Telcom Carriers Want An Even Bigger Slice
With the success of Apple’s iPhone owed much to their App Store that touts over 100,000 apps available to their customers, many hardware and software providers have taken notice. Research In Motion has the RIM Application Center, Google – the Android Market, Qualcomm, Nokia, Handango and Microsoft to name a few have Mobile Application Stores as well.
This morning, the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) has announced their intentions of creating a unified open platform that would allow develops of applications to create an application program one time and that app would be able to be deployed to work on any carrier, device and operating system – universally.
The number of companies backing the WAC are 24 and include some of the biggest names in the wireless business today. Of the largest names participating include AT&T, China Mobile, Orange, Verizon, Sprint and device manufacturers LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Such an idea, if successful would be an incredible dream for mobile developers as it would allow them to create an application one time rather than have to redesign the same application for different platforms and networks.
While some view it as a huge announcement that could potentially change the face of the applications, there are a few who view it as a potential disaster.
We’ll leave the pundits to argue whether such an organization’s grand plans will actually work or fail, what is obvious to us is absolutely certain, mobile devices are NO LONGER simply communication services that can be regulated from a spreadsheet. There is potential for your organization to at the very least incur added charges to your monthly bill to, at the worst case incur a data breach or malware attack from a rogue app.
The role of the mobile device is quickly changing, it is your responsibility to find the right way to manage those devices such as a software application that knows everything from keeping a mobile device policy, average departmental spend and accounting for inventory control. An automated program can alleviate those type of headaches. Talk to your telecom management firm to learn more about your options and how you can get ahead of the ever-changing mobile landscape.
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Benny Carreon is the President and CEO of GrayBear Resources Group. GBR is a next-generation telecommunications consulting firm. We aren't a telephone company's vendor disguising itself as a consultant. We don't sell carrier products that would conflict with out mission - our goal is to work for our clients by reducing costs, streamlining services, eliminating waste and fraud while providing the least disruption to your business.
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