The feud between mobile Internet operators and third party developers

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What is most frightening is the omission of telecoms operators, which are not so obvious in mobile internet, which could weaken their incentive to invest in improving the security of the mobile internet and push the blame to end vendors and Third-party developers.

When interviewed by the Secretary general of the Telecommunications Economic Experts Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information technology, Chen Jinchao, he used a word to name the advantages and positioning of telecom operators: scale operations rather than differentiated operations. Telecom operators in the traditional communications network has accumulated a lot of experience, while the traditional communication network is a typical large-scale operation, through large-scale reduction of costs, improve profitability. China Mobile will be able to cover the vast rural areas of the country, is relying on large-scale operation, thus in a very meager profit environment to find their own living space, breaking the rural market is not profitable prediction, and thus obtained relative to China Telecom and Unicom's huge competitive advantage, To become the undisputed king of the 2G era.

So into the mobile internet era, a variety of different applications in the way, telecom operators have a sense of dazzling. The user community for each application may be only tens of thousands of, hundreds of thousands of, rather than the traditional voice business, with hundreds of millions of users. The advantages of such a large-scale operation can not be highlighted, telecommunications operators have been somewhat unprepared.

In fact, facing many mobile internet applications, what telecom operators need most is not to develop specific applications, but to provide an open platform for application, to give full play to its advantages in terms of user size, billing mode and terminal resources, to provide third-party application developers with access to all resources, reduce development costs, improve development rates, A platform for user feedback.

At present, the three major operators gather developers of the main platform for the Chinese mobile Mobilemarket (hereinafter referred to as MM), China Telecom's Sky wing Space and China Unicom's Wo store. Although telecom operators in the different degree of involvement in the development of specific applications, but in general, most of the applications are Third-party developers themselves, these applications across a variety of operating systems, suitable for different brands and models of terminals, giving users a variety of options. Third-party developers survive through fee-based applications or the subsidies offered by app ads or telecoms operators, and telecoms operators can gain greater user loyalty through Third-party developer applications, and even increase the potential for data business revenue. The two sides have achieved a total win.

The platform itself is a kind of mobile internet order, in which there are a variety of role players. In addition to the role of telecom operators as platform builders, third party developers as application developers, as well as users, advertisers, and terminal manufacturers such as Nokia. Different roles depend on a common platform to form an organic and dynamic order.

It is only under the principle of openness that this order is often challenged. If a developer copied the software developed by other developers and harmed the interests of other developers, the carrier would have to play the role of referee and punish the developer appropriately. And if users like to rip out apps (probably because they're free), then telecoms operators are in trouble, how can they protect the interests of other developers without hurting users? These are tests of the wisdom of telecoms operators as platform providers.

However, telecom operators need to play a role not only this, but more importantly, telecom operators need a kind of grafting art, the 2G era ways each other role in tandem together, to establish a mutual cooperation and win the mechanism. It also includes how telecom operators can effectively combine roles with third-party developers.

This is not without challenge, the gene of telecom operators is the gene of the communication industry, and the gene of the third party developer is the gene of the Internet. The former is single, stable and controllable, the latter is pluralistic, dynamic and full of changes. The combination of telecom operators and developers is like the grafting of two different kinds of trees, which requires very high art. The operation of telecom operators, of course, need to be meticulous, but also need to shape a macro external environment, to cheer for developers. This may touch on its own interests, and if it fails to make a part of the benefit, telecom operators will be caught in a dilemma and the platform is trapped.

This kind of grafting art is mainly embodied in three aspects: the creation of innovative environment, the dilemma of intelligent pipeline and the guarantee of network security.

Innovation, not just developers

At present in China Mobile mm Mall collection of more than 50,000 different applications, they are divided into games, tools, business class, life categories and other categories, to meet the diverse needs of people, fully reflect the innovative ability of developers. Apps in Apple's App store are more than 300,000 and are growing. So the developer's innovative potential is limitless.

But innovation is not just about developers. Developer innovation is important, and the creation of an environment is more important. For example, if the platform manufacturers in the application of the display of selfishness, will be their own application exhibition now the most obvious position, will give other similar applications cause obstacles, unfair. Even platform vendors do not allow access to platforms such as Apple, which are not conducive to innovation.

Telecommunications operators to promote openness, it must be open thoroughly. Compared with Apple, the Chinese mobile mm has a noticeable improvement in openness. For example, in the chat software, China Mobile launched the Flying Letter software, and in the MM platform, the same kind of application there are rice chat, fluttering letters and so on. Apple has been exposed many times by the media because it rejects the application of its own products in the app review.

Telecom operators from the 2G era of "closed garden" to the 3G era of "open garden" change, itself is a kind of innovation, this innovation is more of the concept of innovation, system innovation, competition strategy innovation. In the "Closed garden" era, telecom operators set a very high threshold for cooperation, only to meet the threshold and willing to follow the cooperation requirements of partners to obtain the right to cooperate with telecom operators, telecom operators through the generation of fees and other ways to strengthen the control of partners. This model inhibits innovation. In the mobile internet era, telecom operators ' platform functions have been replaced, and companies like Apple and internet firms such as Google have the potential to operate a mobile internet platform, and the advantages are more obvious than telecoms operators, if at this time also adhere to the closure strategy, unless there is the strong charm of Apple, Otherwise, you must choose to be open.

Telecoms operators have been criticized for suppressing innovation, as well as their attitude towards network neutrality. Tim, a professor of law at Columbia University in 2002, networkneutrality,broadbanddiscrimination the concept of "network neutrality". The concept borrows from the "power grid concept", in which any electrical device is free to access the grid, which provides electricity "neutrally" to various electrical devices, rather than selective power supply. "Net neutrality" means that the Internet should also provide non-discriminatory support for various internet products and services, like the grid.

