Are wireless operators hampered by network technology in terms of the revenue they can make on network services?
Nolle: We tend to think of the evolution of network services as being limited by technology, but it’s really limited by return on investment (ROI). When we look at the way that the service marketplace is structured today, we have two kinds of players. We have the stodgy, conservative service providers, which have incredibly long planning cycles, slow decision processes and very low ROI targets. In contrast, you have higher-level players like Apple or Google, which have shorter planning cycles and very high, aggressive ROI targets. So there are lots of things the Googles can’t afford to do. Do long planning cycles and low ROI targets have any advantages? Nolle: A lot of components of future services could be provided more easily by the service providers than the higher-level players. I think Verizon wants to identify some of those and begin to offer them through developer programs to the same people in handset developer programs. So if I’m a handset developer, and I know how to program
