Maurice Marks, Chief Technology Officer, Network and Service Provider Business Unit, Hewlett-Packard

Maurice Marks has been touting the promise of Wi-Fi for years. Now that the rest of the industry is catching up, he's worried we may have it all wrong.

Marks is chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard's network and service provider business. A few years ago, the native Australian anticipated that the communications sector's shift toward the Internet would eventually open the door for Wi-Fi. But service providers are making a huge mistake by treating the technology as little more than a connection to the Web, according to Marks. “If they can sell additional services within a Wi-Fi hot spot, that may generate additional revenue,” he said.

Creating applications isn't HP's style — instead, the company is working one step up the value chain, providing a non-proprietary platform for the delivery of data services. HP's Mobile Services Delivery Platform combines hardware, software and integration services aimed at standardized provisioning of wireless data applications. In addition, the company runs the HP Bazaar, teaming with developers to place their applications on the MSDP platform and market them to carriers.

But why would applications offered through Wi-Fi hot spots make more sense than traditional Web-based applications? Simple, Marks said: Carriers already have the local storage and bandwidth necessary for potential Wi-Fi applications such as videoconferencing and video-on-demand, providing a more reliable connection than a Web-based tool.

But value-adds are only half the equation, Marks said. How they are offered, and how much flexibility users have, are paramount issues. In Marks' view, carriers will need to shift their focus from the network to the customer. “Operators need to be focused on the subscriber's experience, giving them much more control compared to just offering a menu and dictating what's available and what's not.”