BREW highlights Qualcomm’s continued drive

SAN DIEGO-Qualcomm Inc. has spread its reach far and wide, and even as it expands into new realms it always keeps one goal in mind: drive wireless data services.
The company kept hitting on that point as it showcased its diverse portfolio of products and services at last week’s BREW 2007 conference.
Simple as it sounds, there are many hurdles in the path toward a truly rich mobile media environment.
Take first the end user.
Brian Dunphy, senior director of business development at Qualcomm Internet Services, said he saw just how tough the battle is while vacationing with his family.
As Dunphy attempted to purchase content from his handset, a group of teenagers erupted in protest telling him he would be overcharged or enrolled in a subscription service unknowingly.
“The teenagers feel like they’ve been ripped off on the off-portal content and they don’t really buy it anymore,” he said. “This is the demographic that we’re going after,” he said, and “they’ve been conditioned to the fact that they’re being ripped off.”
Qualcomm is trying to bring all the players in the mobile content value chain together to win over the hearts and minds of mobile subscribers from sea to shining sea. But to do that, it must first bring major brands and operators into the fold.
“It’s more about them getting comfortable with us,” said Mitch Oliver, VP of solutions and marketing at QIS.
As Qualcomm takes aim at wider adoption, it has found great success in the unbundling of BREW, Oliver said. Whether through settlement services for off-deck content, themes or entertainment, Qualcomm said it’s widening its client list by offering more of its BREW services a la carte.
The move has helped European carriers reclaim their brands from original equipment manufacturers, Oliver said.
Qualcomm hopes to win over more big name brands with its newly launched BrandXtend Signature Solution, which is designed to bring a brands’ online content to wireless users. Major League Baseball, which was named as the first customer, plans to allow users to browse, purchase and download content from MLB.com and individual franchise sites.
Many brands are inherently fearful of the less-controlled environments they must now operate in, but Qualcomm hopes to allay at least some of those fears by providing a turnkey solution that gives them more control.
“What these media and entertainment companies are looking for is reach,” Oliver said.
“The key message is that traditionally off-portal has meant off-device . our goal is to work with operators to let brands have access to that real estate.”
Operators will be able to open the floodgates to the brands they want to partner with. While Qualcomm is adamant about the opportunity to drive adoption through services, it still recognizes who sits at the helm.
“The operator at the end of the day controls that billing system, they control that data pipe,” Oliver said. “I think we’re still a long way before operators are going to open wide.”
If Qualcomm can at least blur the lines so the consumer doesn’t have to worry about where content is coming from and what billing system it will have to endure, it will have overcome one more hurdle in its path.