Written by: Eric Peterson
Since joining the staff of Ericsson Review in 1997, numerous articles on a variety of topics have passed across my desk. We (the publisher, editorial board and myself) are fairly selective when choosing articles for publication, so I assume that every article in Ericsson Review is of interest to our industry. But obviously, some articles also hold a special personal interest to me as an end-user. That is, given the insights I have gained from reading and preparing articles for publication in Ericsson Review, I have eagerly looked forward to the day when I would see real consumer services and products based on, say, Bluetooth, xDSL, WLAN, GPRS, SyncML, GPS and more. Two years ago, I predicted that that day would come before year’s end 2001. A year later, however, I had to eat my words—if you weren’t (a) an early adopter or (b) actively looking for it, then you probably hadn’t noticed anything that even remotely resembled what we call the Mobile Internet. But today that’s all changed. The Mobile Internet is all around us and is fast becoming an integral part of ordinary people’s lifestyles.
We often read about or hear that the industry is in a slump. Well, it is. But don’t tell the end-users! Given all that has happened on the consumer/end-user side of things—the advent of some really great mobile terminals, and a maturing of standards, services and applications—I am convinced that the world of mobile telecommunications has never been more exciting. Face it, the average end-user cares nothing for the actual technology in use—all he or she really wants are hassle-free services.
In my own case, the single largest factor propelling me toward a richer Mobile Internet experience was the switch to a new handset—in February, I traded my trusty Ericsson R380s for a Sony Ericsson P800. Today, I enjoy e-mail and Web-based services via GPRS, I frequently use Bluetooth for transferring files between my phone and laptop, and thanks to remote-synchronization services, I can keep my contact and calendar information up-to-date on multiple devices. Hey, as an end-user, I’m in service heaven! And the best part of all is that I know this is just the beginning—better, more potent and really useful services are on the way.
In this issue of Ericsson Review you can read, among other things, how the industry, through the Open Mobile Alliance, is taking steps to make services interoperable. You will also read about Ericsson’s service network framework, which provides architectural principles for creating horizontally layered service networks. Furthermore, you can read how Ericsson is prepared to help operators to realize the true potential of the service network and move toward fully third-generation-ready networks. Like I said, better, more potent and really useful services are on the way!
[First published in Ericsson Review no. 01, 2003]
