Just back from New Orleans and the CTIA Wireless 2003 show. I attended my first "cellular" trade show in 1985. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Wireless has always been plaqued by what I call "the bookends problem". High cost of capital for infrastructure and the lunacy of high costs in phone/handset subsidies.
Well, the walk from the hotel to the convention center provided the metaphor for the times. Parked along our route was the mobile van for the television show Wheel of Fortune.
Walking around the show and seeing all of the handsets nicely categorized in displays labeled: GSM, CDMA, TDMA, IDEN and imagining the lumbering multiple carrier infrastrastructure and multiple carrier support behind each unit, that gets into each customer's hand, well...it gave me a headache.
The industry can talk about consolidation but as a colleague of mine says, "Egos and Logos" always get in the way. The carriers would do well to put egos and logos aside and with or without consolidation, get serious about "sh_r_d _nfr_str_ct_r_". At a minimum, it made for lively discussion as I joined Accenture's Richard Siber for dinner.
With the cash that squeezed carriers have remaining, they could buy the vowels necessary to realize "shared infrastructure" and the business would be healthier for it.
Posted by at March 20, 2003 10:03 PM | TrackBack:-) Ain't going to happen as we all know. Just like the ILECS on the wireline side they are all into vertical integration - full control over both network and content. In the end it will destroy most of them, there simply isn't enough business in the US to support all that redundant infrastructure. Look what's happening on the wireline side - there are over 500 FTTH and HFC networks being installed by community owned netwoerks - mostly through community owned public utilities. They generally operate on a cost recovery model with a small profit to cover future growth. They also operate as Open Access networks. That is the right model - seperate content from infrastructure and everyone except the wannabe monopoly wins.
Posted by: The Dynamic Driveler at March 22, 2003 02:22 PM