOL/Verizon merger), and zeotap, a Berlin-based platform that helps mobile network operators monetize their data, is angling to capitalize on that need. To do that, the company will use the majority of its $6 million in Series A, announced Tuesday, to fund international expansion into […]

Mobile carriers don’t lack for data. Consumption habits, location, usage, email address, physical address, behavior – it’s all there in deterministic black and white. But the mobile ads business hasn’t turned out to be all that friendly a place for the telcos, especially in the United States, where privacy advocates are keeping a wary eye. […]

Under two separate deals that took place this week, Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon and Vodafone took steps that speak to the companies’ expectations for the smartphone market and the telecom industry as a whole. Microsoft’s decision to acquire Nokia’s devices and services division could help it shore up its place in the smartphone ecosystem while Verizon […]