This neutrality is the foundation of innovation. Especially in the field of telecom operators ' deepening involvement in the Internet, their identity is no longer just a provider of basic services such as Internet access services, but also a competitor of Internet products and services. Whether the telecom operators will use their advantage position to treat the competitor differently, becomes the topic of outside concern.

Relying on the communication network and other basic resources control, telecom operators in a variety of internet services have a natural advantage. For example, in the video business, now because of broadband services in the North-South division, many video providers must work with China Telecom and Unicom, the high cost of broadband. And if China Telecom and Unicom itself provide video services, its broadband costs can be greatly reduced. Such competition is not fair competition, not conducive to the innovation of Internet enterprises.

Chen Jinchao pointed out that now the Internet industry leader, such as Tencent, Baidu and other already have the bargain with the telecom operators of capital, so it is not difficult to get the same service with the telecom operators. The concern is that smaller Internet companies do not rule out that some of them will be hit by telecoms operators and have nowhere to complain.

But he also points out that the principle of net neutrality is not absolute and that the regulatory role of telecoms operators is indispensable. On some nodes, the mobile internet industry will be more orderly, with the supervision of telecom operators.

Pipe, not just intelligent

Telecom operators to deal with the challenges of the mobile internet era, the most significant initiatives are two: the construction of mobile internet platform, the accumulation of third-party developer resources to develop high-quality applications to compete for users, to seize the terminal, the transformation of "intelligent pipeline" operators.

The latter is a handy area for telecoms operators. The mobile internet platform is multitudinous, the competition is intense, the telecommunication operator superiority is not obvious, but in the pipeline operation Domain, the telecommunication operator has "the natural" superiority. So instead of moving into the mobile internet, it's better to step back and run your own pipeline. This is also the last position of telecom operators.

Telecom operators ' Smart pipeline strategy will have a direct impact on internet enterprises, it is likely to increase the internet industry, "gap between the rich and poor", to the growth of small and medium-sized Internet enterprises bring pressure. The definition of intelligent piping is this: divided into four levels, the first layer can realize the priority setting for the rich application, the second layer can set the priority of different communication service; The third layer can differentiate different service types; The fourth layer can be optimized through the network to achieve the priority setting of docking quality. So the intelligent pipeline is a kind of grading pricing mechanism, the stronger the Internet enterprises, the better the service will be, and the weaker Internet companies are the opposite.

Such an approach would help to increase the pipeline revenue for telecoms operators, as the smart pipeline gives telecoms operators an opportunity to increase the price of piped services. With the development of Internet, the pipeline has been devalued and the telecom operators are facing the dilemma of marginalization. Some traditional pipelines, such as the decline in voice business growth, and even shrinking, telecom operators have to seek "value-added" space on the pipeline. But the pipeline is more intelligent is better, but for internet companies, the more affordable or the overall level of the pipeline upgrade.

At present, China's broadband level is low, and broadband costs are high, which directly increases the operating costs of the Internet industry, and thus affect the enthusiasm of Chinese Internet enterprises innovation. Some new businesses, new applications can not be developed, such as the video business to bear the huge cost of broadband, which includes not only the high price of broadband itself, but also the interconnection of telecommunications network problems. The telecom operators in the intelligent pipeline, if can solve the interconnection problem, it is really the gospel of Internet enterprises.

Improve the broadband level for operators, but also positive. At present, telecom operators operate their own business, but also need to be based on broadband. such as telecommunications operators to enter the field of cloud computing, it needs to be based on a fast, convenient internet. Without a large number of applications on the Internet, telecoms operators ' cloud computing infrastructure, such as IDC, cannot be used to the Internet. China Telecom proposed the construction of "broadband Chinese-optical Network City" plan, only to truly reflect the social responsibility of telecommunications enterprises, reflecting its long-term development vision.

The smart pipeline has also raised fears that telecoms operators "hijack" internet companies, because the intelligent pipeline gives the telecom operators more full pricing power, not only has the pricing power in the broadband overall service, but also has the pricing power in the broadband differential service, but the Internet enterprise has limited influence on this pricing power. This could lead to the latter being forced to accept differential pricing by telecoms operators. Internet companies that compete with telecoms operators will feel a bigger crisis.

sink, Miles

At present, the security of mobile Internet is concentrated in three areas, one is network security, the other is terminal security, and the other is business security. In these three areas, telecom operators assume security responsibilities.

The core network of mobile Internet and service network are connected directly through network equipment, so the network, terminal and business security are interconnected and far-reaching. Telecom operators not only need to strengthen the network and business level of supervision, but also with the terminal manufacturers to prevent the intelligent terminal virus implantation.

Xu, director of China Mobile network, described four major measures to address the security threats of mobile internet in the 2009 Chinese computer Network security emergency meeting: First, users are transparent to the network; the other is the network to hide the network topology, so that users can not attack the network nodes; The third is the security of the business, The service provider needs to be rigorously authenticated. This shows that telecom operators in the response to mobile Internet security, has a clearer idea, and to launch action. But in the concrete operation, the difficulty is many.

For example, the 1th-user transparent to the network, the specific performance in the implementation of the network real-name System. The network real-name system has been disputed for a long time, and it is not implemented for a long time, the fundamental reason is not the weak implementation of relevant departments, but the resistance of Internet users. And even if the network real-name system successfully implemented, the relevant departments can have sufficient technical conditions, human resources, more than 300 million of mobile internet users to manage, is also unknown. What is most frightening is the omission of telecoms operators. Mobile Internet is not a major part of making profits for telecom operators. While telecoms operators have ambitions to compete for mobile internet, their own advantages are not obvious, and often even passive. This could weaken the power of telecoms operators to invest in improving the security of their mobile internet, while pushing responsibility to end vendors and third party developers.