In Jams Opinion

Miles Cheetham

RCS or app piranhas?

RCS or 'Rich Communication Suite' is the mobile industry term for the services built upon the IMS (Internet Multimedia System/Service). This is a platform which promises to offer enhanced inter-operability between the worlds of fixed and mobile internet, a 'gap-bridger' to help realise the long promised full potential of the mobile internet. RCS has become the standard championed by the GSMA and has, to date, gained broad acceptance from the main global operators. In general, the concept is seen as a good one; however, some of the European operators want a better version, more closely matched to their Technology is evolving commercial needs. They want a standard with faster than the enhanced 'presence' and more information about networks can adapt who is on the network at a given time, where, and more importantly from a commercial perspective, what kind of services they are utilising (and consequently, which ones might be effectively targeted at them). Existing standards including the proposed RCS requires a constant 'pinging' of the customer to exchange information and this has negative implications for the networks, as it impinges upon their ability to carry data. RCS has now begun testing, but as yet the European networks have failed to give any widespread commitment. Although there's plenty of interest and discussion, they are still holding back. It can be assumed that, for the time being, they are waiting to see which of their competitors 'jumps first' before deciding their own long-term reaction and strategy. In the long term, this may be one to watch over carefully, before deciding to dive in with both feet. Which way the European networks go will depend a lot upon whether the GSMA stick to their guns or whether the lobbying power of the powerful European networks persuades them otherwise. LTE The piranhas mass! The next generation of networks the so-called 'LTE' or Long Term Evolution are set to come online in around 2015. This technology will incorporate IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). A resulting issue is the deep concern that when you have full IP, you can run data over the network to the extent that VoIP becomes an unrestricted possibility. Of course, the networks are conflicted by their need to protect their voice and data revenues
Copyright Jam ICT Ltd. Jam ICT Slanting Hill, Newbury, Berkshire, RG18 9QG. | www.jamict.com

In Jams Opinion
Miles Cheetham which are their core revenue streams. As a result, games of 'cat and mouse' are starting to develop as a result of the technology evolving faster than the networks ability to match to their existing charging and marketing models. Over the last few years, the proliferation of smartphones and their applications such as the Android Market has seen huge numbers of entrepreneurs getting their heads around the concept of applications and the commercial opportunities that they offer. In fact, some of these small-scale application developers are now beginning to successfully nibble away at the network operators core revenuesthe attack of the app piranhas! The networks may be large and powerful, but the faster, more agile and adaptable piranhas are often better able to dart in and take advantage of new opportunities or innovations. A really pertinent example is that of Nimbuzz, a product which enables direct IM communication between mobiles. If you consider the current trend, you also realise that other existing services are rapidly evolving even Facebook has become a communications suite in its own right with a chat client and an ever expanding array of services. Another example of an agile and innovative service is 'HulloMail' which offers 'virtual' voicemail something the mobile networks once considered their exclusive domain. This offers an alternative to more traditional voicemail services by diverting missed calls through to a service which records messages but then delivers them through to the customers smartphone as well as in an email as a .wav file. As the innovative service is paid for by advertising, its essentially free to the consumer. The lesson (and threat) to the mobile industry is that these sort of services are becoming far too numerous and creative to be ignored or if they are, it will be to the peril of their shareholders!

Small-scale application developers are now beginning to successfully nibble away at the network operators core revenues

To return to where we began, RCS, in whatever form it eventually emerges, represents a very traditional approach from the networks: It's heavily engineered and driven by a consensus across the networks as to what's required. However, that consensus is now in danger of becoming a lowest common denominator compromise and something of a millstone. That said, RCS is highly likely to result in a good and consistent user experience, with well-defined standards. But the danger remains that it is highly likely to be obsolete before it's launched due to the inevitable time spent wrangling over the agreed standards. There's also the danger that the new 'agile' companies mentioned earlier will have moved far faster than the proposed new standards and functionality and will have rendered them irrelevant by bypassing them entirely. The 'agile movers' also have the advantage of not being reliant and subject to the massive investment and slow progress that the ever increasingly complex roll outs of things like RCS require. It isn't easy to come up with a glib answer for the problem faced by the network operators. They are in something of a cleft-stick: At the end of the day, they have to be compliant with the rest of the industry but as this industry has expanded exponentially in scale and
Copyright Jam ICT Ltd. Jam ICT Slanting Hill, Newbury, Berkshire, RG18 9QG. | www.jamict.com

In Jams Opinion
Miles Cheetham complexity, each successive enhancement becomes a necessarily huge undertaking. Add a dose of regulation and the inevitable haggling between the parties and you have a recipe for delay a delay which allows the smaller developers to steal a march. The future of the evolution of apps is exciting and likely to throw up many unexpected twists and turns. It's held by many industry experts that the next five years will see the stage at which applications start to interact to the point at which the user can begin to set expectations. This will herald the arrival of what has become known as the 'semantic web' the point at which apps will have become almost universally integrated. We are already several steps down this path; just look at the proliferation of multiple sign-ins across web based applications as well as Facebook's linked 'likes' integrated into sites like YouTube. This combination of social networking integration and innovation stands in stark contrast to the rather lumbering and over-engineered world of mobile network standards. and so, to conclude The Jam view is that whilst customers are likely to appreciate the proposed services which will be offered through RCS (i.e. backing up of contacts etc.), the network operators face highly significant commercial threats to revenue from 'over Could RCS be obsolete the top' applications. In order to compete, the networks need, indeed must be first to market as before it's launched well as delivering consistent and excellent customer due to the inevitable experience. They also need to ensure full time achieving integration between the network, the functionality it consensus on overoffers and the capabilities of the handsets which it makes available. engineered The next few years will be extremely exciting for the 'new piranhas', with a huge array of opportunities to exploit. Will the networks find a way to curb their activity? Or will they seek greater cooperation and recognise the need to work with them, rather than try to prevent the inevitable? Will the networks be able to continue to call the shots or will a paradigm shift see their monolithic structures reshaped into leaner and more adaptable forms? Will the European network operators get their wishes regarding enhancements to RCS, or will one of them break ranks in order to get a head start on the others? We at Jam will be keeping a close eye.

standards?

Copyright Jam ICT Ltd. Jam ICT Slanting Hill, Newbury, Berkshire, RG18 9QG. | www.jamict.com