GSMA bets $1 billion on laptop 3G

The GSM Association plans to invest $1 billion in the next year to create a unified brand for embedded 3G in laptop and notebook computers — an effort to raise consumer awareness of 3G broadband to the level of that of Wi-Fi.

Just as the Wi-Fi Alliance has created a single symbol and brand to denote universal WLAN access, the GSMA plans to create such a trademark for high-speed packet access (HSPA)–embedded devices. Simply called “Mobile Broadband,” the icon features a silhouette of two birds over the Mobile Broadband logo. Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer for the GSMA, said only devices with UMTS/HSPA chipsets will feature the logo today, but it will eventually be extended to long-term evolution devices, as well. If both operators and device-makers promote the Mobile Broadband service mark, it will serve to create an instant link in a consumer’s mind, helping them avoid the need of educating each individual consumer about both the device and the network’s capabilities at the time of sale, O’Hara said.

To create the awareness, the GSMA and embedded module partners such as Ericsson and Qualcomm plan to break the bank in marketing, promising $1 billion in the next year toward putting the Mobile Broadband brand in front of the public. The association also is working with computer-makers to get a greater variety of devices into the market. “There will be several hundred thousand of these PCs, minimum, in the shops by the holiday season,” O’Hara said. “That’s a conservative estimate.”

In the U.S., several laptops with embedded 3G already have hit the market. Those PCs, however, have all been built for specific operators such as AT&T, Sprint and Verizon Wireless, requiring the customer to decide on a network operator at the time of purchase. Qualcomm has been trying to change that business model, promoting a new connectivity platform called Gobi, which uses software defined radio to automatically configure the module for different network operators, air interfaces and frequencies on the fly. Qualcomm hopes that it will lead to 3G being embedded in more devices because a customer won’t be forced onto a particular network in a particular region for the life of the laptop.

In addition to Qualcomm, Ericsson and the GSMA, the launch participants will be the 3 Group, Asus, Dell, ECS, Gemalto, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Telecom Italia, Telefónica Europe, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile, Toshiba and Vodafone — all of which have qualified to carry the trademark on their devices and services.