How Mobile Carriers Can Navigate the Open-Access World

Another key factor in the move to open-access and third-party mobile applications is the fractured nature of the mobile OS/handset market, which is gating volume and ability to do three-screen content porting. For instance, Apple’s iPhone OS is a one-device pony. Microsoft Corp., meanwhile, has tried desperately, but with little succss, to gain traction for its Windows Mobile OS. And Blackberry only runs on Blackberries. Then there are a host of Linux-based, yet incompatible, approaches, including work from the LiMo Foundation (embraced by Verizon Wireless), Google Inc.’s Linux-based Android platform, plus variants from Trolltech Qtopia, Ubuntu and others.

“A single software platform spanning all smartphones would open the floodgates to a vast number of applications for business and consumers,” said Caroline Gabriel, an analyst at Rethink Research. “If it integrated with the PC platform so much the better, allowing developers large and small to create software once for millions, eventually billions, of devices.”

The quest for a unified platform recently grabbed headlines when rumors emerged — denied as of press time by the respective companies — that Android and the Symbian OS would be folded together into one open-source juggernaut. Worldwide handset leader Nokia (with 66 percent of global market share), recently bought the Symbian OS, upon which most of its devices run, putting it into an open development initiative aimed at interoperability and standardization. Nokia also has made it clear that it would welcome Google’s involvement in its platform development. Android, as yet un-commercialized, still is expected to be a powerhouse in the OS arena, with various carriers and handset manufacturers already signed up to use Google’s stack.

“In such a scenario, Nokia would have achieved its aim of holding the steering wheel for the next-generation handset software, while Google would be able to bring many of its concepts — which support an open PC-style model — into the dominant platform, and achieve the widest possible installed base for its search, advertising and applications services,” said Gabriel. “However, a veiled public invitation is just a small step — a lot of politics and technical work would be necessary to converge the efforts of these usually hostile forces.”

Regardless, for this open-access application explosion to work for operators, operators need to work for it. “Carriers: It is clear that open access will be the regulatory standard,” said Mike Jude, senior analyst at Nemertes Research. “This can be another major sink for advocacy and legal costs, or the industry can work together [for] a workable solution. The longer [resolving the platform issue] is delayed, though, the more turmoil will ensue as every special interest develops its own approach. The impact of open access will be to increase the value of the wireless space tremendously. Once a standard approach is adopted, look for considerable growth in the wireless market.”

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