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April 2013:
Dish-Sprint Could User in New Broadband, Content Era
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Among
the wave of M&A that has swept the wireless industry in recent
years, I believe Dish-Sprint offers the most intriguing possibilities
for innovative service and business models. The combination of assets
could help redefine what broadband and video delivery services look
like, over the next five years. Read More....
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May 2013:
The Emergence of BYOP
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BYOD
is a big buzzword in wireless. But I think the term is a bit of a
misnomer. What we're really seeing is the emergence of the "Bring Your
Own Plan (BYOP)" era in wireless. The catalyst, really, is the steady
migration to a structure where voice and text are unlimited, and
subscribers pay for a bucket of GB. Data is the new currency. Read More....
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March 2013:
Mobile Payments: E-ZPass vs. Parking Meters.
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It
is mid-2013, and we are nowhere near where we thought we would be with
mobile payments in North America. There's huge velocity in the area,
but mobile payments have impacted relatively few consumers' lives to
this point. To explain why mobile payments haven't taken off, I'd like
to use the analogy of E-ZPass vs. parking meters. Read More....
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March 2013:
Will Wireless Compete with Broadband? |
A top strategic question is whether mobile could possibly compete with
fixed broadband. My views on this have evolved over the past six months
-- the technology roadmap, strategic considerations, and public policy
are pointing to the increased viability of mobile being a broadband
alternative. Read More....
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January 2013:
Rethinking Business Models for Mobile and Content |
The theme of my 2013 "predictions" piece was that this is going to be a
year of "disruption" across many elements of the value chain. I'd like
to delve a little deeper into a discussion of business models and
pricing, where I think we will see both disruption to prevailing
structures, and experimentation around new forms of monetization. I see
this happening in many sectors of the mobile space: operator pricing,
video over mobile, "content everywhere," and applications. Read More....
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January 2012:
TV Will Be Complemented, Not Disrupted |
There
are many who predict that TV is the next industry to be "disrupted".
Certainly there has been a proliferation of over-the-top solutions,
expansion of content to mobile devices, and attempts to modernize the
user interface. And of course there is ongoing speculation with regards
to Apple's next move. But I believe a wholesale disruption to the
current framework is unlikely. Read more.
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December 2012:
Lowenstein's Thoughts on 2013: A "Year of Disruption" |
In
2012, it became clear that mobile has become a central component of the
digital economy. For 2013, I believe there will be some important
changes in the mobile industry value chain and prevailing business
model, and in some adjacent industries where mobile plays a strong
role. Hence, the theme of my annual predictions piece: 2013: Year of Disruption.
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November 2012:
Time to Talk About the 'Post-Smartphone' Era |
Steve
Jobs, in promoting the iPad, famously coined the term "post-PC." With
the success of tablets, and at least modest cannibalization of PC
sales, there has been a vigorous discussion of what the next era of
"computing" will look like. Read more.
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November 2012:
Top Ten Takeaways from the Open Mobile Summit |
My
key takeaways from three days spent at the mobile internet focused
event, the Open Mobile Summit, in San Francisco. I think we should be
including, in this discussion, the "post-smartphone" era. Read more.
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November 2012:
The State of Mobile Broadband |
My
post-4G World assessment of the "state of the network". Where are we in
the deployment of true mobile broadband? Are there new technologies
that will deliver significant improvements in performance and
efficiency? What "smart pipe" strategies are being enabled by mobile
broadband? Read more.
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October 2012:
Sprint-Softbank Deal: My Take. |
I think it's a positive for the industry and consumers. Read more.
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September 2012:
Things Operators Need to Fix |
The
wireless "experience" has improved across many metrics, but customer
satisfaction ratings under-index compared to peer firms in the telecom
and media sectors. Why? I'll boil it down to two words: unpleasant
surprises. Operators must do something about excessive charges for
overage and international roaming, and the creep of unnecessary fees.
How? Read more.
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September 2012:
Mobile Device Developments: The Broader Context. |
Over the past month, all of the phone heavyweights have introduced great new devices. What's the broader context? Some key themes…
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July 2012:
The First 'Mobile' Olympics:
Lowenstein Gives it a Bronze |
With
the adoption of smartphones and tablets, availability of 4G networks,
and a business model allowing for delivery of content to multiple
screens, I'd argue this is the first true 'mobile' Olympics. With all
that, however, I'd give it a bronze. Read more.
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June 2012:
Verizon's Share Everything: The Untold Story |
Verizon's
much anticipated shared data plan, Share Everything, is transformative
in multiple ways, allowing for shared data among multiple devices and
users in a group, and moving smartphone users toward unlimited voice
and messaging. Verizon has taken a leadership position in addressing a
market need, recognizing the natural evolution of the wireless
industry. I believe there are three aspects to Verizon's strategy, and
what it means for consumers, that have been under-explored. Read more.
