David McNamee
06-15-2004, 05:27 AM
A recent report from analyst ARC speculates that the demand for mobile video will bring in $5.4 Billion dollars for mobile carriers. The report cites a "flurry of activity" and deals between "Vodafone and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Mobilkom Austria and CNN and 3 Sweden and Endemol/Kanal" as indicators that mobile video is set to take off. They also look at Telefonica, TIM and O2, who have made deals with RealNetworks. Branded entertainment is expected to be popular, but second to video messaging.
Personally, I think the carriers that are focused on bringing video and other value-add services are putting the cart before the horse. They need to make sure that they provide the best pipes for carrying voice and data. Then they can start adding frills and lace like mobile video. The carrier that will win the biggest piece of the market will let me have a 40 minute phone call with my boss during the drive from my house to my customer's site while simultaneously downloading my e-mail and banging out a couple of text messages without dropping the connection. The video can come later.
Personally, I think the carriers that are focused on bringing video and other value-add services are putting the cart before the horse. They need to make sure that they provide the best pipes for carrying voice and data. Then they can start adding frills and lace like mobile video. The carrier that will win the biggest piece of the market will let me have a 40 minute phone call with my boss during the drive from my house to my customer's site while simultaneously downloading my e-mail and banging out a couple of text messages without dropping the connection. The video can come later.