I suspect that most people involved in the mobile industry would acknowledge both the phenomenal growth in mobile internet usage and the increase in relative importance of mobile internet services to wireless carriers. With data revenue growing and mobile internet services becoming a larger slice of that revenue, it becomes obvious why this is of increasing interest to carriers. Also, in mature markets, carriers look to offset the erosion of revenue from traditional voice services.

The opportunities for carriers in the new world of the mobile Internet come with their own challenges. The volume of data that must be carried across the network due to the uptake in mobile internet usage is growing at a significant rate. This uptake may seem like a positive trend that would drive an increase in data revenue. It is only when you realize that the increase in infrastructure investment required to support the data growth outstrips the increase in data revenue that it becomes evident that the current model is unsustainable.

There are a number of options available to address this disparity between cost and revenue. For example, one option would be to move away from the ‘all you can eat’ data tariff approach and introduce tiered pricing for mobile internet services. Another approach would be for carriers to determine how they can effectively add value within the content and media ecosystem in order to create new revenue streams around mobile data.

Considering the options available at a conceptual level is one thing. However, carriers will ultimately need to step through a process of evaluation and decision-making regarding their mobile internet services and how they can most effectively monetize their network assets. For such a process to be effective, it must be informed. The carrier must be able to understand its customers in order to provision mobile internet services to address customer needs - while also delivering a commercially viable product.

This is where most mobile internet services fall short. In the vast majority of cases, visibility of user behavior patterns and content consumption is not available. Even where it is available, the level of detail is insufficient to enable effective decision-making and often limited to the carrier’s on-deck content or oriented toward network-focused metrics. Also, the information is frequently suppositional and based on small sample sets. This should not be the case when the data is carried over the carrier’s own network. So how big an issue is this? Should carriers really be that concerned?

I believe that carriers do have an important role to play in the new world of the mobile Internet and that there is enormous opportunity for them. After all, carriers have the potential for an intimate relationship with their customers through what is arguably the most personal communications channel – the mobile device. The perspective that it is just a matter of time before carriers will need to adopt a low-cost ‘utility’ business model is seriously flawed.

Marketing executives and managers within carriers need to be empowered with information and insight so that they can act, ensuring that the industry makes the most of the opportunity for customer intimacy. In order to seize this opportunity, they must have factual data about their users and what they do on the Internet. This is the key to unlocking business value that will successfully address carriers’ current revenue, cost and profitability challenges.

-Kingsley Harding

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Wireless communications technology has become more practical and cost-effective than wireline methods to connect the unconnected in many markets - particularly in developing economies. Since 2007, equipment manufacturers have been conducting WiMAX pilots in under-connected markets to provide voice (VoIP with IMS) and broadband data services to rural areas – an excellent example of killing two birds with one stone. Today, the number of mobile broadband (HSPA) connections in some countries has surpassed the number of fixed broadband connections. Wireless is now seen as not only a viable but a superior alternative to fixed broadband for many applications.

As HSPA mobile broadband makes its way to the homes of consumers, application features typically designed for mobile handset subscribers must be adapted to the home environment. Some time ago, I visited a country in South Asia to deliver technology information on internet Content Filtering solutions. The telecommunications authority in that country was conducting a study to assess the feasibility of mandating filtering of online content nationwide.

The feasibility study surfaced a problem. Each mobile subscriber is typically identified by the MSISDN embedded in the SIM. The content filtering profile associated with the MSISDN is then applied to the individual subscriber. In the HSPA home broadband scenario, a single MSISDN/SIM inserted in the router is shared by all members of the family, from parents to children. Therefore, the traditional method of identifying users by MSISDN is rendered useless.

Addressing this scenario, Bytemobile’s Solutions Engineering team designed a custom user authentication mechanism to distinguish minors from other family members and apply the appropriate content filtering profile to their internet access. This is just one example of many possible changes that could be required when mobile broadband moves to the home. Bytemobile is keeping abreast of this trend and building application features relevant to today’s requirements in specific markets.

-Kok-Bin Lee

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Whether it means jumping on the Web to check competitor pricing or getting electronic coupons, an annual survey by Deloitte noted that one in five shoppers intended to use their cellular phones to shop this holiday season. Of those, 45% said they would use their phone to research prices, 32% said they would use it to find coupons or read reviews, and 25% said they would make purchases from their phones.

Considering the crowds and long lines at the stores, it’s no wonder that shoppers are turning to their mobile devices as an essential tool for holiday shopping.

Check out the related New York Times article here.

-Stacey Infantino

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Image courtesy of Worldislandinfo.com

Every year, numerous awards in different categories are given to Indonesian mobile network operators in recognition of their outstanding achievements in advancing wireless communication technology. Indosat, one of the country’s largest mobile broadband providers, has received countless awards from the Indonesian telecommunications industry. Most recently, Frost & Sullivan named Indosat as the Mobile Data Service Provider of The Year for the second consecutive year in its annual Frost & Sullivan Telecoms Awards.

In a vast country of over 17,000 islands, wireless communications technology has become the most practical and cost-effective means of bringing voice and data services to previously unconnected areas. Mobile network operators in Indonesia have been aggressively expanding network coverage throughout the country. At the same time, competition to provide the best mobile broadband services to consumers has intensified. Today, the number of mobile broadband (HSPA) connections in Indonesia has surpassed the number of fixed broadband connections.

In a news release dated September 2, 2009, Johnny Swandi Sjam, president director of Indosat, acknowledged that continuous improvement in network performance is critical to meet growing market demand with minimal capital investment. Bytemobile has provided optimization services for Indosat’s mobile data traffic since 2007. In awarding a capacity expansion contract to Motorola, Bytemobile’s reseller partner, Sjam commented: “The optimization solution from Motorola and Bytemobile helps us achieve this goal by fully utilizing existing network resources. Motorola’s expertise and experience in network optimization, combined with Bytemobile’s market-leading technology, brings world-class implementation on both GSM and 3G networks, enabling us to offer advanced, reliable and affordable data services to our customers in a timely manner.”

Consumers’ insatiable hunger for mobile data will continue. In fact, the demand for network bandwidth will far exceed the bandwidth increase that the next generations of cellular technology, 4G and beyond, will be able to provide. Bytemobile’s Optimization and Services Node (OSN) is a carrier-grade solution designed to reduce overall data volume in the mobile network by applying a field-proven combination of intelligent compression techniques and patented data reduction technologies. The OSN helps operators increase network capacity and efficiency and lower network operating costs, while deferring substantial capital expenditures. Their subscribers benefit from improved network performance and enjoy full data access and fast downloads. With the Indosat Accelerator - powered by Bytemobile’s client-server optimization technology and installed on consumers’ laptops - Indosat offers up to 7 times speed-up on existing 3.5G infrastructure.

The mobile broadband market is growing rapidly in the Asia-Pacific region. Bytemobile’s Unison™ Mobile Internet Platform has been validated through field experience with more than 100 mobile network operators in over 50 countries - including 12 of the world’s top 15 tier-one operators. The recently announced increase in the capacity and scalability of the Unison platform to 10 Gbps per chassis has resulted in a ten-fold reduction in hardware, power, cooling, and rack space requirements. For operators, this will further decrease network operating costs and contribute to an environmentally sustainable network environment. The Unison platform and its applications will continue to evolve, driving the mobile internet landscape of the next decade and beyond.

- Kok-Bin Lee

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