« Paragraph 1.8 | Read the full summary | Paragraph 1.10 »
At the same time, the mobile sector is an
increasingly integral part of a broader communications market. The distinction
between fixed and mobile networks, previously clear, is starting to blur. In an
international marketplace, events here are affected by events elsewhere – both
within Europe and, increasingly, in developing
economies with whom we are interdependent.
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On this experimental site we encourage you to leave informal comments alongside the Executive Summary of Ofcom's Mobile Sector Assessment consultation, published on 28 August 2008.
Alternatively, you can download the full consultation document, and/or respond formally to the consultation (closing date 6 November 2008). You can also follow the debate over the next few months on the team's blog, Mobile citizens, mobile consumers.
A Hayes on 1 September 2008 at 2:07pm
The move of mobile comms into more advanced mobile data comms is welcome in my view. There is a really chance to make this the 'killer app' of the mobile market. Handsets like the iPhone, LG Viewty and the Blackberry show consumers what they could expect. However, providers still charge for data services at a level that will prevent take-up from all but the more affluent consumer.
My 13-year old son recently looked at Three but was talked into an Orange contract in a well-known multi-vendor High St store. Three was cheaper and included a big fat bundle of texts (his preferred medium). It also gave free MSN Messenger and other online goodies. The Orange contract (we were incorrectly told) offered off peak internet access. In fact this costs him an additional £5pm.
Providers would capture a significantly important segment of its audience if it learned the lesson from SMS and bundled data time into contracts rather than having them as an expensive bolt-on. Waiting for the market to catch-up may mean the market dries up - like it did with the failed promises made for WAP.