Mobile Phone Best Seller

Motorola Q – the best selling smartphone in USA
January 01, 2007 [General]
Generally Windows Mobile has a leading position in USA – approximately equal to Palm OS as far as sales are concerned.

In USA Symbian powered phones are number 3 and have rather small market share, what is contrary to global market share, where Symbian has over 80%. Weak position of Symbian in USA is related to the fact that Nokia lacks CDMA know-how and phones – needed for Verizon Wireless and Sprint wireless carriers. Apart from that the GSM wireless carriers from USA – Cingular and T-Mobile – often force Nokia to release phones to USA market in a crippled form – for example without Wi-Fi.

Situation is in flux and subject to changes because several new Symbian phones with HSDPA are about to hit markets in first quarter of 2007 (mainly from Nokia, Samsung and LG), but for now it looks like Motorola Q – powered by Windows Mobile smartphone edition (MS Smartphone) is a market leader in USA:

Here’s the breakdown of the top sellers from August through October:

1. Motorola Q
2. Palm Treo 650
3. Verizon Wireless XV6700
4. Palm Treo 700p
5. BlackBerry 8700

The current top five best-selling smartphones reflect a shifting market that’s no longer limited to Treos and BlackBerries. Motorola’s Q has come on strong, and actually led sales between August and October 2006.

To read more click here.

Interestingly still some analysts are confused and count BlackBerry devices as smartphones, although they can’t execute native 3rd party applications with full access to operating system (like true smartphones can) but can run only limited Java applications (midlets).

3G Social Networking Goldmine

3G Social Networking Goldmine – communities-dominate.blogs.com – Tomi T. Ahonen
Technologies of Cooperation

When I first looked at Tomi Ahonen’s blog – Communities Dominate Brands – and immediately began ordering a copy of his latest book I had the familiar feeling of reading someone’s writings who “gets it” and “sees the imminent future“.

People know me in the Web Metrics Community as somewhat of an authority on Web Metrics, perhaps a “visionary” who sees where things are going, much as Howard Rheingold does in books like SmartMobs. It’s the artist in me that gave me the vision ot see Visual Sciences as the best Web Analytics Platform, bar none, leading many to take a closer look at that high end platform. It’s the same vision that tells me HitWise needs to be merged with Web Analytics vendors, that RSS subscribers are the main measure of loyalty, care of Seth Godin. And now I’m seeing the future in Tomi Ahonen’s ideas about 3G Mobile Networking – the goldmine is there – and he “sees” that goldmine – he knows it.
I think Howard believes in 3G Social Networking ….he wrote THE BOOK on it! Now Tomi Ahonen has taken that idea and ran with it …. looking at next wave ….. the 3G Mobile Social Neworking goldmine.

What’s the future? 3G Social Networking applications are worth more, today, than MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Bebo, Second Life, Worlds of Warcraft, Skype etc!

“……..more revenues generated by similar social networking activity… on mobile phones of course. Led by such services as Cyworld from South Korea (in 6 countries), Mixi in Japan, Habbo Hotel from Finland (in over a dozen countries) and SeeMeTV in the UK, Italy and other 3/Hutchison markets – social networking on mobile is THE first elusive killer app for 3G !”

Today, many of those applications lie outside the mobile phone / device – perhaps a service one subscribes to – it’s not built into the software provided by the mobile network vendor (IE: TMobile, Verizon Wireless, etc). As far as what Tomi Ahonen is saying ….. I totally believe it and here’s why – illustrated by a story. I ran into two friends recently at an art opening in Brooklyn, Matthew and Nichelle, who are part of an art social network in New York that keep in constant communication with each other – they have Google Calanders sync’d in so they can see where each other is and meet up if they want. Matt and Nichelle do what I write about in WebMetricsGuru.com - they practice Social Networking – it’s in their bones ….. in fact they use DodgeBall and Plaxo to see all of their contacts in real time ….. hundreds of messages a day – hundreds of events a week in NYC – 4 people in this network (two I haven’t met yet).

That’s the power on real time 3G Mobile Social Networking……and the whole story of 3G Social Networking is being told for the first time by Tomi Ahonen in his blog and book Communities Dominate Brands.

How big is the pot of gold at the end of the 3G Social Network market THIS YEAR?

