Carriers Focused On Wrong Apps
A bit of a repeat from a different story Mike picked up yesteday, but Mike and I have slightly different takes. Strategy Analytics discusses how carriers in the EU are myopically focused on entertainment-based mobile apps, when they should instead be widening their horizons to include other categories which may in fact be in higher demand, such as LBS. Techdirt agrees entirely, although Mike and I disagree as to the importance of major media firm content (I think it’s important, Mike less so), we both agree that carriers are overly distracted by the urge to get big brand content on their portals. The Strategy Analytics report cites LBS as an overlooked app category with high potential in Europe. This is consistent with a December 60-page report I wrote on LBS in North America, concluding that location-aware apps offer particularly high opportunity in the US, because the FCC E911 mandate will make ~100% of all mobile phones precise-location-aware by end-2005. For example, my Sprint PCS phone has been GPS location-aware for over a year (ie. Sprint knows exactly where it is). But where are the associated LBS apps?? Only ATTWS and Nextel seem to have made measurable strides so far.
