Page 20 - Mobile World Daily - Day 3
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CONNECTIVITY FIRST | DEVICESCAPE
David Nowicki, CMO, Devicescape
Connectivity First:
An Operator Census
Mobile operators are not alone in and it becomes clear that mobile operators Here’s another perspective shift: Beyond the “Google will buy wholesale
providing wireless connectivity. And are not alone. wider communications sector is a further group connectivity from two
as end users’ connectivity options of wireless connectivity providers, equally operators, connecting
become more diverse, mobile There are MVNOs and resellers, for a start. disruptive in their own way. Businesses customers to whichever
operators must seek out new ways Many may be niche players but by no means providing amenity Wi-Fi for free exist in such provides the better service
to keep themselves relevant. all. As discussions around UK consolidation vast numbers that their continued growth in the moment. It doesn’t
continued in February, Sky and Carphone constitutes a genuine connectivity megatrend. get more disruptive than
Mobile World Congress is where the Warehouse Dixons—both heavyweight that.”
mobile operator community consumer brands in adjacent sectors— Now, I suspect it’s difficult enough for the
convenes to search its soul. To announced plans to enter the UK market with mobile operator community to accept Wi-Fi Smartphone connectivity very definitely
collectively address the big existential virtual offers. First players as entirely legitimate operators. does not begin or end on the cellular network.
questions: What are we? What are we going Businesses offering amenity Wi-Fi probably
to be? In the good old days, when Many markets are evolving to quad-play don’t even register. We believe that end users want an
competition existed only within the service models as cable and fixed broadband integrated wireless service that delivers
community itself, imagination was the sole providers everywhere are adding wireless But this a dangerously restricted, cellular- connectivity everywhere, irrespective of
constraint on discussions. In 2015, a new connectivity to the mix. They’re muscling in centric view. In reality, every consumer- bearer technology. Keen to check we weren’t
reality has entered the building. on what was once the peacefully exclusive facing business that provides amenity Wi- wide of the mark we surveyed hundreds of
preserve of the mobile operator. Fi—from airports, sports arenas and mobile operators for their opinion this time
You can answer those big questions in many shopping malls, right down to the café on the last year: 70% of them agreed with us.
ways. A mobile operator is at once a legally And feverish anticipation is building around corner—is a player in the operator landscape.
obligated licensee, engineering organization, Google’s entry into the U.S. wireless market. Take a look at today’s operator landscape;
retailer, distribution channel, billing engine, Reports suggest Google will buy wholesale Like mobile operators, they are providing a there’s no way 70% of mobile operators are
customer service operation, brand, wholesale connectivity from two operators, connecting valuable connection. Like mobile operators, doing what they said they think is necessary.
dealer, and more. Many have wider customers to whichever provides the better they are actively sought out by consumers It does look, on the other hand, as if powerful
aspirations, their sights set on advertising service in the moment. It simply doesn’t get who want to be connected. And they affect incumbent players from neighbouring sectors
revenues or the Internet of Things. more disruptive than that. the operator landscape on an altogether have spotted an opportunity to take
different scale. advantage of this inertia. And these new
Ask a typical end user, though, and they’ll Wi-Fi will form an additional element of competitors may not even be concerned, in
probably get right to the nub of it, telling you Google’s connectivity mix, one I’d bet will be Because the connections amenity the first instance, by profit.
a mobile operator is a company they pay for fundamentally important. We don’t yet know operators provide are secondary to their core
wireless connectivity. exactly how this will look, but we do know business, the experience available to users is The mobile operator landscape is part of a
So, how does the operator landscape look that traction gained by the ‘Wi-Fi First’ not always first rate. This is tolerated because wider wireless connectivity provider
today? GSMA counts almost 800 mobile service model was one of the key trends of connectivity is free and available where the landscape which we believe will be
operator members, which shakes out at 2014. Initially a means of start-up disruption, user needs it. But it’s a world away, for dominated by players that take a Connectivity
roughly one operator to every ten million Wi-Fi First is now being embraced by larger example, from the experience offered by First approach to service provision. That
people on the planet. It seems like a fairly players. U.S. pay-TV provider Cablevision mobile operators on their networks. landscape is changing fast. The biggest
spacious environment. Indeed, the current provides a recent, high-profile example. question of all for mobile operators today is:
wave of operator consolidation continues to Mobile operators ensure the best available How will they secure their position within it?
gather momentum, so it looks as if the Emerging, alternative wireless service connection (across three generations of
prevailing trend is towards a decrease in their providers, large and small—unrestricted by network technology), deliver network access
total number. legacy networks, investments, and business that is invisible and automated, has in-built
models—view wireless connectivity as bigger security, and requires no user intervention.
Scan the landscape for the wider category than mobile. They view connectivity as a This experience is one of their greatest
of wireless connectivity providers, however, means to an end, and, in so doing, they align assets, and it’s the benchmark for all wireless
themselves more closely with today’s connectivity experiences. But it begins and
smartphone user than mobile operators do. ends on the cellular network.
PAGE 20 Wednesday 4th March MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DAILY 2015 | www.mobileworldcongress.com
