Despite claims, carriers tout data-friendliness

With more than 15% of wireless carriers’ revenue coming from data services, operators are eyeing the next leap in usage. Executives from the big-five carriers were all on hand yesterday for a panel discussion on the state of mobile content, spelling out their strengths, weaknesses and everything in between.
Choice, control and convenience won the afternoon, having best captured the essence of what the top five carriers are after when it comes to data on the mobile phone.
“We’re really focused on personalization and ease of use,” said Mark Collins, VP of consumer data services at AT&T Mobility. That strategy comes with the inherent need to open the network to off-deck purchases, which AT&T Mobility leads the market on, he said.
“We don’t want to define what the consumer is going to do and where they’re going to do it,” Collins said. “We just want to be in the value chain.”
Many perceive the carriers as gatekeepers of walled gardens, yet carriers across the board say they’re walking a fine line between open access and detriment to the user experience.
“Sprint is an open network,” said John Burris, VP of wireless data programming at Sprint Nextel Corp. “The balance for us is how do we go open as quickly as we can while keeping it clean.”
Many compare the wireless industry to the Internet, but the analogy only goes so far, Verizon Wireless executive J. Lee Daniels argued. When purchases are made online via an Internet service provider the billing and customer care responsibilities immediately fall with the retailer or outlet selling the goods or services, but when purchases are made using a mobile phone it’s the carrier that acts as bill collector and customer care provider.
Collins said AT&T Mobility is not trying to replace the broadband experience on the PC. The carrier’s goal is to make it the best experience possible for each user’s specific device with all of its limitations in mind.
“We feel like the way to let consumers get into the mobile data market is making things easy. Easier is better,” said Wade McGill, senior VP of product management and development at Alltel Corp. “If I can’t get it really quickly, the customer’s not going to get it.”
As with all things wireless, the coveted ad-supported models bandied about the industry eventually fell into the panel’s crosshairs.
“I think there’s money there, but not everything can be ad-supported,” McGill said. “It’s not going to be that lucrative.” McGill added that mobile advertising is still a few years off.
Burris said Sprint Nextel has made considerable investments in mobile advertising and is developing platforms that could deliver on the immense opportunity, yet they’re restrained. “We’ve been pretty careful about not ruining the experience,” he said. “I think we’re in that early stage of trying to drive usage and viewers.” Once that ramps up to a point the carrier is comfortable with it will begin pushing more advertising to devices, he said.