Industry cohesion critical for success of new services

The introduction of new services that will accelerate the use of mobile telephones and advanced GSM networks dominated the recent 3GSM World Congress, which took place from 13 to 16 February in Barcelona, Spain.

And while these services, such as instant messaging, push-to-talk and television broadcasting to mobile handsets, are very exciting for operators and cellular users alike, the ability of the industry to work together cohesively is one of the most notable of the achievements of the GSM industry, says Martin Sanne, managing director, Mobile Networks in Siemens Communications Southern Africa.

"The ability of the GSM industry to work together towards common goals is the driving force behind the introduction of the services that are used daily by millions of people around the world. Without such singularity of purpose, it is unlikely that the enormous penetration of mobile networks, and the enormous adoption of the services these networks provide, would have been achieved," he says.

In his keynote speech on the opening of the second day of the Congress, Rob Conway, Chief Executive Officer of the GSM Association, noted that the introduction of instant messaging (IM) - widely regarded as one of the killer applications for the Internet, with users sending over 12 billion messages per day worldwide - to GSM platforms, is entirely dependent on the availability of a standardised platform across operators and equipment suppliers.

"Introducing IM will change the way people communicate with their cellphones, from `fire and forget` to establishing a conversation like they do with computer-based systems, potentially opening the door for a new revenue stream for mobile network operators," said Conway.

"The significant cohesion that the industry has shown with the introduction of 3G networks has demonstrated that we are capable of working together as an industry for the common good of the networks and the consumers that they serve. Without the support shown throughout the industry, new services would simply fall apart," Sanne adds.

Sanne says the availability of industry standard systems such as the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a critical factor that will enable network operators to not only introduce these new services, but also to design viable billing systems.

The drive to new network architectures that embrace IMS applications and Internet Protocol as the standard - discussed at the previous year`s GSM conference, is coming to fruition, continues Sanne.

"Again, this shows the commitment of the industry to drive growth while introducing new technologies that add value to the consumer as we progress towards next-generation networks," he says.

However, Sanne does believe that with a wealth of innovation occurring from many perspectives - infrastructure, software, content and services - some caution should be exercised.

"It`s important not to diversify too much; it`s worth remembering that globally, 70% of revenues are still derived from voice communications. While there is space for new services, it`s necessary to look at the demarcation of responsibilities to customers and the position of each player in the value chain," he concludes.