Benefits for operators

With today’s mobile handsets packing more computing power than NASA used to put a man on the moon, and with LTE offering instant access to every application you could possibly need, the benefits to consumers are obvious. But what’s in it for mobile network operators?

The simple answer is that the number of channels now available for making voice calls (internet telephony services such as Skype, for example) means that mobile operators can’t make big profits by selling phone calls. However, 3G turns them into data service providers and LTE gives them an even better bottom line: its efficient infrastructure makes for lower operating costs, so data services are cheaper to provide and more tempting to the consumer.

Whether that makes the operators the new kings of content or just mobile advertisers is a moot point. Many predict that the major players in the digital world – the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon – will be the real kings of content and the mobile operators their servants.

But no single company can drive this market on its own. Initiatives already in progress are galvanising stakeholders into creating and securing the necessary infrastructure. For example, Gemalto is helping to secure Japan’s first commercial LTE rollout in partnership with NTT DOCOMO, which trialed a prototype 4G system as long ago as 2007.

Over the next few years, collaborations such as this will help to create ultra-high-speed networks that will make even 3G look snail-like by comparison.
 

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