Open Mobile Summit
November 2010
San Francisco, CA
We attended the Open Mobile Summit andAppcelerate events in San Francisco, Nov. 8-10. The show has doubled in attendance since last year to 650 attendees this year.
Fourth generation networks using LTE technology will soon bring true mobile broadband experience to many US customers. As discussed in the previous Arvani Report, Verizon plans to deploy LTE for one-third of US population by end of this year. LightSquared, on the other hand, plans to provide an LTE network, combined with satellite coverage, in wholesale-only model to its customers. TeliaSonera, world's first commercial LTE operator, shared their experience with 4G deployment. (Of course, the ITU doesn't believe these networks are 4G, as per their latest definition.)
Mobile broadband unlocks many new possibilities with taking advantage of infinite resources of the cloud, and unleashing high bandwidth and low latency applications. However, packaging and pricing models have to be thought through carefully, balancing mobile operator need to make a good return on their investments and for the users to have a good experience and be charged fairly.
Some app idols, like Foursquare and Zynga, share their secrets for monetizing. Developers and device vendors discuss their views on various mobile platforms. Enterprise apps want to have their own store too. Mobile advertising may have to go beyond the purchase funnel to be effective.