Mobile Minute kicked off the new year and the new decade with its first webinar – “Next-Gen Data Services: Adding Value to Traffic” – on February 4. You can access a full replay of the webinar here and on the Mobile Minute page of our website.

The event’s approximately 460 registrants came from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, the U.S., and Canada. Attendees represented a broad cross-section of wireless network operators and other participants in the mobile ecosystem.

FierceWireless Editor Phil Goldstein moderated a panel consisting of three speakers: Fabio Mungo, chief technology officer of Accenture Mobility Operated Services; Scott Lane, director of 4G Product Marketing at Sprint; and Joel Brand, vice president of Product Management at Bytemobile.

Fabio Mungo led off the discussion with an overview of the mobility market, its drivers and the impact of those drivers. He characterized it as a ‘market of mass niches’ rather than a mass market per se, indicating that entertainment and data products would drive the U.S. segment to $200 billion in 2010. Mungo cited the interconnection among multiple devices and applications as a key cause and effect of the ‘always connected lifestyle’. He added that low-cost devices and ubiquitous connectivity will continue to spawn a wealth of new mobile applications and business models.

Scott Lane cited the magnitude of the mobile data revolution as comparable with – or potentially even greater than – the PC and internet revolutions that had preceded it. From the carrier’s perspective, the three critical elements for success are: 1) a network to process and deliver the data traffic; 2) spectrum to provide ample capacity for the network; and 3) devices to deliver value to the consumer. Lane also discussed the details of Sprint’s 4G network build-out based on WiMax technology.

Joel Brand focused his presentation on mobile data rate plans of the future, which should balance the respective needs of consumers, carriers and content providers. He cited the impact of flat-rate pricing on the data traffic explosion and subsequent evaporation of data revenue in proportion to volume, as well as the side effect of network resource monopolization by a small percentage of users. The challenge for carriers is to map rate plans to user needs and preferences and to communicate with their customers in order to build value over time. Brand closed with a brief overview of Bytemobile’s WebGate™ Service, which provides carriers with numerous capabilities to meet this challenge.

The webinar concluded with a robust question-and-answer session in which Mungo, Lane and Brand fielded inquiries ranging from ‘Is it necessary to proxy all traffic through a service delivery platform in order to add value?’ (no) to ‘What specific mobile data applications will generate more revenue in the next four to five years?’ (video). Also, the following poll question was posed to the participants and yielded an interesting mix of responses:

Other Mobile Minute events are being planned for the coming months. We will cover these events on our blog and website as part of our ongoing efforts to provide thought leadership and consultative education to the rapidly evolving mobile internet space.

-Jaishree Subramania

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The third webinar of the year – “Mobile Multimedia: Minimizing Congestion, Maximizing Quality” – was held on July 15. You will find a full replay of the webinar here and will be able to access it later on the Mobile Minute page of our website.

The July 15 drew event visitors from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, the U.S., and Canada. FierceWireless Editor Mike Dano moderated a panel consisting of Craig Mathias, principal of Farpoint Group; Adrian Hall, our Chief Marketing Officer and Joel Brand, our vice president of Product Management.

Craig Mathias opened the session with comments on the central role of video in consumers’ lives and the corresponding market opportunity for mobile multimedia – especially video on demand. He cited a number of mobile applications that are proliferating in our ‘video-driven culture’, including company updates to employees, real-time distribution of business and consumer news, sharing of personal events among family and friends, and marketing and advertising campaigns. He stated Farpoint’s forecast that by 2014, 40% of all mobile consumers will be accessing video on their devices. Craig added that given the current economics of data pricing, capacity and throughput – plus the continued evolution of mobile handsets and multimedia content – wireless carriers will need to build escalating demand for video into their network evolution plans.

Against this backdrop, Joel Brand presented a number of compelling industry and anonymous customer statistics on mobile internet usage today. Multimedia streaming accounts for 30-40% of network data throughput, which is generated by less than 1% of users. Today mobile video constitutes approximately 35% of the total traffic mix and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 131% through 2013. Smartphones are approaching laptops in percentage of video traffic generated, and in certain tier-one networks, video consumption has overtaken web browsing on Apple iPhones. Joel then showed how web and media optimization could reduce peak throughput by up to 50%. Operators can effectively manage excessive data consumption and abusive video usage by a small percentage of users through the intelligent enforcement of fair use policies, which protect network resources without damaging customer relationships.

