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In recent years, billions of dollars (and euros, yen, and other currencies) have been spent by wireless services providers to acquire the radio frequency spectrum needed to offer so-called "Third Generation" (3G) mobile services. These services include high-speed data, mobile Internet access and entertainment such as games, music and video programs. Indeed, as voice communications are substituted by data communications, software -rather than terminals or networks- has become the driver of the wireless industry. Meanwhile, services are becoming increasingly specialized.
Why has the road to multimedia cellular been so difficult? These benefits of the mobile Internet have come with the costs of a massive transition that has coincided with the bust of stock markets and the technology segments worldwide, controversial and costly license auctions in several lead markets, dated or mistaken regulatory policies, the clash between the early hype and the pioneering realities of the mobile Internet. But these are generalities that barely scratch the surface. The devil is in the details. And it is these details that Competition for the Mobile Internet addresses.
List of contents
2 Spectrum Policy and the Development of Advanced Wireless Services.- The Next Frontier for Openness: Wireless Communications.- Competition Policy for 3G Wireless Services.- More Spectrum Must Be Provided To Serve Wireless Consumers' Needs.- Globalization of Wireless Markets.- Restructuring via Virtuality in the 3-G Context.- The Emerging Wireless Value Chain and Capital Market Perceptions.- Wireless Services and Network Economics.- Terminals and Applications for the 3G Marketplace.- Key Drivers of Success for 3G: A Carrier's Perspective.- Applications in the 3G Era: Criteria for Success, Myths for Hype.- Mobility and Applications: "It's the Audience, Stupid".- Globalization of the Wireless Industry: The Race to the Top.- Epilogue.- About the Contributors.
Summary
In recent years, billions of dollars (and euros, yen, and other currencies) have been spent by wireless services providers to acquire the radio frequency spectrum needed to offer so-called "Third Generation" (3G) mobile services. These services include high-speed data, mobile Internet access and entertainment such as games, music and video programs. Indeed, as voice communications are substituted by data communications, software -rather than terminals or networks- has become the driver of the wireless industry. Meanwhile, services are becoming increasingly specialized.
Why has the road to multimedia cellular been so difficult? These benefits of the mobile Internet have come with the costs of a massive transition that has coincided with the bust of stock markets and the technology segments worldwide, controversial and costly license auctions in several lead markets, dated or mistaken regulatory policies, the clash between the early hype and the pioneering realities of the mobile Internet. But these are generalities that barely scratch the surface. The devil is in the details. And it is these details that Competition for the Mobile Internet addresses.
