Kick-starting U.S. mobile data

Cable & Wireless launches mobile Internet solutions for ISPs

It's become common in U.S. wireless circles to bemoan the lack of development of mobile data vis-a-vis its European and Asian counterparts.

And while a lack of uniform technology and a population spread over vast geography are often pointed to as the reasons, few carriers have been able to unlock any of the major secrets holding closed a market that most believe has major revenue potential.

Though Cable & Wireless wasn't the first to commit to the wireless data market, this month it became one of the first large telcos to create a platform that lets ISPs push the market forward.

The Mobile Internet Solutions platform, hosted in C&W's existing data centers, lets ISPs and mobile operators offer customers access to Internet services and customized content such as e-mail, scheduling and news, from existing mobile devices. While similar to InfoSpace and its multiple deals with wireless carriers entering the mobile data market, C&W's platform is more akin to a-Services, its wholesale offering in the application service provider (ASP) arena.

Like a-Services, Mobile Internet Solutions lets an ISP combine its own brand with existing Internet access service, an important distinction in the U.S. market, said Lisa Tomkies, director of mobile and ASP services for C&W.

"The U.S. is at a very interesting stage of development," Tomkies said. "There's a lot of opportunity here. And the good news is that the ISPs are in a position to continue owning the customer."

For ISPs, C&W's platform offers the opportunity to move into the mobile data market without investing in their own infrastructure necessary, Tomkies added. She anticipates ISPs using Mobile Internet Solutions to target enterprise users with large work forces that require access to Internet services and information on the move.

Ironically, with the consternation about the lack of U.S. development, C&W is rolling out the product stateside first.

"There's a lot of over-hype we've witnessed in Europe," Tomkies said. "This is all very early days. This launch proposition is really the beginning."

As with nearly all mobile data services, though, getting the specifics is virtually impossible. In the early stages of the rollout, C&W will offer some basic services. However, with the promise of wireless data largely coming from future services, the company is relying on third party developed applications. C&W already has established relationships with several companies to deliver mobile Internet services.

In July, it announced a strategic alliance with Nokia to develop a wireless Internet platform that will deliver applications and services. In the initial deployment, though, C&W is using Motorola equipment, which also will be used as service is rolled out across the U.S.

Perhaps just as important as establishing the application development platform, C&W is trying to cover as many of the end device options as possible, making Mobile Internet Solutions compatible with circuit-switched and packet-switched configurations on GSM, CDMA and TDMA networks. C&W also anticipates that ISPs will deploy services via Wireless Application Protocol-enabled handsets.

The objective, Tomkies said, is to cast as wide a net as possible when it comes to application development. Part of the problem, she added, is that most users have no idea what they would do with mobile Internet capabilities.

In fact, many industry observers believe that if mobile data has a killer application, it will be something simple that is being overlooked by most developers. Short message service in Europe is just one example, Tomkies said. "It was an experiment that has become a real revenue stream."

Even more troubling to many is the lack of a real target market for mobile data applications. In Asia, for instance, small applications are all the rage with the teen market, though the same can't be said in Europe. And even fewer are willing to bet their business models on the fickle appetites of U.S. teenagers. In fact, C&W setting up a platform gets it out of making many of those tough decisions.

In the corporate environment where many U.S. operators are aiming, the market becomes more complex.

"The big deal with mobile Internet is you've got to personalize it," Tomkies said. "The real money has to be made in the transactional space."

However, some believe the U.S. market is filled with enough variables that mobile data could become yet another technology that doesn't live up to analysts' forecasts. One major concern is the next political administration's third generation policy. But it's more static conditions that give European operators a better chance of developing new services.

"The fact that GSM is everywhere and the wireline infrastructure being less developed in Europe gives wireless carriers a big advantage," said Kevin Maroni, managing general partner for Spectrum Equity Investors. "The geography and the population distribution also make Europe a much easier proposition."

Still, with the U.S. market virtually untapped, carriers see nothing but opportunity.

"It's kind of taking that big leap of faith, but the market is open and waiting to happen," Tomkies said.