Hello all,
After reading the M-Services press release more carefully, it occurred to me
that European operators and handset manufacturing might have actually
learned something from the Japanese situation: They are attempting to copy a
valuable part of what made mobile internet services such as i-mode a runaway
success in Japan -- industrial organization and alignment.
Whereas European manufacturers sell their equipment on the free market, to
any operator, in Japan we see groups of manufacturers linked to certain
operators. This basically leaves the design stage of the phones dominated by
the operators in Japan, whereas in Europe manufacturers can act on their
own. All new phones sold by a certain Japanese operator can access almost
all of the services available. Consider the quick (though not recall-free)
rollout of iAppli phones and services.
By letting the GSM Association guide the specification setting process,
Europe hopes to have found a body that phone manufacturers and service
operators will adhere to. The specs-setting through the WAP Forum proved to
be ineffective; phone makers changed the specs of their WAP phones as to
better their competitive advantage (the
"own-phones-link-to-own-gateways-best" syndrome).
So the design stage of the phones is crucial here. The press release states
it clearly: "The M-Services initiative was undertaken by the GSM Association
to enable GPRS users to experience a new level of consistently available
services through the Mobile Internet". In other words: User-oriented
consistency will have to be of utmost importance when designing phones and
services, and we know this already has been the case in Japan.
The question that remains is: Will manufactures such as Nokia, Siemens and
Ericsson comply to any specs set by the GSM Association? If so, we might see
new and compelling services spring up in Europe just as they are operated in
Japan today. No need to worry if that is a Matsushita or a NEC phone you are
holding there: You can truly access that service anytime, anyplace,
anywhere.
Just my two eurocents,
Victor Pikula
[ Did you check the archives? http://www.appelsiini.net/keitai-l/ ]
Received on Sun Jun 17 17:24:24 2001