| Home |
| About Us |
| Latest News |
| Features |
| R-100 Index |
| Newsdesk |
| Free Email Alerts |
| - - - - - - - |
| Wireless Business Review |
| - - - - - - - |
| Power to the people |
|
|
| Tuesday, 22 January 2008 | |
|
Whether you call it wireless broadband or 4G, the fourth generation of communications and networking technologies is ushering in a period of unprecedented change. Although 3G networks were really about the technology, 4G networks are both a technology and a business transformation say Ragnar-Miguel Myhrer and Nikos Angelopoulos of Accenture.
4G will potentially reshape not just the wireless industry, but also cable, wireline, and handset companies. It will also simultaneously provide the media and entertainment industries another avenue for content delivery. We are witnessing the birth of cross-platform mobility, blurring many of the traditional distinctions by which the communications and media industries have defined themselves.
What is 4G? From a technology point of view, 4G represents an Internet Protocol (or “all-IP”) environment for services based on mobility and high bandwidth. 4G is the next generation of the Internet—one where the footprint is pervasive: fixed, portable and mobile all at the same time. Behind such an understanding of this next-generation of communications services is a logical division between the evolution of the Internet on the one hand, and the evolution of access technologies on the other. The ability to access the Internet is not itself an evolution of the Internet. Instead, the idea of improved access through wireless broadband is adding an entirely new dimension of value: enhancing content through mobile-specific capabilities such as location, quality of service and device management. Accenture believes that six major characteristics are at the heart of the 4G revolution: 1. Flat IP The new communications environment is all-IP or, even more accurately, “flat IP.” That is, the architecture stresses lower-latency flat networks that comprise fewer network nodes compared to traditional hierarchical cellular networks. Even in an existing situation where actual 4G technologies have yet to be defined precisely, there is a great deal of high-level agreement about what the next-generation IP network architecture should look like: base station router products interconnected by IP/Ethernet, deployed in a flat user-plane architecture, with services provisioned and managed by an IMS control plane. 2. Open development The 4G environment will be characterized by an open development model befitting the Internet-style applications to be created. Google's new Android platform, supporting open development for mobile devices, is an indication of where things are going in this area. We see major players positioning themselves to enable an open, Internet-style environment where application companies of all types and sizes have access to the APIs they need to develop the next generation of mobile Internet applications. Currently it’s very difficult to develop applications for a 2G or 3G network. But in an all IP environment, where you have multiple types of devices running Linux Java—the applications that drive bandwidth demand—the development environment will be much more robust and open than what we see today. 3. Device neutrality The other important dimension of openness targeted in 4G is an easier way for devices to connect to different networks, whether WiFi or WiMAX based. The more utopian vision of "any device connecting to any network" may be some years away, but the technologies and regulatory environment are certainly tending toward an open, plug-and-play approach. 4. User-driven Although discussions of 4G and wireless broadband focus most often on the technological challenges, in fact the greatest challenge may be in adapting to the customer-centric, user-driven, Internet-style world. Companies need to think like a customer, enabling things like more customer control over content and services, simplicity and ease of use, transparent pricing, personalization and social portals. 5. Rapid development times The faster development times that will characterize the 4G world really stem from several of the other trends already discussed. In an open, device-neutral world driven by user desires, innovation is more extraneous to companies than ever before. They are "innovation brokers" now, rather than just innovators themselves. Part of the adaptation to Internet models also involves adopting a certain “good enough” attitude to the development of new services. Developers will be pushing applications and services to the marketplace much more rapidly in a kind of “perpetual beta” environment. 6. Flexible revenue models A distinctive aspect of the 4G environment is the flexible, adaptive pricing models that drive the business. Providers will no longer be locked into a particular model. With dynamic pricing, services might be based on subscriptions, pay-per-use or advertising. And the model might shift from day to day, or even hour to hour. Taking action The business case for 4G is complex and requires sophisticated modeling. In the meantime, all the players in the 4G ecosystem must position themselves for multiple types of futures. Some key to-dos for traditional carriers include the need to embed technology and business transformation mindsets in their corporate DNA. As already mentioned, they must also learn to think like their customers and embrace new kinds of partnerships with Internet and content players. It will be important to think in terms of "usage" not "users." This means building innovative services that drive higher traffic. However, focusing entirely on new applications will be missing the point. Telcos’ existing legacy structures, such as sales sites, systems and retail channels, properly directed, will prove to be a major source of competitive advantage. For new entrants, the ability to think in new ways, rather than being encumbered by traditional business models, will be vital. As part of this strategic mindset, these companies should expand their sources for executive talent. Rather than recruiting from the telecoms sector, they should also target experienced high-level executives in the Internet and IP space. Partnerships will be especially important – whether these are forged with leading industry players or other new, disruptive market entrants. Manufacturers will also have to change, principally by moving from a hardware to a software model or, to put it another way, from a network model to an IT model. Open platform-based development will be critically important as the 4G business model is not based on proprietary platforms. They will have to ensure that 4G is embedded in devices – at the moment, the weakest link in the 4G experience is the handset. The heart of 4G is ultimately about breaking the barrier between fixed and wireless, in-home and mobile and giving consumers increased control and choice. The ability to innovate more quickly based on a factory-like model will be key, as will the ability to understand customers and predict their future needs.
|
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|