Consumers clamour for more choice in mobile services

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 22 May 2008 12:54

Your IT - Mobility

The survey also provides support for Google's vision for the Android phone, an open source platform that gives carriers and manufacturers - and presumably users - considerable flexibility to choose the software that runs on a handset.

Google also successfully pushed for recently released US wireless spectrum to be auctioned on condition that the winning carrier would allow an open choice of handsets and services.

The market for mobile Internet services is growing rapidly (a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent for the number of users), and IBM reckons this has particular implications for device manufacturers.

The company's take is that device makers may be caught out as they move from being partners of the carriers to competitors, and they will also have to compete with established service providers.

"These challenges from portal players and mobile network operators will force MDMs to compete where they excel most by delivering innovation that wows consumers," said Lee.

"Mobile device makers, confronted by numerous challenges to growth and profitability, need to develop new avenues to expand their core offerings. At the moment, the mobile internet market is still somewhat fragmented. But it is unlikely to stay that way for long. The time to act is now."

There are already signs of this happening. Apple's iPhone can play music, but the easiest way of buying tracks is via the iTunes Store - an arrangement that cuts the carriers out of the loop. And more recently we saw the launch of the Nokia Music Store.

Is your hip pocket nerve starting to tingle? It should be - I'll explain why on the final page.

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