Adrian Hall pointed the divergence between data growth and data revenue growth and its impact on operators’ profitability as cost per bit continues to rise. Adrian focused on the unique attributes of our Media Optimization solution: just-in-time video delivery that maps streaming to actual consumption, data reduction that downsizes traffic while maintaining high quality, and intelligence that adapts optimization to constantly changing network conditions.

Following Craig Mathias’ presentation, Mike Dano polled the audience on the question of whether operators should enforce fair use policies with their subscribers. The results of the poll were as follows:

Additional Mobile Minute events are being planned for later this year. We will keep you apprised of these and other developments in our ongoing efforts to provide thought leadership and consultative education to our customer and prospect base and the mobile internet industry at large.

-Jaishree Subramania

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The scene in Las Vegas was a bit quieter than in past years, with approximately 1,200 exhibiting companies and 40,000 attendees from across the wireless industry – broadband convergence, enterprise networks, mobile advertising, social networking, mobile entertainment.

While the usual line-up of high-profile product announcements from companies like Apple, Yahoo!, Nokia, and Palm were few and far between, this year’s event was focused on forward-looking innovations and trends.

On a positive note, despite the global economic crisis, the future looks bright for the wireless industry. Dr. Robert Roche, CTIA’s vice president of Research, presented CTIA’s year-end 2008 survey which showcased the continued growth of the mobile ecosystem. To listen to the podcast, click here.

Intelligent transportation was the theme of Day One. Combining mobile technology with transport infrastructures is shaping the future of managing vehicles, loads, and routes to improve safety and reduce vehicle wear, transportation times, and fuel consumption. Dominique Bonte, practice director of Telematics & Navigation for ABI Research, presented cutting-edge developments in the wireless space that are greatly enhancing productivity and efficiency in the enterprise and changing the way we do business around the world.

Mobile health followed as the theme of Day Two. Mobile technology is beginning to reshape the global healthcare landscape. Dr. Jay M. Bernhardt, director of the National Center for Health Marketing at the Center for Disease Control, enlightened the community on this emerging trend and the enormous value proposition for wireless applications in the healthcare industry.

A hot topic throughout CTIA Wireless was environmental responsibility. While going green is an emerging trend across all industries, it began to take hold in wireless at this year’s conference. Various ecosystem players discussed the ways in which they are using alternative energy sources to create more environmentally-friendly communications networks. The Honorable Al Gore took the keynote stage on Day Three to talk about the far-reaching implications of going green for the industry, the economy and the environment.

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As we watch the battle that continues among the different operating systems – Symbian, Windows Mobile, RIM, Palm, Android, and now Apple – and we mull over the rivalry between WiMAX and LTE, are we are getting ready to see the most interesting competition of all – ‘The War of Mobile App Stores’?

The power of the mobile application is well understood. It’s no longer just a ringtone, a wallpaper or a game. Mobile apps have grabbed the attention of consumers and their dollars. A new study from In-Stat projects that the number of mobile app store users will quadruple in the next five years. Already, mobile apps have demonstrated their value as a catalyst for growth in  data services and revenue for carriers.

“The mobile Internet has finally taken off. Now we need to cope with the traffic,” said IDC analyst Scott Ellison.

With its early success, Apple currently leads the app store race. Research In Motion just launched its own app store this week. The handset brands are all building their app stores –Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, et al. Microsoft is expected to launch its applications marketplace later this year. Adobe Systems plans to build a similar marketplace for applications that run on mass-market devices.

However, let’s not forget the most important players of all – the carriers. Around the world, they are delivering value-added services with their app stores while adding value to off-portal traffic.

Everyone is lining up – carriers, handset makers and software companies. On the supply side, the application developers need to gamble and make a few choices. Will carriers ensure that consumers are the ultimate winners?

-Jaishree Subramania

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