Informa tells us it is worth 3.45 billion dollars in 2006. Yes, mobile digital communities are worth more than online adult entertainment, or mobile gambling or multiplayer gaming or iTunes. Like we say in our book, Communities Dominate!

When I’m at Ad-Tech NY next month I’ll be sure to both attend the 3G Social Networking Sessions and put the speakers on the spot (as I’ll be interviewing many of speakers and companies for Know More Media’s www.WebMetricsGuru.com, my Web Metrics Blog that many influentials read (I found that out, to my surprise, at the EMetrics Summit in DC this month….me…they read my blog….yes they do), especially for Web Metrics – I’ll be covering Ad-Tech as a reporter / press). As Tomi says in a recent blog post titled: Why is mobile social networking worth $3.45b?

…..The story, is about people – and what we are – A “we species” – human beings are highly social and are built to be so. But industrialisation, mass-consumption, mass-media – although providing us with greater prosperity – denied us some of our fundamental rights as people.

And now we’re taking our Social Networking rights – enabled by technology.

But don’t believe my word….read Tomi’s blog which has – a lot of material in it – but he makes a case for Mobile 3G Social Networking being the real goldmine that should be looked at much more closely – given much more press than it has.

Links: Communities Dominate Brands – I’ll leave the rest of the links out…they’re all over the post.

China Mobile’s WVAS vision

China Mobile’s WVAS Vision

On August 18, China Mobile held a meeting with 20 of its leading SPs and several handset markers to discuss its future plans for Wireless Value Added Services (WVAS). The meeting succeeds the regulations China Mobile issued to SPs in July including the double-confirmation policy. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce new services and discuss strategic changes for WVAS, as the company endeavors to keep revenues up amid the unfavorable regulations. Mobile music, mobile video, mobile games, mobile IM, 2D barcode, mobile search and mobile blog have all been tagged as key applications for China Mobile as the company embarks on the 3G era. China Mobile also announced that it intends to work more closely with handset vendors and content providers to gain better control over the WVAS value chain.

Mobile Music and Video as Core Services

China Mobile has identified mobile music and mobile video as its 3G core services.  Given its ability to demonstrate substantially higher revenues than mobile video, mobile music is China Mobile’s highest priority WVAS this year.

Color Ring-Back Tone (CRBT), currently China Mobile’s greatest mobile music driver, has become one of the biggest revenue sources in terms of the company’s non-SMS data business.  CRBT revenue was RMB 2.6 billion (USD 325 million) in 1H 2006, accounting for 10.9% of China Mobile’s total WVAS revenues.  CRBT users rocketed to 128.4 million by June 2006, up from 57.9 million in June 2005.  Mobile music is also an important content source for other applications such as WAP and IVR.  As demonstrated by successful application in the 3G markets of Japan and South Korea, mobile music will become increasingly crucial for mobile operators as applications such as full-track music downloads are enabled in China.[...]

Mobile Games

China Mobile’s mobile game business has yet to achieve growth momentum because of limited user interaction and poor marketing.  China Mobile plans to create a game community channel under its mobile Java portal Baibaoxiang.  The operator will enable users of the game community channel to purchase items like avatars using virtual money. [...]

Mobile IM

China Mobile recently began trials for ‘Femoo’, its IM solution developed jointly with Huawei.  China Mobile aims to dominate the mobile IM market by integrating other WVAS applications into its IM platform.  The company is requiring handset makers to replace other SPs’ mobile IM software such as MSN and Tencent’s QQ with Femoo IM in their customized handsets.[...]

2D Barcode

China Mobile launched 2D barcode trials in 9 provinces testing both Data Matrix (DM) code and Quick Response (QR) code technologies.  China Mobile is currently focused on promoting DM code services to propel its WAP and mobile marketing business, since DM codes are mainly used to tag WAP websites.  The operator currently markets DM codes exclusively through Beijing-based Gmedia, and directs their services towards corporate users such as advertisers and SPs.[...]

Control over Free WAP Portals

By the end of 2005, free WAP websites generated over 80% of China Mobile’s GPRS traffic, according to sources close to China Mobile.  Free WAP portals are building up their brand names as rivals of China Mobile’s Monternet portal.  In response, China Mobile is reinforcing its leading role in the WVAS value chain by cracking down on free WAP portals.[...]

