In Search of the Killer Wireless App
The good news is that we already have a killer app for wireless networks. The bad news is that it’s voice, which is sold in huge bucket plans and is a commodity. Beyond voice analysts see three potential applications that will drive data adoption and revenues, picture messaging, games, and corporate access. The last one is a no brainer, once coverage meets expectations and carriers offer integrated roaming between cellular and WLAN networks, wireless network access will become the norm for business users. Picture messaging and gaming are more cost sensitive given their consumer nature, so carriers could easily blow these opps by over pricing the service and not offering them to prepaid customers. So much of what carriers can offer are dictated by their billing systems and they seem pretty far behind in flexible support for data services.
