Mobile Broadband: a conceptual view

Last Friday I delivered a short presentation on the state of mobile broadband for Techlaw's annual Spring Conference. This time it was hosted by Houthoff Buruma in Amsterdam.

My top-down view went along these lines:

1. Mobile broadband in itself is a huge opportunity, as it expands on mobile's original proposotion (voice, mobility, personalized handsets).
2. At the same time, there are numerous threats - the same ones we know from the fixed-line world.
3. The industry has a broad choice of remedies, including 4G.
4. Recent signs (08Q1) are encouraging and I personally view LBS and social networking as 'killer apps' (in the consumer market).

Mobile Broadband

There is a lot going on in mobile broadband. I plan to cover that over the next few weeks. But first, off on hoilday for a week.

Some issues:

• Enablers: IP (i.e. 4G), VAS (such as LBS and payments for consumers, full access through laptop cards for workers), data tariffs coming down. Is the data over service revenues fianally taking off (settling above 20% at AT&T, Verizon and KPN)?
• Per IP: the Broadband Incentive Problem.
• MTA: comparing minutes of use in Europe and the US reveals that there is a lot of price elasticity.
• Fixed line replacement? (think 16d)
• Outsourcing, network sharing and separation to further lower costs.
• New entrants: Nokia, Apple, Google, Yahoo!
• Offloading (that's whta it is, no more!): mobile TV, femtocells.
• 4G Standards war: LTE, WiMAX (and Gaiacomm?).