China Mobile: More Dominant in 3G?

China Mobile is tightening control over its WVAS value chain, copying the walled-garden approach in Korea and building up the Monternet brand name in preparation for 3G.  The operator has issued a series of strict rules to SPs to reduce customer complaints and purge smaller SPs from the market.  China Mobile is also deploying its own new applications, including mobile IM and mobile search, as well as playing a dominant role in 2D barcode and mobile blog.  Closer cooperation between China Mobile and CPs on mobile video and mobile music services is intended to continue in exchange for the increased 50% revenue share that China Mobile will take for these services.   [...]

P2p Pineer in music world

This is a pioneer. Although their technology is still based on blue tooth, the business revenue model is very good and possible for impoementation.

Melodeo Unveils Peer-to-Peer Music Sharing Functionality; Users Can Now Pay for and Share Full-Track Downloads Legally and Securely from Mobile Phone to Mobile Phone

SEATTLE — Melodeo, Inc. today announced new peer-to-peer music sharing functionality with its Melodeo Mobile Music Solution. Available during the first quarter in Europe, mobile phone users will be able to securely send full tracks that they have purchased, from one mobile phone to another mobile phone via Bluetooth wireless technology. Melodeo, a Seattle-based company, provides music to wireless subscribers through its Mobile Music Solution. The Mobile Music Solution resides directly on the user’s wireless phone, allowing consumers to quickly and easily shop, preview, purchase/download over the air, and play and store full-length music tracks.

“We’re thrilled about Melodeo’s peer-to-peer functionality, because it is secure and all parties are compensated when music is shared. This makes it a huge win for artists, music publishers, record labels, operators and mobile phone users,” said Don Davidge, senior vice president, Melodeo. “We expect that as the service grows it will not only be a significant source of revenue for artists, publishers and labels, but will also bring music to new audiences. Ultimately, we anticipate that sending a song will soon be as common as sending a text message or making a call.”

Wireless Operator Support

Wireless operators are deploying Melodeo technology on their networks to offer their subscribers access to Melodeo’s extensive music library. With the service, consumers can easily purchase and download full-length songs directly from their handsets, over the air, to their wireless phone. Music tracks that have been downloaded via the carrier’s network can then be “super-distributed” via Bluetooth. Tracks sent via Bluetooth technology do not use the operator’s network bandwidth, and therefore represent a highly efficient distribution mechanism for digital music. Melodeo’s DRM solution fully protects the tracks in both download and peer-to-peer activities.

Many industry analysts see the mobile music market growing exponentially in the coming years. Jonathan Coham, analyst with the Radicati Group, believes that “wireless music delivery is the next logical step. For music labels and artists, the appeal of wireless music delivery is that DRM ensures they will be compensated for their work. Melodeo’s distribution model makes for a quick go-to-market strategy, which, combined with an innovative peer-to-peer approach, looks set to stimulate a strong level of interest in the industry.”

Using the Peer-to-Peer Feature

To use the peer-to-peer feature, users simply select a song from the play list of tracks on their mobile phone. They then send the full track to another user with a Melodeo-enabled mobile phone located within Bluetooth range. The song file, which is DRM protected, pops up on the recipient’s mobile phone and he or she can listen to a 30-second preview of the song. If the person likes it, he or she can easily choose to purchase it and the Melodeo server then sends a decryption key via the carrier’s network to unlock the song, and bill the purchase to the recipient’s account. The Melodeo peer-to-peer system will also be used to send music as a gift, with the charges billed to the sender’s account.

A sender who shares music with a friend may also be eligible to receive a reward from the operator after the friend purchases a certain number of tracks. For instance, after the friend purchases four songs, the user who recommended them or gifted them may be given a complimentary track of a song from the operator.

Quick, Easy-To-Use Solution

Melodeo’s Mobile Music Solution includes an extensive music catalog provided by Warner Music Group and other record labels. Finding songs or an artist in this catalog is easy with a patented “power-search” capability. With just a few keystrokes, users can quickly and easily access the music they want.

The Mobile Music Solution includes personalization of a user’s music catalog based on the user’s preferences. Intelligence capabilities enable the solution to discover an individual’s unique music preferences and offer customized recommendations to the subscriber.

