@ 4G World: 4G is the topic, but 3G remains important

CHICAGO – The opening keynote at this year’s 4G World event was decidedly old school as David Haight, VP of product development emerging devices at AT&T Inc., talked about a lot of different applications the carrier is looking into in its move to expand usage to non-traditional devices, though most of those applications cited appeared tailor-made for 3G, and in most cases, 2G networks.
The central context of Haight’s speech was that the carrier was looking for a dramatic increase in embedded devices, as in devices with wireless modems embedded that would allow for access to the carrier’s cellular network.
Haight cited usage cases for devices like e-readers, health monitoring, digital picture frames and tracking devices that are not necessarily data-heavy and instead rely more heavily on network coverage, something current 4G networks lack.
While 4G was not a central theme, Haight did note that many devices that allow for embedded options, like tablets and e-readers, are selling at a much greater rate than those equipped with more localized, Wi-Fi connectivity only. Haight noted this was due to the simplicity consumers are looking for when it comes to mobility, wanting to be able to access the functionality of their devices wherever they are.
A lot of this success was also attributed to the different business models that have been rolled out for such devices, including the all-included data included with 3G-enabled e-readers and the prepaid data plans recently launched to target the tablet market.
The one market that Haight touched on that could rely heavily on 4G capabilities was in-car entertainment and telematics. Many of the business cases for these services involve the streaming of video content to a moving vehicle, which will require high network speeds and broad coverage. The first is in 4G’s wheelhouse, while the second will take some time.
Haight did reconfirm the carrier’s LTE plans, noting that network testing was ongoing with plans to begin rolling out commercial services beginning in 2011. The carrier plans to cover up to 75 million potential customers by the end of 2011 with its new network.
Haight also added AT&T Mobility’s recent mantra that unlike its rival Verizon Wireless, which is set to cover 100 million pops with LTE by the end of this year, AT&T Mobility’s focus on bolstering its 3G network with HSPA+ technology will provide consumers with less “whiplash” in network speeds when they travel outside of 4G coverage.
“Our customers will be falling back to 21 [megabits per seconds,” Haight explained. “There will be no whiplash falling back to 3 [Mbps] or less.”
Making money
While Haight centered his speech on network qualities and opportunities for consumers, Ashraf Dahood, SVP and GM of Cisco Systems Inc.’s mobile Internet technology group and former CEO of Starent, focused his speech on ways in which carriers could monetize those network investments.
As part of that focus, Dahood noted that the ability to track exactly what a customer is accessing while on the network will be the key for unlocking the revenue potential for carriers. Dahood noted that this capability will also allow carriers to move to tiered pricing models, which have so far been seen as a barrier for broader consumer adoption of mobile data services.
Dahood compared this to current utilities in which consumers are used to paying for these services on a pay-per-use basis.
“There is no utility today that you pay a fixed amount for unlimited service,” Dahood said.
As an example Dahood noted that consumer might be interested in paying an additional fee for quicker download speeds for video services or for enhanced features for social media applications.