Ideas & Opinions
Bursting the mobile broadband bubble
By Mike on 31 October 2008
LONDON, UK – The invisibility and seamlessness of mobile services and devices may be some way off , yet one of the key ingredients in bringing us closer to this vision of unconsciously intuitive mobile experiences is the rapid evolution of mobile broadband and bullet-speed over-the-air connectivity. But is this key ingredient ripe enough yet to step up and take centre stage on the road to the next-gen mobile world?
While mobile broadband has been kicking around for several years now and has recently begun to gallop with the emergence of HSDPA technology, it seems that it’s still far from maturity. A new report today from UK network O2 has found that more than one in ten users feel they have been mis-sold by the products, sparking the question of where the responsibility should lie for this experience – is it the operators, the manufacturers, the folk behind Internet services and apps, or all of the above?
Breaking down the stats further, there are some interesting figures. Almost a third say they are having to pay more per month than they were initially led to believe, no doubt contributing to a lack of confidence, which undoubtedly results in many not behaving freely with the service. 20 per cent were also upset that they were unable to use mobile broadband where they wanted it, despite being told by providers that there would be coverage. That’s a pretty large slice of dissatisfaction right there, but it’s a challenge that needs addressing to ensure we’re all able to exploit the full potential of our devices and continue to improve our mobile lives in the process.
It’s never about simply creating the fastest services, it should be about developing the most robust, easy to use, and innovative approaches that help the technology fade into the background. Clarity and education on what’s possible and what to expect is important, but of course so is the experience and end product for us as daily users.
It almost goes without saying that mobile connectivity is improving in the UK and across the world, and I for one am attempting to enjoy the fruits of this on-the-go broadband bounty via Internet connected apps and services. But I’m equally aware, as this report echoes, that there are holes that need plugging and experiences (both negative and positive) that require highlighting and understanding.
What sort of experience have you had with mobile broadband in your country?
Photo from Murky1
Related posts:
- Can mobile broadband kill the landline?
- “The possibilities are endless”
- Expanding the bubble of presence
Tags | conversations, internet services, mobile broadband, Nokia, o2, report
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 am
This is a really good question, but probably one that will have as many answers as there are links in the chain.
On the carrier/network side, the connectivity (bandwidth) and quality of service issues need to be handled. Speed is great for marketing, but with the little attention paid to overall QoS, customers and handset manufactuers start from this seemless-mobile idea from the negative rather than on the side of just build what works.
Network capacity is also an issue that the recent iPhone & ATT issue kinda makes noted of being a very important issue that gets too little attention towards the carrier/network.
On the side of devices, manufacturers have to be more proactive about using interpolatable standards. There’s no reason that users on all mobiles shouldn’t be able to use presence and cellID tagging as a means to bolster interactions with one another and the local environment. Get the standards on track in the high volume mobiles, not just the speacality products, and then allow that ubiquious culture to develop from it. There’s no need to push solutions, when the tools are already there and waiting to just be used as the solution.
Inspire confidence by making a complete solution in other words (not speaking of the high end, test bed type of handsets; though there is some measure of completness that needs to be there that isn’t).
On the side of users, we just need to become better users of the tech. Finding reasons for making mobile effective, not just an add on. Part of this is indeed generational, but I do believe also that with the world economies and resources being on strain in so many areas, people will start looking towards making the mobile a more effective part of their lives. And at least in areas not named Western Europe and the US where other types of connectivity dominate, there might be a chance when in learning mobiles better that a new type of economic model can flourish for those regions.
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