Melodeo’s software incorporates the most advanced audio codec, aacPlus from Coding Technologies, which produces music files in the 500 to 750K range, significantly smaller than a typical MP3 file, in a solution that is downloaded, not streamed, saving valuable bandwidth. While phone memory varies by brand, users can expect to store roughly 75 to 125 tracks with 64MB of memory.

About Melodeo

Melodeo is entirely focused on the music mobile phone market. Melodeo, Inc. is a privately held company in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to creating software and services to bring music to mobile phones. The Melodeo Mobile Music Solution provides wireless operators and phone handset manufacturers the means to provide secure digital music to wireless subscribers in an easy-to-use, dynamic user interface. Recognizing the growing market for wireless content, Melodeo offers its easy-to-use distribution model that at the same time supports the Digital Rights Management initiative, securing artist and label compensation. For more information, visit the company’s website at http://www.melodeo.com, or send email to info@melodeo.com.

From business wire.

US wireless market

August 13, 2006

US Wireless Data Market: Mid Year Update statistics

US Wireless Data Market: Mid Year Update
By Chetan Sharma

• US wireless data market is growing at an impressive rate. Top 4 US carriers (Cingular, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and T-Mobile) accounted for over $6.3B in wireless data revenues for the first half of 2006. Overall, wireless data service revenues exceeded $7B and the figures are likely to exceed $15B for the year 2006. This is almost a 75% jump from end-of-2005 number of $8.6B. The growth rate slowed down only slightly from 2004-2005 growth rate of 87%. SMS and data transport still drives bulk of data revenues but their percentage share is declining.

• Among the top 4 US carriers, Verizon has made the most impressive strides in the last 4 quarters, increasing their wireless data revenues by a whopping 114%. Next Sprint with 71%, T-Mobile with 65%, and Cingular with 54% also netted impressive gains.

• Verizon became the first US carrier to net over $1B in wireless data revenues in a quarter. Cingular was close second with $979M and Sprint with $935M are likely to cross the $1B mark next quarter.

• Sprint retains its leadership position of highest wireless data ARPU in terms of absolute dollar amount at $7.25 but lost its number one spot in the % data ARPU to Verizon which now leads the US carriers at almost 13%. Average data ARPU is now $6.3 or 12%.

• Overall ARPU (voice + data) increased slightly from Q106 but declined $0.27 from Q405. The general trend is towards slow decline. Data revenue is barely keeping up with the decline in voice ARPU. On an average voice ARPU has declined 8% from a year ago and data ARPU has increased 48%. Average Overall ARPU was $53.04. Sprint led with $62 followed by T-Mobile at $51, Verizon at $49.7, and Cingular with $48.4.

• If the current trends hold, Verizon Wireless is likely to surpass Cingular Wireless as number 1 US carrier by Q307.

• US had about 7M 3G subscribers by Q206, primarily from Verizon and Sprint Nextel. With Cingular joining the fray, the 3G growth is expected to accelerate with 2007 being the inflection year.

• US wireless subscriber penetration stands at approximately 74% and is likely to exceed 78% by the end of the year.

• Top 4 carriers added 12.7M subscribers from Jan-Jun 2006.

• The top 4 US carrier account for 79% of the subscribers, 86% of the service revenues, and approximately 95% of the wireless data revenues.

• US Off-net revenues for the year are likely to exceed $750M.

• Data ARPU of CDMA/EV-DO carriers was 20% higher than GSM/WCDMA carriers.

• Several high-profile MVNOs were also launched in the last few months and the overall results have been disappointing primarily due to poor execution, instant crowding effect, and competition from big 4.

• US wireless carriers are steadily climbing in their wireless data performance as compared to their peers worldwide. Verizon, Cingular, and Sprint ranked number 4, 5, and 6 respectively, amongst the top 10 operators worldwide in terms of total wireless data revenue generated for first half of 2006.

• The #1 carrier worldwide in terms of total wireless data revenue for the first six months of 2006 is NTT DoCoMo which has maintained its position for a number of years. It is now generating almost $900M/month from wireless data revenues.

• The top 10 carriers in terms of total wireless data revenues for 1H06 in order of rank are NTT DoCoMo, China Mobile, KDDI, Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint Nextel, O2 UK, Vodafone Japan, SK Telecom, and China Unicom. (6 Asian, 3 US, 1 Europe. Who says US is behind). Vodafone Germany, TMO Germany, and TMO US are also closing in.

