Cracks in the Walled Garden
by Nancy Broden
In addition to adding fuel to the Google ‘GPhone’ rumor mill, yesterday’s Wall Street Journal published an article on consumers’ increasing demand for unrestricted access to the Web via their mobile devices. US carriers notoriously restrict or make it excruciatingly difficult to access the Web via a mobile handset as through a PC-based browser. With the release of the Opera Mini browser in 2006 and, more importantly, the well-hyped launch of Apple’s iPhone last month, consumers are increasingly aware of the restrictions that their wireless service providers are imposing on them and demanding change.
The WSJ also notes the FCC’s recent decision to open a portion of the radio spectrum for wireless networks to allow customers to access those airwaves via any mobile device, not just those carried by the network owner. Cleary this will encourage a proliferation of devices that are better suited for accessing the internet than traditional mobile handsets.
What impact would an ‘open garden’ and new wireless devices have on mobile messaging? With teens chosing to message via their social networks, which they frequently access on the go, facilitating access to these sites and their messaging features will undoubtedly translate into in greater adoption and usage due to the improved user experience. And as we all know, greater adoption translates into greater revenue for everyone in the mobile value chain.
