Obama presidency will intensify competition among wireless carriers

March 16, 2009

Chris Lennartz is vice president of product marketing at Airwide Solutions

By Chris Lennartz

President Obama's election campaign was one of the most talked about in history -- not only because of the barriers it broke down in terms of race, but also because of the innovative ways in which it engaged with the electorate.

In many ways the Obama presidential campaign was a turning point for mobile messaging, employing the most coordinated text messaging get-out-the-vote campaign in U.S. history.

And since joining office, President Obama has continued his commitment to shaking up longstanding communications policies in an effort to bridge the digital divide once and for all.

Mr. Obama has already pledged to extend broadband to every community through a host of initiatives including "better use of the nation's wireless spectrum."

If his ambitious plans for broadband investment go ahead, competition among wireless carriers will most likely intensify.

However, whilst it is likely that the Obama administration will introduce incentives to attract new broadband entrants, many predict that it is also aiming to support existing carriers by giving them access to the Universal Service Fund to help expand their networks to remote and rural areas.

It is all part of the plan to create jobs, allow more people to use the Internet and improve the nation's international standing in terms of broadband penetration which has fallen from fourth in the world to 15th.

But whether or not Mr. Obama opens the floodgates for mobile telecoms, he has already done wonders for the profile of the humble text message.

For the first time SMS played a key role in a U.S. electoral campaign -- and to great effect. He used text messages to promote new speeches, important television appearances and major rallies -- a tactic that proved effective in reaching the "text generation," or those under 30.

To target younger voters, Mr. Obama developed a mobile page where supporters could download ringtones and wallpaper and sign up for Twitter updates.

Registering a common short code for the word OBAMA (62262) meant this code could be used during the mobile message alert opt-in process and delivered subscribers issue-specific updates on subjects such as healthcare policy, education and the Iraq War.

Other organisations have followed suit. For example, Save The Children in London sent more than 100,000 SMS petitions to the British government, protesting against the war in Gaza.

Not only that, but the number of people who want to use Web-based applications for their mobile phones is increasing, with SMS often used as the communication bridge to make the downloads possible.

And with such a high penetration, SMS provides the perfect opportunity for carriers to differentiate themselves, adding innovative applications and services which marry the possibilities of the Internet with the specific ultra-valuable capabilities of the mobile network.

While it is very difficult to predict what the future holds, it benefits carriers to prepare by ensuring that their infrastructure is flexible and scalable.

By breaking down traditional messaging infrastructure silos into separate, scalable tiers, carriers can respond to market conditions and launch new services as and when they need to, to meet customer demand.

Carriers can take advantage of all the revenue benefits of rolling out new messaging types while mitigating the risk of building a dedicated infrastructure for an unproven messaging type.

Many carriers are already taking these steps and will find that they have transformed their legacy infrastructure into a future-proof one that is prepared for the future.

Chris Lennartz is vice president of product marketing at Airwide Solutions, Burlington, MA. Reach him at .