Verizon and AT&T are making it a bit simpler for small and midsize businesses to mix and match devices and applications on their cellular networks.
Cellular networks have remained one of the last bastions of proprietary technology. Carriers have strict control over what is connected to and runs over their networks and have been loathe opening them up to third parties.
That situation is slowly changing as the nation's top two mobile carriers, Verizon and AT&T, have recently taken baby steps to make it simpler for small and midsize businesses to mix and match devices and applications on their cellular networks.
Verizon Supports Android
Verizon recently became the latest carrier to support Google's Android system. The carrier is working with Google to deliver a pair of new Android phones by the end of the year, and additional cell phones, feature phones, and even netbooks are expected in 2010. Despite being a newcomer, Google has been having a major impact on the cellular market. Sprint Nextel has opened its network up to the Android-powered Hero, and T-Mobile has a handful of Android handsets running on its network. Consequently, Android devices represent one of the handset market's fastest growing segments.
More importantly, Google is forcing cellular carriers to change their outlook toward mobile application development. In 2007, Verizon sued the FCC to stop the commission's attempt to impose open access directives on cellular network suppliers. Now, the carrier has changed its tune, cracking open its network to third-party applications, various types of devices, and even open-source operating systems. Typically, open systems lead to product innovation and lower prices, changes that benefit customers.
Vendors traditionally have been concerned about their ability to maintain their market position and margins in open system markets. Verizon seems to realize that openness still provides it with a chance to differentiate its products and services. The carrier is preloading some of its apps onto Android handsets and tailoring the device to provide a distinct user experience.
The Google Voice Issue
The service provider is supporting Google Voice, which has been a source of concern among carriers. Among other things, the application enables users to switch wireless carriers without changing their phone numbers. Carriers, handset suppliers, and software developers viewed the Google application as a Trojan Horse. They have been concerned that the vendor will use it to eventually replace their own products' distinctive features. Eventually, customers could rely solely on the Android user interface for all of their telephone calls, text messages, and voice mail.
Perhaps for these reasons, Apple declined to include Google Voice in its App Store in June. Around the same time, the iPhone developer dropped from App Store three previously approved third-party Google Voice applications: GVDialer and GVDialer Lite from MobileMax, and VoiceCentra from Riverturn.
AT&T Goes VoIP, Skype To Benefit
After that action, the FCC decided to step in to examine the decision. The government agency was concerned that AT&T may have somehow been involved in the decision, which would have violated cellular network policies. Perhaps in response to that, AT&T recentlyreversed course and said that it would "take the steps necessary" so iPhone owners could run Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications, such as Google Voice.
Another application that will likely benefit from the decision is Skype, which has been available in the iPhone App Store, but only in a crippled form that requires that a user connect via a Wi-Fi hotspot rather than to AT&T's data network. Consequently, few AT&T users were running Skype, something expected to change once the full-blown version of the software becomes available on the iPhone.
Good For SMBs
As cellular service providers slowly open their networks, the changes in outlook by Verizon and AT&T should benefit small and midsize businesses. Increasingly, SMB employees rely on their smartphones to collect information and coordinate business activities. These devices have been hamstrung because users are not able to easily mix and match applications, data, and devices from different sources. Over time there are likely to be more applications and software available to them, and that is a change that users should welcome.
See more columns by Paul Korzeniowski.
Paul Korzeniowski is a Sudbury, Mass.-based freelance writer who has been writing about networking issues for two decades. His work has appeared in Business 2.0, Entrepreneur, Investor's Business Daily, Newsweek, and InformationWeek.
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