One interesting aspect is that maybe telcos could rely in some non-duplicable assets in deeply understanding user data, while OTTs like Google and Facebook work on a more superficial layer. But only the latter are able to turn it into customer (and advertiser) value.

This is simply because Telcos are not used to do it. It’s not their job. They have given away their business-critical assets (presence, location…) almost for free and now they are almost out of a very promising business. Which is not only related to ad revenues. Best-in-class user personalisation is also a competitive advantage in delivering the best service in a vertical market. Online sales is now a dominion of Amazon, because they’ve been able to provide exactly what the user wants.

I am not sure – though – that the perfect algorythm will say the final word on this. Nobody like “human” friends of our users are able to understand what he wants. This is why I would bet on facebook rather than Google. But it’s still too close to call

a