Tuesday, December 11, 2012

How 4G LTE Might TransformiThe Mobile Ecosystem

Will Long Term Evolution 4G transformthe mobile ecosystem? Possibly, Business Insider says. In fact, mobile service providers hope that will happen, much as 3G was thought to be the foundation for new applications user experiences and revenue streams.

Of course, the 3G experience also suggests that it sometimes can take quite a while for those new applications, experiences and revenue streams to materialize. So what does Business Insider think could happen?

LTE is about ten times faster than 3G wireless connections. In fact, many consumers have found LTE faster than their home broadband connections, Business Insider argues. That might lead more users to evaluate substituting LTE for a fixed broadband connection. So there could be changes affecting service providers.
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LTE might encourage application developers to create, and people to use,  video-based or video-enhanced applications.

These categories most notably include video sharing, video chat, augmented reality, games, and apps.

Both consumers and app developers might therefore find that 4G creates the foundation for qualitatively different experiences, not just "faster" experiences.

Advertisers might find that LTE creates more engagement and more monetization opportunities. That might mean more advertising, and more immersive experiences, more often and in new locations. Google, Facebook and others are betting big that will happen.

On the other hand, some circumspection is probably in order. Mobile service providers were initially convinced that 3G likewise would create massive new revenue streams, apps and experiences, and for quite some time, none of that happened.

Only with the emergence of mobile email did lead applications of value to lots of people finally emerge. That was followed by mobile Internet access as a lead value. Most observers think video will play a key role in underpinning 4G-unique experiences. Others think the "personal hotspot" could emerge as a major new app as well.

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