In a nutshell, the gap between bandwidth consumption and revenue is the key problem faced by mobile service providers. The reason is simple enough. Everybody agrees the future industry revenue model will be driven by data services, not voice.
And though service providers will sell a mix of simple connectivity services and other value-added features and services, access will remain a huge, perhaps the biggest single revenue source, even in the future.
Given user resistance to paying higher prices for bandwidth, service providers will struggle to close the gap between rising supply of bandwidth and slower-growing ability to price the additional capabilities in any linear fashion.
That is one reason why offloading access from the mobile networks to the fixed landline network is so important, and why a developing rationale for landline network services providers is "wireless offload." Especially as high-bandwidth video becomes a bigger part of the end user demand, it will be necessary to offload as much of the load as possible to fixed networks.
With Android's latest mobile operating system, known as Froyo, apps are synced wirelessly between a user's desktop web browser and phone, music is streamed from a home PC to your handset over 3G, and instructions, such as map directions, search terms, web pages and potential all kinds of other stuff, can be sent to a handset from a desktop browser.
The Federal Communications Commission, whether it is wrong or right, is signaling that it may try to undo what consumers and providers, operating through their own willing to pay, have voted with their wallets, arguing essentially that concentration in the wireless market is now a problem.
The problem is that AT&T and Verizon Wireless have grown for logical reasons. They have more capital to spend to grow their businesses, Sprint shot itself with poor customer service and T-Mobile USA simply has not invested in its business to the same degree the other contestants have.
FCC may try to set new rules to “protect” the smaller companies in the cellular business, but, if they need protection, it is because they have been badly run or have not spent enough money to win over customers.
It is true that AT&T and Verizon have the ability to bundle other products to create triple play and quadruple play offers. Sprint and T-Mobile USA do not have similar ability. But that hasn't stopped Dish Network and DirecTV from taking share from the leading fixed line providers in the multi-channel video markets.
Google declares war on Apple, setting up about as big a contest between "open" and "closed" development approaches as one could imagine. Not since 1985 have we seen images and philosophical differences such as this.
One still gets the feeling we are still a bit early for mass adoption of Internet-delivered, TV set displayed video, though we are lots closer than we used to be. But this is an entertaining video, anyhow.
To be sure, Google has assembled quite an ecosystem, Sony, Logitech, Intel, Dish and Best Buy. But it probably is worth remembering that Apple itself describes Apple TV as "a hobby." The point is that lots of companies over the last 10 years have tried to create a mass market appliance that captures Web video and delivers it to the main household viewing screen.
That doesn't mean it will not happen. Someday it will. The issue is whether Google TV can crack the code, or whether content rights agreements still have further to go. Some people will appreciate being able to watch YouTube videos on a high-definition TV. But most people probably do not want to spend several hundred dollars for the ability to do so.
What it seems people do wish to do is watch YouTube and other video on a handheld device, including smartphones and devices such as the iPad, as well as PCs.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt says “we’ve been waiting a long, long time for this day." The issue is whether we'll still be waiting.
Sony will provide the one-stop experience with Sony Internet TV built into an HDTV or a a set-top box with a Blu-ray Disc drive. Logitech plans to offer set-top box that will “seamlessly” add Google TV to current HDTV sets.
Dish Network will be supporting the ecosystem as well, allowing subscribers to add web video to their regular multi-channel video options.
Android and Chrome devices are expected to allow communication between Internet-connected TVs and Android or Chrome-based mobile devices. Users should be able to push content on the phone to the TV.
Best Buy will provide a venue for selling all the new boxes.
Location-based local search and information services will be used by nearly 1.5 billion mobile users by 2014, according to Juniper Research. Total revenues from all mobile location-based services are expected to reach $12.7 billion by 2014.
It's difficult to know whether Google TV can stoke the market for Internet-aware TV viewing, but the company has assembled quite an ecosystem. It's difficult to know whether Google TV can stoke the market for Internet-aware TV viewing, but the company has assembled quite an ecosystem.
