Building Business Models for the Mobile Internet

A session during Mobile Internet World in Boston last month brought together executives from the complete mobile ecosystem – content, software, handset and operator – to discuss “Building Business Models for the Mobile Internet.”

When questioned about evidence of pent-up demand for the mobile Internet, Carl Taylor, director of applications and services, global technology strategy at Hutchison Whampoa Europe (parent company of the mobile operator 3), said that as soon as the operator moved to flat-rate data plans, the use of mobile Internet and data services “skyrocketed.” The flat-rate “puts us more on a demand curve, like ISPs” and gives consumers access to whatever they want when they want it, he said.

Tuomo Sihvola, head of Nokia’s WidSets.com unit, said that clearness in pricing is a must for the mobile Internet. In Finland, he said, he said there’s no proof of pent-up demand for mobile Internet access, but the feeling is that mobility will bring great freedom to users.

The question of obstacles was then put before the panel.

According to Jon von Tetzchner, CEO of Opera Software, the main hurdle is getting the word out to consumers that there’s more to the mobile Internet than just accessing the same Web pages that they do on the PC.

Lubna Dajani of Mobile Monday added that pricing is also a major roadblock, and that the industry needs to also raise awareness and improve the user experience.

Getting down to basics, Douglas Edwards, co-founder of Handmark, said simply, “browsing on a handset sucks.” He added that we need compelling services and an interface that consumers will use. Simply taking PC-based Web pages and moving them from desktop to mobile won’t solve the problem, Edwards believes, because the way we use mobile devices is extremely different. Taking the same old Web sites and putting them on a mobile phone is “just like taking a corporate brochure, putting it online and calling it a Web site,” he contends.

What will help, according to Edwards, are things like Ajax-based browsers and WidSets.

According to Sihvola, “mobile Web browsing is not a big enough use case to get me to do it daily.” To make a worthwhile business case, he said, requires applications that will drive consumers to use the mobile Internet on a daily basis. This would make it easier to get advertisers and, with them, ads that will benefit consumers.

In response to a question about open network access, Edwards said that it’s “inevitable,” noting that “change is afoot on both sides of the Atlantic.” As an example, he cited that carriers in the UK are starting to offer subsidized devices, while, at the same time, there’s a movement in the US to try to get away from subsidies.

Sihvola noted that Nokia has been licensing its platform for quite some time. He thinks Google’s Open Handset Alliance and Android platform are a good move “because we need more awareness.”