• All the top 10 carriers in the list exceeded $1B in data revenues for the first six months of 2006. China Mobile and China Unicom benefited from their huge subscriber base of 274M and 135M respectively while DoCoMo and KDDI did well because they are generating over $17 (or 28%) in wireless data ARPU.

• The top 10 carriers accounted for almost $24B in wireless data revenues for the first six months of 2006. The top 10 carriers account for approximately 700M (or approx 28%) subscribers worldwide.

• In terms of wireless investments, over $2.8B was invested in wireless related companies/startups from Jan-Jun 2006 (this figure jumped to $4.1B in July). Source: Rutberg. Mobile TV/Video, Mobile Personalization, Mobile Search and Advertising, Semiconductor, Carrier infrastructure, Device design and development are hot areas. M&A activity also picked up quite significantly.

• WiMax industry got a big boost with almost $1B investment in Clearwire and due to Sprint Nextel’s announcement of WiMax deployment. Sigh of relief for Intel and Samsung. Puts pressure on Qualcomm. Maybe Intel will renegotiate with Clearwire.

• Worldwide Handset market share: Nokia and Motorola dominated with 35% and 23% market share respectively. Samsung with 12% stands third. Source: iSuppli. Though Apple’s iPhone rumors have been clouding the market, it is Motorola which continues to lead in launching must-have handsets. Windows mobile is starting to make serious inroads in the handset market but performance issues and high price points deter mass market adoption.

2005 Wireless Trend

Global mobile trend update 2005     META Group Press Release on ITWeb   Posted: 5 May 2005

