"Heterogenous" is the Nature of All Modern Networks

It has been common in recent years for observers to note that fixed networks have revenue issues related in real ways to the inability to mimic what can be done to provide value and experience in the mobile realm.

Only in the mobile domain do users have emotional affiliation with their devices. Only in the mobile domain can it be said that the experience is personalized. And most of the developing new applications and business models in the global communications business are available only in the mobile realm. 

But it is starting to become clearer that a substantial part of the value and experience of "mobile" service actually is supplied by the device, not the network. To be sure, there are times when communication "on the move" is really valuable, and that is the exclusive province of a mobile network.

But most communication does not happen when people are truly "on the go." Still less does content consumption mostly happen when people are moving from place to place. In fact, "mobile" devices more frequently are used in a "network agnostic" way. Only the device and device experience remains constant.

By some estimates, 68 percent of mobile Internet access actually takes place in the home, according to research conducted by AOL and BBDO in October 2012. Other studies suggest that as much as 80 percent to 90 percent of smart phone connect time uses Wi-Fi. 

So one might argue that, increasingly, it is the mobile or untethered device that people see as the embodiment of the value of the networks. In one sense, that is a huge change, as in the past it would not have made sense to argue about which fixed network devices evoke the most end user affection. 

The fixed network was about utility, not fashion; function, not personality. These days, the device is what defines the experience. The network, once again, is starting to become a utility. 

Heterogeneous is the way mobile network executives now describe the use of multiple network technologies to support mobile users. One might well argue that heterogeneous also is the way devices use all networks.