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May 2012:
The 10 Most Important Questions in Wireless
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We
are at a unique moment in the wireless industry's trajectory. On the
one hand, wireless is growing like gangbusters, globally, across a
range of metrics. On the other hand, there are important segments of
the industry that are not healthy. Here are ten questions that I believe will have significant bearing on the next phase of this industry. Read more.
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April 2012:
Is the mobile M&A binge crazy or justified? |
A
few weeks ago, Facebook acquired mobile photo sharing app Instagram for
$1 billion. The same week, Shutterfly confirmed this week its
acquisition of Kodak Gallery, an online photo storage and publishing
division of Kodak, for $23.8 million--and the absence of any competing
bids. Are we in a bubble or is something truly disruptive happening? Read more.
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April 2012:
April Fools Lens: FCC Announces The Spectrum Games |
Read
Mark Lowenstein's annual April Fools' riff: Stunned by a recently
released report by Cisco showing that wireless data traffic grew 92% in
the past week, the FCC has decided to rush a significant swath of
wireless spectrum to the wireless industry - through a unique auction
process called The Spectrum Games. Read More
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March 2012:
Preventing a Wireless Mess in Washington |
Wireless
is among the most vibrant industries on the planet. It is an important
source of innovation and employment growth. Unfortunately, Washington
is increasingly getting in the way of the future growth of the wireless
industry in the U.S. How to fix it? Read more.
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March 2012:
Lowenstein On AT&T "Throttling" Controversy:
Right Move, But Greater Transparency Needed |
AT&T
is taking a major PR hit for terminating its all-you-can-eat data plan
for smartphone users. AT&T made the right decision, but the company
could have handled it better. This is the sort of situation that
demands transparency. It is also part of a broader discussion regarding
data consumption that Lowenstein believes will include fixed broadband as well. Read More
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February 2012:
Are we headed for a mobile talent gap? |
Mobile will be one of the leading sources of employment growth and opportunity over the next ten years. But demand far outstrips supply in the technical fields. What should we be doing to ensure there's adequate supply of talent to meet demand? Read more.
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January 2012:
Monetization: The Next Phase of Enterprise Mobility |
The
enterprise mobility market is on fire. Much of the current activity
revolves around B2E deployments and mobile policy/device management
solutions. I believe a larger transformation is just around the corner:
leading brands will harness mobile to develop entirely new revenue
streams. Read more.
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December 2011:
2012: The Year Mobile and Content Will Merge. |
In
the digital media universe, significant progress is being made on the
"content everywhere" framework for television programming, movies, and
other media. This is going to force some important economic, business
model, and customer experience questions for mobile in 2012. Read more.
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December 2011:
Lowenstein Predictions 2012 |
See
Mark's list of annual provocative predictions: How will mobile and
content merge? Will Apple be able to keep up the momentum? Is mobile
payments overhyped? Read More
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December 2011:
What's Next in Wake of AT&T Deal Collapse? |
For
the record, I was supportive of this deal. In the wake of its collapse,
expect an intense period of deal activity. It's also time to be
thinking about three fundamental issues: How many national 4G networks
do we really need? Why are wireless operators so unhealthy at a time of
general industry frothiness? And how do we convince regulators to look
at wireless through a modified, less telecom-centric lens? Read More
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November 2011:
We Need More Data on Data. |
Reading
an operator's 10Q is like a step back in time. With all the growth in
data, new metrics are needed to more effectively track this side of the
business. Here are some suggestions..
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October 2011:
Time for Apple To Do Something With its Cash. |
Pressure has been mounting on Apple to do something with its riches.
Some thoughts on possible acquisitions, blockbuster moves, and even
time to "give back". Read more.
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September 2011:
Is Mobile Ready for the Cloud? |
Lowenstein posits that mobile might not be ready for the connectivity model needed for cloud services. Read More.
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September 2011:
Mobile Platform Wars: What's Next? |
Lowenstein
foresees an accelerated pace of developments and a re-shaping of the
mobile device/platform ecosystem over the next 6-12 months. Read More.
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August 2011:
The Next Generation App Experience |
Successful as the app framework has been, I am feeling that we are
nearing "overload." Apps are tough to manage on and across devices,
vary wildly in quality, and exist in very specific silos. Don't get me
wrong--I love my apps the same as the next guy. But given the
limitations of the existing framework, and other tools/capabilities
becoming available, it's time to be thinking about an evolved, more
semantic mobile content experience. Read More.
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July 2011:
Toward A Dynamic Connectivity Model |
CNN announced recently it would make simulcasts available on the Web and to mobile devices. Question: do wireless operators want their subscribers streaming video over cellular networks to their devices? Answer: Probably not. What Should be the Answer: A More Dynamic Connectivity Model. Read More.
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June 2011:
M-Commerce: What Does the User Want? |
Mobile Commerce is one of the next big things in wireless. But for all
the innovation, politics, and deal-making among ecosystem players, has
there been enough focus on what the consumer wants? Read Here for my thoughts on the issue.
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Appearances
