News

MWC preview: Mobile Operator Cost reduction, effective technology deployment, (mobile) Internet devices and web services

Exhibitors at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona face a tough challenge. How can they both showcase new mobile Internet devices, mobile applications and next generation mobile broadband network technology while at the same time satisfy operators’ overriding single objective in 2009 – cutting costs as the mobile industry faces up to the global economic downturn?

Informa Telecoms & Media expects these two themes to develop in parallel in Barcelona. And in some cases they will come together as vendors tout services and solutions which allow operators to save money – albeit in the medium to long term.Sustaining growth in challenging times is hardly a rallying cry.

And yet this will be the first conference keynote on the second morning of this year’s show. The journey to lean management may not excite the technologists, but it is about right for these frugal times.

The pull of network sharing will be discussed around the fringes of the conference and possibly even at the centre.

With speculation rife of major network sharing agreements between operators in Europe taking off in 2009, Barcelona could be the scene for public announcements on network sharing.

Outsourcing will also be an underlying theme throughout the conference, particularly with reference to network management.

Try as it might, the economic downturn will not be able to dominate proceedings completely.

Mobile broadband was the dominant themes of last year’s Mobile World Congress and this is set to be the case once again with operators facing the need to increase capacity as mobile broadband traffic surges.

LTE will have a high profile on infrastructure vendor stands and we can expect a plethora of demos in the exhibition hall for prototype LTE chips and devices. WiMAX, on the other hand, will barely feature at the show.

2009 could be the year for femtocell launches, and as such, announcements can be expected in Barcelona. However, operators still need femtocell prices to come down to $100 or so before they can consider mass-market deployments. It may be the case that femtocells need to wait for LTE where they can form part of a bigger network strategy before they go mainstream.

Cellular backhaul will be another major theme – if not one to excite the technology enthusiasts. If operators cannot increase backhaul capacity cost effectively then there is little point in committing to aggressive 3.9G and 4G roll-outs.

Internet devices and new applications based on will be needed to drive traffic onto these new high speed networks and both will feature strongly. Microsoft and Samsung are both tipped to make major announcements in Barcelona as Apple wannabes strive to replicate the applications store and Internet-browsing capabilities of the iPhone. Acer, HP, Nokia and Sony Ericsson, meanwhile, will all demonstrate new mobile Internet devices.

Apple itself is increasingly conspicuous by its absence from the exhibitor list. The company sees the end-user rather than the operator-middle-man as the key to its success and the Mobile World Congress is a strictly trade-only affair.

Unlike previous shows where the focus was mainly on mobile hardware, this year could turn into a software show. A number of software developers are expected to demonstrate different flavours of mobile web runtime (MWR) and Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). These platforms enable the creation and distribution of smart widgets that are likely to change the way the web is surfed and Internet information are used.

Leading vendors have already revealed products that mash software clients with web services to enable smart widgets. Mobile operators are anxious not be left behind by handset vendor and Internet-company initiatives and are also embracing web services. A smart pipe business model is the new mantra for mobile operators who have been relegated to the role of a dumb pipe as flat-rate pricing models have taken hold in mobile broadband.

Open-source will be another buzz-term this year. A number of open-source platforms will be announced and new devices will be revealed.

Mobile World Congress this year will probably bring more visibility on the role operators will play in the open-source ecosystem.Growth potential in emerging markets has been a regular theme over the last few years and will remain so at this year’s event, and could centre on mobile banking.