I’m not the only one who came back cynical from CTIA, I’ve been tripping over other articles and blogs pointing out the fundamental problems with MNOs trying to control their user experience.
In particular, Mike Masnick at Techdirt writes a piece here about the Motorola iTune phone being pulled at the last moment. He speculates the carriers were behind this. His words ring true to me …
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[carriers are worried that] content might somehow get on phones without them getting a cut. This is the classic walled garden mindset of the carriers, and it’s exactly what’s going to drag them down. While the carriers want to pretend they’re music moguls and make sure their hand is one of many in the tiny pie, others are working on ways to route around the carriers. The more complicated the carriers make it, the more it’s just going to push users to find other solutions, and then the carriers will be guaranteed not to get a cut at all.
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Carriers don’t want to sell you data service. They want to be your editor, newspaper, sports analyst, music store, bookstore, photo album, online retail channel. And they want to nickle and dime you on every transaction.
Most importantly, by walling you in they reduce their value to you by violating Metcalfe’s law. This more than anything else is why they will fail in the face of technology that allows you the freedom to connect.
Note that this certainly is not a North America only phenomenon. Masnick also writes here about Vodafone restricting content, as well as 3 (or Tre as we called it when I was a early subscriber in Italia). It expresses better than I can the defective thinking at the carriers …
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UK mobile carrier 3, saying that their customers would be “nuts” for wanting to actually surf the internet outside of 3’s walled garden. Now, Vodafone (also in the UK) is trying to defend its position for blocking all video content that isn’t Vodafone improved, once again in the name of “protecting the customer.” In this case, it’s protecting them against “bill shock” — which is only a problem because of the bizarre data pricing they offer
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I’m really pleased with the quality of commentary and news at Techdirt by the way. If you’re doing business in the mobile industry it’s the best feed I’ve found yet, and has made it to my “must read” list.