Developing 3G
Ericsson reaches out to developers of wireless Internet applications, content
By Jeanie Stokes
from the June 18, 2001 issue of Broadband Week
Ericsson is spending billions to bring third generation (3G) wireless Internet technology to the mobile communications world. It's also making sure that users will have something to do with this new technology when it gets here.
The industry's biggest telecommunications equipment provider earlier this year unveiled its global network, Ericsson Mobility World, aimed at the developers of content and applications for the wireless Internet. The program is intended to help network operators, developers and content providers collaborate to bring innovative applications and services to market.
"If there's anything that going to make 3G a reality, it's going to be applications that will drive the market. It's such a diverse market, in terms of geography as well as social and economic diversity, that it's going to require thousands of applications and hundreds of developers," says Donna Campbell, director of the Mobility World Lab in New York.
Partnering is more important today than it ever has been, given the current market conditions and the critical need to get to market with new products in the shortest time possible, Campbell says.
"Companies can't afford to go it alone in building new businesses. With so many companies cutting back on research, we really need to leverage the investment that we're making with great partners."
The New York center has been in operation since 1998. Ericsson opened a similar center a year later in Madrid to focus on mobile Internet projects for the Spanish market. A third center in Dusseldorf, Germany, opened in February. A total of 40 centers are planned where developers can bring their work to test on Ericsson infrastructure.
"What we're doing is bringing developers in and saying, 'does this work? How can we make it better?'" Campbell says.
Although Ericsson works with companies of all sizes, the program is geared to helping smaller developers compete successfully with the big guys. Ericsson makes available its enabling technology platforms with open applications programming interfaces (APIs) so developers can write applications that will run on the networks of wireless operators. It also helps them develop the business side of their operation, understand market conditions and the ins and outs of dealing with major telecom operators.
"With the downturn in the market, what we're dealing with are the people who are serious about this now. They really have a business model that's feasible and have the technical know-how to do what they say they're going to do," Campbell says.
Besides providing developers with a test bed to see if their applications will work, Mobility World is also allowing Ericsson to look at the more mature wireless markets in Scandinavia and Asia to see if applications in use there can be translated immediately to the North American and European markets.
Swedish mobile game developer It's Alive! now is working with the New York Mobility World lab about uses of its technology for the U.S. market. Ericsson also is working with Swedish wireless entertainment and applications developer BlueFactory.
Another company, Genesis, began working with the mobility group in Spain on operator trials, and through Mobility World is being considered for trials in other markets.
Ericsson is working with developers in streaming video, positioning, location-based services, and intelligent network services. Another client group consists of companies, like Mapquest Inc., that have created identifiable brands and are taking them from the Internet and deploying it in the mobile environment, Campbell says.
"We're probably spending most of our time with people in location-based services and positioning--what kind of information is unique when you're mobile," Campbell says. Those include services that offer some kind of value users can't get elsewhere and is something they need at that particular time.
"People in this country aren't going to pay for something they can get for free on the Internet. Won't pay for it just because it's on their cell phone or mobile device." Campbell adds.
The smaller technology developers often are more agile and more focused than large manufacturers when it comes to developing wireless applications, Campbell says. Israel-based Emblaze Systems Inc. is typical of the streaming video technology providers in the program. In December, Emblaze licensed its technology for use as a component in Ericsson's multimedia solutions that enable live news coverage, sports, weather, finance, video-on-demand, movie previews, and local advertising in both the 2.5G and 3G architectures.
Mobility World offers three levels of partner activity, depending on whether a company has viable technology and the level of interest in it for licensing and or investment support.
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