Internet-enabled wireless clients are just one part of the picture. For mobile Internet to succeed, companies will need a strategy that also encompasses the network, infrastructure and content. In Feb
Internet-enabled wireless clients are just one part of the picture. For mobile Internet to succeed, companies will need a strategy that also encompasses the network, infrastructure and content. In February this year, Vodafone in Europe, which had previously been taking a pretty relaxed view of the wireless Web, woke up and announced its killer strategy. This wasnt entirely unconnected with the companys need to prove to the shareholders of Germanys Mannesmann that it really knew where the future was at, and could therefore be safely allowed to buy the company - this has since paid dividends.
However, the side effect was of course that Vodafone has presented a detailed picture of how it sees the future. In terms of capitalisation, at least Vodafone is now the biggest wireless company in the world, so its roadmap effectively provides a blueprint of the kinds of wireless data operations were going to see. Vodafones list of allies is pretty comprehensive. Its system will be designed, built and managed by IBM, while Sun-Netscape will be supplying i-Planet products. These will give Vodafone customers a mobile desktop capability - basically allowing their stuff to follow them around. Aside from these infrastructure alliances, Vodafone is also said to be teaming up with Nokia, Ericsson and Psion.
Vodafone followed that up, also on the client side, with a Casio deal. Initially, theres less to this than meets the eye, because although the first products will be out this year, these models will simply be Casio PDAs working with GPRS handsets. Further down the line, the pair intend to co-design colour multimedia wireless palmtops with built-in video cameras and high-quality audio.
On the content side, Vodafone intends to leverage its global customer base to an extent where it could be seen as a content player and/or portal in the same class as AOL. If youre using wireless mobile data while you move around, its natural to expect your phone service provider to provide the connection wherever you are in the world.
From there its a short hop for the phone service provider to furnish you with a handset-friendly portal and unified messaging services. People will find themselves connecting from multiple devices in multiple locations, and because of this theyll need mechanisms to keep some kind of order. Considering the massive advantages operations like Vodafone will have, theyre clearly going to be a worry to the likes of AOL. From the customers perspective, Vodafones wares will be as youd expect. It will include news, email, listings information, travel booking and stock transaction facilities - anything in the way of standard content you think mobile users are likely to want is going to be there.
Theres another point worth noting here. Due to the restricted nature of the phone handset as a platform, portals set up by Vodafone and similar operators will initially, at least, have greater stickiness than is usual on the Web. Users will tend to go where theyre put, largely because their ability to go elsewhere will be limited. Wireless network companies will also have greater resources and expertise in presenting data in a phone-readable form, and theyre the ones likely to be spending money on WAP portals.
For now, wireless service providers
will therefore have considerable ability to decide what kind of content is presented to customers, and this will represent a spectacular change from the way the Web operates today.
Microsoft, we should note, understands the implications of this - why else would it be pushing MSN Mobile Services?
Whichever company wins the fight for client, OS, content or network, theres one guarantee in the mobile world - in a couple of years time mobile phones wont just be a talking point, theyll also be your point of contact with the Web.