The mobile market is maturing and struggling to find a growth area. Basic infrastructure has been deployed in most markets, with some high-speed data capabilities in major markets. Mobile operator consolidation will continue in most markets, and users must scrutinise operators and negotiate contracts with great care.META trend: Packet-switched mobile networks based on 2.5G (GPRS and CDMA 1xRTT) are available worldwide, and most industrialised countries will have 3G (W-CDMA and CDMA 1xEV-DO) built out by 2006/07. However, coverage, reliability and roaming remain challenges, with latency a problem for 2.5G networks, addressed somewhat in 3G services.In 2005, WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) wireless metropolitan-area networks will be adopted by service providers for backhaul and wireless broadband delivery, dramatically increasing local-loop competition and driving down access prices 10% to 20% per year (starting in 2006), while providing an alternative for enterprises interconnecting campus buildings. WiMAX will evolve to support mobility by 2008 and complement WiFi in multimode handsets, increasing available bandwidth to the megabit range; multi-megabit cellular service will emerge in 2008.Technology trends Voice is the most compelling application for mobile carrier networks, and carriers are attempting to grow the market via data services. The trend to leverage mobile voice as the principal voice line is growing among knowledge-worker-intensive organisations. Enterprise adoption of 3G data services (ie, offering capacities of between 200Kbps and 2Mbps) will remain limited until at least 2007. Voice will remain the dominant application in mobile networks until 2010 by volume, and 2008 by revenue. This trend will not change when packetised voice (eg, VOIP) will be introduced in future versions of 3G/4G networks. Even though the business case is unclear, operators have continued their 3G roll-outs in most markets. Competition from other wireless data alternatives will limit the potential for 3G – especially WiFi (2005+) and WiMAX (2007+). 3G services are starting to receive some market acceptance beyond Japan and South Korea, and the vendor hype for a next set of services has begun. Market buzz has already started around High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), “Super 3G” and 4G. While the demand for additional capacity is unclear – users are not buying what is already offered – what is needed is better integration between wireless services. Fortunately, 4G is mostly a collection of services combining existing technologies (including 3G and WiFi) with other kinds of wireless technologies like WiMAX and future evolutions of 3G/UMTS. As a result, 4G will be less disruptive and more widely accepted if the promise is delivered upon. 3G’s remaining problems are more focused on the business case and less about technology. The previous technical issues that slowed 3G’s roll-out (eg, lack of appropriate handsets, poor battery life, problems with handoffs to/from legacy networks) have been addressed. The remaining challenges are mainly commercial (eg, the structure of compelling and profitable offerings such as regional or global pricing plans and flat-rate versus usage-based billing). Vendors are centring on fewer wireless standards. In the 2007/08 time frame, networks will be almost exclusively based on either the GSM evolution or the CDMA evolution (see below). As mobile-operator consolidation continues, remaining entities will have to standardise on one of the two established standards to stay competitive. For example, Sprint Nextel is left with two competing technologies (ie, CDMA and iDen); we expect only CDMA to be supported beyond 2008. By YE05, enterprise-class handsets will generally be dual-mode 2G/3G, with specific variants by country and technology. For the GSM evolution (available in all countries in the world except eight; used by all operators in EMEA, some in the Americas and most in Asia Pacific, but not Japan and South Korea), handsets will support GSM, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA, operating in five bands (850/900/1 800/1 900/2 100MHz). For the CDMA evolution (used by some operators in Japan, the Americas, China, India and Australia, as well as all operators in South Korea), handsets will support CDMA, CDMA 1xRTT and CDMA 1xEV-DO, operating in three bands (850/1 900/2 100MHz). In addition, META Group expects to see the introduction of multimode phones in various forms, with some versions combining GSM with CDMA, and some combining GSM with voice over WiFi. The GSM/CDMA combo will remain very niche and low volume, as it caters to a very small user population. Likewise, the GSM/WiFi combo will be niche until at least 2006 due to high price, technology challenges regarding roaming between the technologies, and the lack of a compelling revenue model for operators. Early integrated offerings (eg, NTT DoCoMo) are a difficult sell, due to both the upfront and the ongoing costs (ie, handsets not subsidised by the carrier, as well as high tariffs for off-net services). To combat the WiFi threat, carriers will adopt aggressive price plans with the goal of drastically reducing the potential savings with the dual-mode WiFi variant. Legacy data networks such as CDPD, Mobitex and paging are fading, and users need to plan for a migration to SMS, CDMA 1.x, or GPRS/EDGE by mid-2005 to avoid being trapped in an expensive solution with deteriorating service levels. Commercial and pricing trends META Group expects a continued 10% to 20% annual price decline throughout 2007 for voice calls, and 20% to 40% for data services. We expect mobile voice charges to be comparable to wireline voice by 2010. Coverage and technology are declining as differentiators, as there are only very small differences in coverage in the EMEA and Asia regions. Quality in the Americas and Australia will become less of a differentiator by 2006, as industry consolidation and network build-outs continue. Operators are changing their messaging to compete on service levels and price. The new 3G-only entrants are competing only on price initially, which drives down the price for services in 2/2.5G networks as well. Mobile data roaming (predominantly GPRS) has improved significantly during the past 12 months, but still has a way to go before becoming nearly as ubiquitous as voice roaming. Jump-starting wireless data is a paradox for the operators – pricing will remain expensive through 2006 (and beyond) due to low levels of enterprise adoption and low traffic volumes, even though data pricing is the principal barrier to increased traffic. International organisations are hurting from expensive roaming charges (2.5x-3x more expensive than in-country-of-subscription use) for both voice and data services. Multinational enterprises should exploit pan-regional pricing plans and aggregate their total buying power across the region (including wired voice and data networks) to get the best deals. META Group estimates that 80% of large international organisations will have centralised the procurement of mobile services and made the ITO (IT organisation) responsible for managing all aspects of mobility by 2006. Although the unit charges for mobile services will continue to decrease, the overall cost for mobile services will continue to increase, as consumption rises faster than the prices decline. Carrier offerings and new equipment make the move to wireless service as the only voice line for business users attractive. This is fuelled by vendors like Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel and Siemens, concomitant with attractive rate plans being offered by mobile operators for companies that move a substantial portion of their voice minutes over to mobile voice. Most G2000 enterprises will continue to have focused efforts during 2005/06 to contain cost and refine usage patterns of mobile services. The primary vehicle is a well-balanced mobile policy, which is becoming mandatory during 2005. The mobile policy needs to be complemented with solid processes backed up with appropriate tools to monitor and enforce the policy. Bottom line: Competition for wireless customers will drive pricing down 10% to 20% per year through 2007. Users should centralise mobile-service procurement, understand usage patterns, control usage and aggressively negotiate mobile contracts. Business impact: Improved and less expensive mobile data networks enhance the return on investment of extending applications to an increasingly mobile workforce.