WAC gains handset support but plan remains vague

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WAC gains handset support but plan remains vague

Operator apps group merges with OMTP, brings handset makers on board

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 6 May, 2010

READ MORE: Applications | Standards

Yesterday, the Wholesale Application Community (WAC) - set up by more than 20 major cellcos to create a carrier driven apps framework and challenge the Google model - announced further details of its plans, though these fell short of clarifying its business cases or details of its tools.

It is merging with another carrier dominated technology group, the OMTP (Open Mobile Terminal Platform), which brings some handset makers into the mix (Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, LG, RIM and Sharp are OMTP members). But it still has a hard task to convince the software world that its frameworks and APIs (application programming interfaces) are as appealing and usable as those from open web majors like Google. In a new study by research house Ovum, 65% of developers were planning to use Google's server-side APIs, while only 25% were interested in carrier equivalents.

Of course the latter are less developed and, so far, their advantages - such as leveraging capabilities inherent in the network, such as presence, billing and location - have not been communicated widely outside the mobile inner circle. This will be as important a priority for WAC as releasing its first framework, which it is promising for late this year, supporting a wholesale apps framework that leverages operators' networks and targets multiple handsets and operating systems.

The body now has 40 members, up from 27, and a combined subscriber base of over four billion. It will be headquartered in London. However, although it staged a conference call to outline its plans, many remained vague. Interim CEO Tim Raby said more detail would be released in July, when the group would finalize the business models on offer for participating companies. It then aims to publish developer documentation in September and stage a developer event in November. Those milestones will require intensive consultation with stakeholders. "We're going to look at the various recurring revenue models involved in this and how operator assets can be used in an innovative form," said Raby, who was previously head of the OMTP and before that, head of devices at O2.

He said on the conference call: "Operators want to participate in this value chain. They believe they have some assets. Implicit in the WAC proposition - we're trying to bring together the fact that there has to be investment [in the network]."

One source of disquiet about WAC is whether so many major carriers can work together effectively. A clear inner circle is emerging - of the 24 cellcos involved, seven were picked out for special mention on the call, and described as "leading" the initiative. These are AT&T, DoCoMo, Orange, Softbank, T-Mobile, Telefonica and Vodafone - though not the other JIL founders Verizon Wireless and China Mobile. The only carriers represented on the call itself were Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile.

Dave Gannon of DT commented: "When we announced it there was a lot of concern that operators couldn't work well together. People ignored the fact that operators work well under the GSMA and also OMTP Bondi ... If you can scratch away the politics then the engineers are very happy to work together on architectural solutions and it's about bonding the JIL solution and the BONDI solution we already have."