2007 was a year of innovation in the mobile Web space. The iPhone proved that mobile Web devices were still capable of near quantum leaps in improvement and innovation, Twitter demonstrated what was possible in the realm of truly network-oriented social software on mobile devices, and Google dramatically improved their mobile Web applications with innovative capabilities throughout the year, particularly with Google Maps Mobile.
However, while the iPhone isn’t quite ready for enterprise use yet (though it will likely get their soon), both Twitter and Google Maps Mobile have become poster children for mobile consumer apps that have had successful cross-over to the business world as enormously useful tools in day to day work.
The Spectrum Auction
At stake is a premium slice of 700 MHz bandwidth that is being freed up as analog TV stations transition to a digital format. Bidders consider the swath of spectrum, which could be used for mobile television or advanced data services for cellphones, so valuable that some have assembled war rooms to plot their strategy.
The auction is scheduled to take place on Jan. 24. The spectrum is being made available thanks to the transition to digital broadcasting by television station owners. It is expected to raise as much as $15 billion for the government.
There appeared to be no major surprises among the list of bidders. Google, bidding as Google Airwaves Inc., previously had announced that it would be participating in the auction, a commitment that made headlines.
Today, wireless operators in the U.S. dictate what mobile phones and services will work on their network and lock in customers with long-term contracts, in return for subsidizing the cost of the phone.
Apple AAPL cut a deal with AT&T in order to bring its iPhone to market, for example.
Google and others, though, lobbied the FCC for the open access rules. Google said it would bid for spectrum if that, and a few other conditions, were met.
Verizon Wireless objected to the rule, but has since surprised the industry by announcing it would open its network to third-party devices and applications that meet certain technical standards.
Verizon was persuaded to open its network by Google’s drive for open access rules and by Google’s recent announcement of Android, an open mobile software platform that Google is developing with 30-plus partners that include big players such as Nokia
If the auction’s open-access goal succeeds, cell phone consumers would enjoy the same flexibility people now have with PCs and the Internet.
You now buy an Internet connection from one company but can attach different computer brands and models to it, as well as run virtually any software application. In the future, you might buy your mobile connection from, say, Verizon Wireless, then pick a BlackBerry handset, run the Skype Internet phone service on it, and load ring tones, music files, TV shows or news clips from different providers. And you could buy such services from providers other than your cell phone carrier and its authorized partners.
Fortunately for consumers, the open-access movement had been picking up steam well before the FCC auction. Last month, Verizon Wireless did an about-face, announcing that it was opening up its network next year to outside devices and applications. Last week, AT&T made a similar pronouncement. Other cell phone companies should join the movement.
And, since there’s a strong chance that the deep-pocketed and entrenched cell phone giants will emerge among the winning bidders, the FCC must watch carefully to make sure their networks are truly opened up.
Google deserves praise for stoking the movement. It was a leading voice in lobbying the FCC to include an open-access rule in the coming auction. The search engine company plans to make a bid, most likely for the open-access slice of spectrum that carries a minimum price tag of $4.6 billion. And Google helped the cause by joining an industry alliance promoting “open” handsets and by releasing its Android software platform, which is designed to make it cheaper and easier for independent developers to create mobile applications.
Both the FCC and winning bidders must ensure that whatever changes occur in the wireless world live up to the auction’s promise of greater competition and innovation.
Mobile Advertising:
Advertisers & marketers nationwide are setting their plans in motion for 2008. Big-name brands will embrace new technologies and adjust their budgets in some surprising ways. And as an entrepreneur, you can use some of these tactics to reach your own audience in the coming year. In 2008, you can expect to see major mobile marketing trends!
A shift from traditional to alternative media
Advertising in newspapers and magazines, and on radio and TV will continue to be marketing staples, but spending in new media will show the biggest growth as advertisers move money into online, mobile and alternative out-of-home advertising. Many marketers are finding alternative media the best way to reach audiences effectively and to yield a measurable ROI.
Important Industry Events:
July: Various industry and interest groups pitched their ideas about spectrum auction rules to the FCC. Advocacy groups such as Public Knowledge and Consumers Union asked the FCC to require that part of the auctioned spectrum be sold with open-access rules attached. Large broadband and wireless providers, meanwhile, argued that placing heavy conditions on the spectrum would decrease its value and would hamper their efforts to create next-generation services.
July 31: The FCC put open-access rules on one-third of the spectrum to be auctioned off, voting to require that the winner of 22 MHz of spectrum allow any wireless devices to connect to the network.
Sept. 14: Verizon sued the FCC over the open-access rules it placed in the spectrum auction. Verizon dropped the suit just over a month later, on Oct. 24.
Nov. 5: Google, Sprint Nextel, Deutsche Telekom and 30 other companies banded together to form the Open Handset Alliance, an industry group dedicated to promoting the use of Android, Google’s Linux-based open platform for mobile devices, in order to “foster innovation on mobile devices and give consumers a far better user experience than much of what is available on today’s mobile platforms.”
Nov. 27: Verizon announced that it plans to give customers the option of connecting to its network through outside devices, marking a departure from its past position on open-access networks.
Google’s “Gphone” Morphs Into Android
Google’s anticipated “Gphone” announcement in November was both less, and more, than what had been long expected. For almost a year, rumors circulated that the online search giant was going to offer an actual phone. Google and its partners ended up unveiling not a device but a Linux-based open software platform, called Android, upon which mobile phones can be built. The idea is that a common platform will allow developers to build applications that can run on devices from many manufacturers on many networks, reducing complexity for both developers and consumers alike. Skeptics were quick to point out that Android might instead add complexity, since developers will have to build applications for it as well as existing platforms. Android-based phones, due out in mid-2008, will face entrenched platforms such as Symbian and Windows Mobile.
The Mobi Blog for Emerging Mobile News 2007
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