The Evolution of a Mobile Services Provider in a Global Context: Upoc as a Case in Point

This paper focuses on a new generation of companies which use the mobile platform for providing a wide variety of services. Such companies represent a further development in redefining the optimal paradigm for innovation on the mobile platform in that they have partly succeeded in shifting the balance of power away from the carriers and toward the users. Moreover, they have adopted a more global stance. Field research was conducted on Upoc, a New York City based mobile services company which is a subsidiary of Dada, an Italian-based provider of Web and mobile entertainment services. Upoc hosts social networking groups for New York City based users, as well as provides ISP services on the mobile platform. Initial findings indicate that Upoc represents the leading edge of a new kind of hybrid mobile content company which provides a platform for locally generated user content as well as global service provisioning. This paper focuses on the changing roles of a locally-based mobile services provider, its business model and the challenges faced by the company in a global context.