The Personal Internet Will Subsume Mobile Internet Assumptions, Says Shosteck Group Tekrati Research News

The Mobile Internet is becoming a misnomer -- a thing of the past -- according to a new study by The Shosteck Group. The telecom analysts are predicting the emergence of the Personal Internet, which they say represents a new paradigm, a new opportunity and a new competitive playing field. The Personal Internet will require a fundamental shift in the attitudes of mobile operators and in key technologies.


According to a new Shosteck Group, the traditional concepts of Mobile Internet and mobile broadband are based upon incorrect assumptions. They are based on technology interpretations. They imply limited scope and they do not encompass the true integration of personal services over interconnected networks. Personalization and connectivity are the ultimate goals of end users, regardless of technology.
In its newest study, The Shosteck Group reveals that In an increasingly connected world, we are rapidly moving to a situation where services and content are the same irrespective of access mechanism. It is the standardized nature and the reach of the Internet that has made the Internet so successful. It is the lack of standardization and reach that has inhibited the Mobile Internet. For this reason, The Shosteck Group
“The beauty and simplicity of the term Personal Internet comes from its literal definition, personal: particular to a given individual, of intimate nature, and Internet: interconnected networks, access to infinite content. We believe that says it all,” states Jane Zweig, Chief Executive Officer of The Shosteck Group.
In this new paradigm, users will have greater control over their ability to access, store and interact with content, devices and services. This will be facilitated by the availability of new service capabilities, including the Personal Service Portal. The Personal Service Portal will provide a variety of services which have three key attributes:
On-demand: combination of storage on local device or the network as well as broadcast capability
Relevant: right time, right place, right price
Interactive: a more engaging and immersive experience
“This future vision is one where the user is in control – choosing services and content on-demand that are relevant to them, that meet their needs at any given time, where ever they are, at a price that fits the purpose, using the device they choose,” stated John Darnbrough, Senior Associate of The Shosteck Group.
Before the Personal Internet can be realized, the ongoing war to capture customer revenues will continue to be fought but with new players joining the fight.
“This is in fact a War of the Worlds -- primarily a war between the telecoms and media worlds. It is a war in which alliances with potential competitors are likely. Some alliances will be long lasting; others will not. The prize for mobile operators is no longer just communications revenues,” stated Ms. Zweig. “It is also rapidly growing e-commerce and e-entertainment revenues from the on-line purchase of tangible and digital goods and services in addition to revenues from sales of handheld devices – the physical means through which these services are consumed,” she continued.
Capturing these prized customer revenues is more difficult in a highly connected world. “A portal owner may guide and cajole its users, but typically users are free to go elsewhere, to use other portals or to go exploring themselves. Thus the winners of this war may not fully achieve their objective of ‘controlling’ or ‘owning’ the customer. In the end, it will be the customer who wins,” stated Mr. Darnbrough.
“Mobility will not be at the center, but an important cog in the wheel,” commented Ms. Zweig. “Rather than fear and fight the trends, mobile operators need to embrace them or at least prepare to profit from them by building a ‘smart-pipe’ business.
Shosteck analysts say that operators must accept that the premium for mobility is significantly lower than they believe it is today even though few alternatives will compete on a like for like basis with mobile networks for many years, if at all. The mobility premium is not yet dead, but it will come under increasingly heavy attack. It will come under attack in both the voice and data worlds.
“The development of the Personal Internet or the mobilization and un-tethering of the Internet will require a fundamental shift in attitudes of operators and in the technologies used to deliver services,” commented Mr. Darnbrough. “Significant changes will be required in the mobile network to enable the development of the service and business models that we envisage will be the framework of the Personal Internet. But fundamentally, the successful development of the Personal Internet will be reliant upon the development of an appropriate network architecture that enables mobile operators in particular to considerably reduce the cost of service delivery over their networks. The required changes will not happen overnight. No specific winners are certain other than the end user. That is inevitable.”
About the market research report
The Shosteck Group 140-page study, "The Portal Wars: Where Next for the Mobile Internet? The Emergence of the Personal Internet.", raises and answers two key overriding questions: In this “War of the Worlds,” will players outside of the mobile industry offer such fierce competition that the mobile industry will be reduced to, at best, marginal profitability? Alternatively, is the market so large that these new entrants offer opportunities for partnerships and alliances that will increase profits for all?
The study discusses and analyzes the strategic options for those already competing and those intending to enter the Mobile Internet market and the emerging, but potentially much larger, Personal Internet market. Included in the firm’s analysis are implications for operators, infrastructure and consumer electronics/handset vendors, content providers, software developers, billing and platform providers, systems integrators and others who comprise the expanding value chain.

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