Verizon Wireless’s plans to take a wrecking ball to its garden walls got plenty of attention. What the move means for developers, though, is far from clear.
The most closed mobile operator in the United States vowed to publish technical standards next year that will help third parties create devices and applications that can operate on its network. Verizon Wireless also said it will host a conference to explain the standards and get feedback from developers “on how to achieve the company’s goals for network performance while making it easy for them to deliver services.”
Forward thinking or ruse
The announcement was hailed by many onlookers as a forward-thinking effort that will benefit consumers and fuel growth in the U.S. wireless data market. But others raised an eyebrow and dismissed the move as nothing more than a PR tactic.
On its face, Verizon Wireless’ plan is an open invitation for software developers. The carrier said it will allow any application on any platform, as long as the device running the app has been certified.
“The test (for certification) will be for network connectivity,” Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer John Stratton told reporters on a conference call outlining the strategy. “The provider of the device will determine the operating system, the distribution system that’s on the device, to potentially include support of Java and Java applications. It is not ours to make that determination; it will be up to the provider.”
But Stratton-and his frontoffice colleagues-declined to discuss key details, such as bandwidth limitations or how much customers will have to pay to use the new offerings. That leaves the door open for Verizon Wireless to charge onerous rates for usage of the third-party applications, according to skeptics, minimizing-or even effectively negating-the concept of open access.
“Basically, Verizon wants to be able to charge customers (at a price and rate still to be set) to access the services and applications they want on the devices they own,” community Internet expert Sascha Meinrath posted on his blog. “In essence, Verizon is adding a corporate tax that goes straight into their coffers for the so-called ‘privilege’ to run the services and applications you want, on the devices you’ve already bought and paid for.”
Changing minds
The cynicism is understandable. Verizon Wireless fought bitterly to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from implementing open-access mandates in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auction.
Verizon Wireless gained an unexpected believer in Jason Devitt, though. Devitt, who earlier this year testified before Congress in favor of open-access mandates for the upcoming auction, said he was “shocked and delighted” to hear the news.
“I’m very pleased; obviously I think this is the right thing for Verizon to do,” said Devitt, who founded the mobile application company Vindigo and is now CEO of startup Skydeck. “I think they probably are quite sincere about doing this. . There are just other trends in the marketplace that make this inevitable.”
But while open access may indeed be inevitable, even Devitt concedes Verizon Wireless’ move isn’t likely to change the game anytime soon. The vast majority of users will opt for subsidized handsets-and will be limited to the applications that run on them.
“What I think Verizon is betting on here is that 90% to 95% of consumers will buy the phone with the $100- to $200 discount,” he speculated. “Verizon will be able to serve (high-end customers with non-Verizon phones) at no real cost. . They’ll just be picking up additional revenue, and in the process eliminate most of the criticism they’ve encountered.”
