Reader Forum: Google phones, iPhones and cloud phones: Where is the (operator’s) beef?

Traditional smartphones – such as BlackBerry’s – or “bypass phones” such as Google’s Nexus One and Apple’s iPhone, leverage the intelligence on the device, which is owned/controlled by the respective vendor Smartphones tightly integrate the user experience with services Google, Apple and others vendors own and funnel/control revenue streams away from the operators and carriers.
Apple integrates content and application download services with the iPhone by locking up the application environment with a closed software/hardware device. Non-Apple value-added services can only be delivered to the iPhone via the browser or by paying Apple to include applications in its App Store. The operator bears the massive cost of supporting the data traffic generated and of supporting these small and complex “pocket computers,” but must pay Apple to deliver its own value-added services to the iPhone.
Google follows the same model but allows users to switch between different operator networks via the 20-year-old GSM model. Content and application services are tightly integrated with the device application environment and, just like Apple, these devices do not operate without having been “registered” both with the operator’s network AND with Google/Apple – thus disintermediating both the network as well as the customer relationship between the operator and their subscriber base.
In all cases, all value-added revenues bypass the operator who is left with price-based only competition on commodity pipes.
Cloud phones are virtual personal phones hosted in the network that are simply accessed via a personal ID from any device. The intelligence is not on the handset, but in the network. The device accesses everything required for the user’s digital life – it does not house it.
The digital experience is exponentially improved. The speed at which one can browse, download and upload is extraordinary. No more waiting and watching a globe spin – now it is simply “click and go.” There are no plug-ins, application or compatibility issues. Whatever form-factor device, content, or application needed to access, everything is faster, simpler and more secure.
Any combination of applications can be delivered as a service to any form-factor device. And applications are not constrained by any proprietary development environment or device features. They are developed and run on massively powerful servers, delivering an unparalleled experience not achievable with traditional computing phones, or smart/netbook devices.
With cloud phones, the intelligence is in the network, and devices are dis-intermediated. The subscriber is recognized and identified as such by the operator, irrespective of the device he/she is using. The operator becomes the broker between value-added service vendors and its subscriber base, and removes device and application/content legacies.
Cloud phones do not prevent subscribers from using Google or Apple value-added services, but rather they enable them to access them from any device. This is mostly due to the network intelligence delivered by the operator and, more importantly, with much cheaper devices, a better user experience, and with a price/performance value that smartphone – Nexus One, iPhone, et al –cannot match.
Cloud phone services are always hosted in the network on computing infrastructure that can take advantage of open and widely available application development environments. Since all the intelligence is in the network and the cloud phones can universally access any service — independent of on any application or device legacy — service development and deployment is far simpler/faster than traditional smartphones. This offers operators the ability to compete on a leveled playing field without breaking any “net-neutrality” rules, and allows access to any service provisioned and delivered by anyone.
In conclusion, cloud phones deliver the next-generation user experience, allowing subscribers to have access to their digital life from any device, anywhere. All through an intelligent network that returns the operator to a competitive position, decommoditizing the pipes and leveling the playing field with “bypass” players.