The UK’s largest mobile operator EE is stepping-up efforts to  recruit partners for an ‘big data’ trial via its mData unit, as it aims to monetise its vast swathes of user data.

EE, which lays claim to over 27 million subscriptions, wants to sign up a new batch of partners for an upcoming beta test that monitors the behaviours of mobile users – such as what websites they are visiting on their phone, as well as location data – with the resulting information then shared with trial participants so they can better hone their advertising and marketing strategies.

The mobile operator (which also houses the Orange and T-Mobile brands) has been operating the mData unit since before 2013, but is currently trying to woo participants for a number of beta trials  ahead of its fully-fledged launch, which is expected in the latter half of 2014.

EE’s mData unit – which is being marketed with the tag-line “Big data: Essential for big decisions” – profiles the behaviours it observes to help brands understand how different demographic groups engage with media at different points of their day. For example, ‘Which websites are males aged between 16-34 most likely to be using on a Saturday afternoon?’, or ‘what category of websites are mobile users engaging with during their lunch break?’, etc.

Chris Gobby, EE’s head of new business, mData, used a presentation at last week’s IAB Mobile Engage conference to pitch the emerging unit to potential participants, claiming that its services give advertisers the opportunity to plan their online and offline campaigns, and then measure their effectiveness.

Describing some of the insights on offer, he said: “There are some unique [audience] segments in there. Everyone assumes that people just use their phones for Instagram and Facebook, but when you look at the data, there is a lot of different behaviours.”

To further stimulate interest in mData, EE is also presenting a number of case studies, including how  EE helped IKEA attribute an 11% footfall increase in its flagship Welsh outlet to a geo-targeted Facebook ad campaign, as well as how the mobile operator was working with Posterscope so outdoor ad campaigns can be more intelligently planned and tracked.

A pamphlet being used to promote the trial reads: “MData allows s deeper understanding of real consumer behaviour at scale, helping you to understand where your audiences are and how they use their phones while shopping and researching purchases.”

The operator’s mData unit doesn’t offer any mobile advertising delivery services, such as a DSP, but one EE source told this publication that this will be the domain of  Weve – the joint venture company between EE  plus fellow operators O2 and Vodafone, which launched its mobile display ad service earlier this year.

Managing coherent cross-screen campaigns has been one of the key challenges facing advertisers  as third-party cookies (the predominant means of retargeting desktop web users) are largely redundant on mobile devices. With this in mind, mobile operators are often keen to highlight that that their vast swathes of verified first-party data are the best method of effectively engaging with a relevant mobile audience.

EE’s Gobby was presenting at this year’s IAB Mobile Engage , where the hosting trade body also published research demonstrating the scale of the challenges facing the mobile advertising sector, with the study revealing that 30% of the UK’s top-spending FMCG brands have no ‘mobile presence’ whatsoever.

The audit claimed that 46% of the top 50 UK FMCG brands don’t have a mobile friendly site, and also revealed that 22% had a responsive website, with 10% of the sites served on a tablet containing flash software, which means that a flash asset would be served as a back-up image or not show anything at all.

This means the likelihood of attracting ad spend from brands in this industry vertical (one of the highest sounders on advertising) are vastly reduced. The simple reason being, if you don't even have a mobile-optimised site, how likely are you to spend money on a mobile advertising campaign?

Mark Slade, managing director for Opera Mediaworks (the mobile ad network formerly known as 4th Screen Advertising) says: “Those figures are really not great.

“That would be one of the lowest industry sectors [to have mobile optimised properties]. Companies in the entertainment and consumer electronics industries are a lot more progressive.”

Slade states that the (rapidly maturing) mobile advertising sector still requires a lot more investment if it is to reach its potential as a customer acquisition channel.

“You speak to a lot of people and they all say they ‘do mobile’, but that doesn’t always happen that way… One of the things we’re focusing on is showing how our DMP, as we have to show how we can enrich ad requests to compete [to stay on a media plan].”