Universal Convergence

Eastern Research Access Network Solutions has released informative white-paper on the evolution paths of 3G radio access networks (RAN). Whilst this may be a bit technical for some, it is important to understand some of the dynamics of the wireless world and where the different technologies work together.

 

The white-paper uses a diagram from the UMTS Forum (Figure 1 on page 3) that visually shows the wireless jigsaw puzzle causing so much confusion today. What the diagram does well is show the major uses that wireless network have to address. They are "fixed" location, "walk" (people on the move) and "vehicle" (things moving long distances and quickly).

 

Whilst the UMTS Forum takes a bit of creative license to speculate that 3G needs to fill all these needs in the future, in some ways the technology does work in these areas today, but the fact remains that other types of wireless will work better and be more cost efficient in specific uses. This will happen because customers are demanding lower costs for usage and higher levels of functionality.

 

Easterns Reaserch’s white-paper stipulates a conceptual framework they call the 3C’s – Coverage, Capacity & Convergence. Convergence will play a major part in how we see wireless networks develop. As we are seeing coming into the market now, converged wireless devices are a reality. Moving forward we should see this level of convergence become transparent to the user. In other words the user will have requirements for usage of wireless traffic according to cost & bandwidth. So if a user is at a cafe having a coffee, the device automatically switches voice and data traffic to a "fixed" based wireless system that would be cheaper than a "walk" or "vehicle" one.

 

Whilst planning for the 3Cs is crucial for carriers and wireless operators, the convergence aspect can be operated in partnerships, where companies can focus on their core competencies, and not be distracted by disruptive technologies they believe they need to deploy themselves.

 

 

Technorati Tags – 3g – umts – whitepaper – mobile – convergence – wireless

We had a great turn out yesterday at the AIMIA User Education Campaign presentation to the Australian Mobile Industry. We had over 70 people from various companies including other industry associations, carriers, handset manufacturers, media organisations, mobile content aggregators and mobile application developers. The industry was well represented at the event and it was uplifting to see such a positive response.

 

The presentation highlighted the planning committee’s findings as well as some recommendations on how to take the user education campaign forward. The campaign’s main goal is to educate users to the world of mobile data and content. Highlighting what is available & how to access it.

 

Submissions are now open for those individuals and companies that want to nominate themselves for being part of the steering committee to launch the campaign into the Australian market. If you are interested in participating then send your contact details, a short description on what you or your company can contribute to mobile@aimia.com.au by close of business, Wednesday 6th September 2006. An announcement will be made shortly after that on the companies that make up the steering committee.

 

With strong backing by the industry and full support from the major telcos this campaign could greatly assist customers in being more comfortable with using mobile content.

 

UPDATE: The presentation is now available on the AIMIA site (PDF – 830Kb).

Dan Appelquist, who works for Vodafone in the UK, has some comments on a cnet article about the Mobile Web, but Dan includes two great W3C resource links for anyone looking at developing for the mobile web.

 

Mobile Web Initiative – “The Mobile Web Initiative’s goal is to make browsing the Web from mobile devices a reality”, explains Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the Web. “W3C and mobile industry leaders are working together to improve Web content production and access for mobile users and the greater Web.”

 

Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 – "This document specifies Best Practices for delivering Web content to mobile devices. The principal objective is to improve the user experience of the Web when accessed from such devices. The recommendations refer to delivered content and not to the processes by which it is created, nor to the devices or user agents to which it is delivered. It is primarily directed at creators, maintainers and operators of Web sites. Readers of this document are expected to be familiar with the creation of Web sites, and to have a general familiarity with the technologies involved, such as Web servers and HTTP."

 

Dan is also the Vodafone UK rep for the W3C.

 

Technorati Tags – 3g – mobile web – mobile development – mobile – w3c

Brian White at the Wireless Report doesn’t believe that the RCR Wireless News article on "Long-form MobileTV to hit its stride by 2008" will happen as quickly as RCR states.

 

I say, let the customers using the technology decide. Speculating on what customers will or won’t use MobileTV for is negligible unless you back it with real world trial or usage data. In recent trials that I have blogged about, there are findings that go against how companies thought their customers would initially use the product. An example of this is how in the UK trial in Oxford they found a large percentage of customers were watching MobileTV whilst at home.  

 

Long-form MobileTV (typically viewing times of over 30min) does work just as well as short-form content. The key to MobileTV content is utilising the correct content mix not just for the customer base as a whole, but specific to your high ARPU MobileTV subscribers.

 

MobileTV will take 2 basic forms, passive and interactive. The two types will be heavily biased to customer types and therefore relevance of the content mix delivered to these customers is paramount.

 

Technorati Tags – 3g – mobile tv – mobiletv – mobile content – mobile – convergence

Photo News Today has a pointer to a UK Guardian article where the journalist states that

While I don’t believe that the "war" is quite over yet, this is yet another example of how mainstream media is realising that convergence is the winning battle plan with mobile devices. The mobile phone is becoming widely accepted today as a media entertainment device, just as much as it is a communications one.

 

The mobile phone will never replace the digital camera or the stand alone music/video player completely from the market, but it will take a sizeable share away from entry level type devices.

 

I’ve found with the Nokia N90 that about 30% of my digital photography is now taken with this mobile phone versus using my other digital cameras. Whilst the image quality is not as high as my other digital cameras, the image is perfect for printing or displaying on the TV via a digital media player.

 

Technorati Tags – 3g – digital photography – digital camera – mobile web – mobile – camera phone – convergence

Web 2.0 is bubbling away with many believing that we will see a repeat of the Internet 1.0 meltdown. The fact remains that one of the major differences this time around is the Internet, its users and investors, have all matured with this ever changing market.

 

Where in the past with Internet 1.0 we would have had mainly ideas and proposals going after investment funding, we now see physical sites and services that can be seen and touched by those wishing to delve within these clearer waters of Internet investment.

 

With Web 2.0 heralding in the age of interactivity and social networking, the real driver of the new web is that conversations are leading the way. Whether it is people wanting to socialise with other people, or small businesses extending their online presence, or even enterprises listening and talking to their customers, The 90’s Cluetrain Manifesto mantra of “markets are conversations” has become gospel truth.

 

Internet 2.0 is how businesses should be changing their online strategy to strengthen the relationship with their customers and partners. Key aspects of the technologies driving Blogs, Podcasting & social networks need to be investigated & implemented by businesses to communicate more effectively with people that need to or should be interacting with them.

 

A powerful component of Internet 2.0 is the Mobile Web. The ability to use existing web technologies to access information on a mobile device has grown from the elite geek using their PDA to access information from a static WiFi connection to the 3G world of today where anyone can download rich media information and entertainment at the touch of a mobile interface any where they want to.

 

Businesses today need to investigate what aspects of their products and services should interact at the Mobile Web level. The key driver of implementing this technology should be “conversational” or the ability to enable interactivity versus plain static pages.

 

Relevance to mobile users is paramount. Regurgitating web based content mindlessly through mobile interfaces will only become a barrier to usage. Simplicity is the key and choice for the user in how they access the information mandatory.

 

Businesses need to invoke a convergence strategy across their online realms to include utilising Mobile Web. Online strategies are no longer about having just an online presence, but in its purest form it is the blood flow of the business in the form of live information that can track the company’s performance and more importantly give early warnings of how and when to implement change.

 

Technorati Tags – 3g – web 2.0 – internet 2.0 – mobile web – cluetrain manifesto