3GSM: Microsoft builds mobile content framework

CANNES, FRANCE--Microsoft’s wireless strategy today took a new twist as the developer announced at the 3GSM World Congress a bold software initiative targeted mobile carriers.

Called the Connected Services Framework, the server-based solution allows carriers to dynamically link together disparate Web-based services to form services utilizing multiple applications. Though its definition sounds a bit general, software product manager Terry McGuigan said the solution can be used to link anything from location-based and weather services to voice recognition or even standard Web-based e-mail.

“It allows carriers to quickly adopt new services as they appear in the market, incorporate them into their existing service offerings, instead of waiting for a dedicated solution to come out,” McGuigan said.

McGuigan gave the example of a new music recognition service becoming available over the mobile Internet. Instead of creating a completely new application and then integrating the service into its portal offering, a carrier could simply hook the service deftly into its existing music sub-portal, creating a value-added service on the fly.

McGuigan said the platform is complimentary to the IMS frameworks carriers are considering today, except instead of linking different applications into a unified platform in the network core, it aggregates web services off network and from third parties. That gives carriers enormous flexibility, allowing them to deploy new products as soon as they become available instead of spending months incorporating a new application into the static network.

The framework is built on the same .net technology on which Microsoft has built its wireline Internet service, and the software giant is hoping to leverage that wireline dominance in the wireless world. Microsoft has already established a presence for itself in the OS space, launching its Windows Mobility platform to compete with Nokia’s Series 60 smartphone platform and PalmSource’s popular PDA OS. The framework’s launch, however, is Microsoft’s first major initiative beyond the handset, seeking a foothold in content management and development as opposed to mere content delivery.

McGuigan said Microsoft believes the launch is perfectly time as carriers face increasing pressure from third-party developers for the content dollar. Independent content providers are steadily launching new services in Europe or Asia that compete with carrier’s own branded offering, and consumers are increasingly finding their way to that off-portal fare. The framework, McGuigan claimed, not only gives carriers a way to react more quickly to those challengers, but also may serve as a way to co-opt those competitors into the carrier fold. If a third-party developer knows that a carrier can quickly launch its own branded and portal-based service, they may be more willing to cooperate directly with carriers than compete against them, he said.