Posted: September 19, 2006

In my day job, I run a wireless application and content company, Cellit Mobile Marketing. We do text message campaigns, wap development, custom mobile marketing, and the like. Running this company has given me a very close interaction with the carriers (Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc.). And if I could sum up this experience in one word, it would be: frustrating. Amazingly frustrating, indeed.

For those of you that are not in this industry, let me give you a brief overview how it works. Each mobile carrier has what they call “on-deck” or “in-network” content, such as the Verizon V-Cast network, T-Mobile T-Zone, or the AT&T mMode. There is then “off-deck” content, such as us (Cellit) and countless other content providers (both savory and unsavory). On-deck content is typically accessed through a process the carriers call “discovery”. “Discovery” occurs when you’re waiting at the bus stop or in line at the bank, and you start fumbling through the countless menus of your cell phone to find a new game to play or approved web page to surf. Typically, this only occurs when you’re extremely bored, as it is a time-consuming process. Off-deck content is typically found through ads on television, the radio, etc, which point you to text in a keyword to a shortcode. You then are sent a direct link to the content (either through a “WAP Push” or just a link in a text message).

There’s really no problem with the above model, as outlined above. The problem is, however, that for my company to be an off-deck content provider, we still have to get approved by each of the carriers! Without their approval, we can’t send shortcoded texts. We can send wap-pushes. We can’t bill for content. We can even do a simple text-for-info. This is ridiculous. A phone is a phone is a phone. Actually, at this point, a broadband pipe is a pipe is a pipe. I wonder what would happen if they started approving each company that sells goods over the phone? That would never fly! If you call me, and I sell you something, why is that any different than if you text me? I say it isn’t. What say you, America?
The carriers need to wake up.

It is amazing how short our memory is, isn’t it? Remember a little company called AOL? Remember how AOL started off by trying to offer a ton of “great” content and “community” to its users? Remember what happened to AOL? SURPRISE! People didn’t want its content. What they wanted was access to something greater, called the Internet. All that “great” content was pushed aside as AOL (rather quickly) became a dumb broadband pipe for the Internet at large. Does this sound familiar to today’s situation?

As the mobisphere (again, I am desperately — and half-jokingly trying to coin the term) continues to grow, there needs to be a clean, clear, and free path to access all of its content easily. Beyond simply opening up their decks and easing the approval process for wireless campaigns, the carriers need to open up their technology as well. In the long-run, everybody (including the carriers) will win.

This is just another rant from the desk of David Wachs. I ask for your comments.

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