GPS World: Where Do You Stand on Net Neutrality?

Where Do You Stand on Net Neutrality?
http://www.gpsworld.com/wireless/where-do-you-stand-net-neutrality-10364

August 18, 2010 By: Janice Partyka
Wireless Pulse, August 2010


Do you want it neutral? No matter where you sit in the mobile location
ecosystem, the outcome of the net neutrality debate will impact your
business. If you are emerging from a coma, I’ll fill you in. First,
Brazil did not win the World Cup. Second, the debate over net neutrality
is whether Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should provide equal access
and the same level of priority to all types of content and sites.

Google and Verizon, leading players on opposing sides of the equation —
ISP and content — jointly proposed that regulators enforce open access
on the fixed (wireline) Internet, but not on the wireless Internet and
"additional, differentiated online services," whatever that may be.
Google and Verizon strategically ceded the fixed Internet for wireless,
which will become the dominant Internet in coming years.

The public dialog on net neutrality has been passionate. Would an
Internet with a slow lane and fast for-hire lane hamper innovation and
the democratic, open exchange of ideas? ISPs are in business to make
money; should trade be restrained? And is it fair that those with
bandwidth hogging activities, such as downloading movies, be given the
same priority? With new broadband technologies a breath away, will
bandwidth matter as much in the future? I’d like to hear from you. How
will it impact your business? Send me an e-mail with your thoughts. I
haven’t chosen a side yet.

Less Money in Carrier Navigation. When Google and Nokia offered
navigation for free, companies like TeleNav who have enjoyed a long,
prosperous ride as white-label navigation application suppliers to
carriers, knew it would get bumpy. TeleNav recently announced it is in a
contract re-negotiation with Sprint Nextel and expects significant
reductions in total revenue. At the end of this year, TeleNav loses its
exclusivity deal with Sprint Nextel. Last year, TeleNav received a
whopping 61 percent of its revenue from Sprint. Shares of TeleNav stock
tumbled with the news.

Skyhook Gets Cored by Apple. From time to time, I write about Skyhook
Wireless, an innovator of location technology that maps Wi-Fi access
points and combines the data with GPS to provide the location of a
handset or other device. Along with Google, Skyhook has been providing
Apple with location for its iPhone and other products. In a blow to
Skyhook Wireless, Apple has discontinued location services from both
Skyhook and Google for its newer devices, and has apparently developed
its own location technology, including the mapping of Wi-Fi.

Apple’s move to home-grown location technology is no surprise as Apple
has favored keeping tight control over the technology that powers its
devices. Skyhook is under pressure to fill the revenue void that Apple
leaves. Skyhook has a good amount of intellectual property and deals in
place with Samsung, Motorola, and Dell. But if Apple can do it, perhaps
these other companies will develop their own location services.

Facebook Geolocation Imminent? Facebook appears to be on the verge of
debuting its long anticipated geolocation “check-in” feature. Rivals,
Foursquare, Gowalla, and Loopt created a social phenomenon by
incorporating location-aware data into social media applications. With
more than 500 million users, Facebook has been the leading social media
site, but late to incorporate location. The Nielsen Company reports that
39 percent of all smartphone owners use the Facebook social-networking
application every month, adding it is the most popular app on iPhone as
well as the second most popular on Android.

Facebook may be partnered with Localeze, a local search company that
lets Twitter users attach a location to their tweets. Localeze powers
the Twitter place directory. Some months ago, Facebook acquired a
service called Hot Potato, which enables users to check into events, not
locations. It will be interesting to see how Facebook will use Hot
Potato technology. Let’s hope we see something new.

Which Side Are You on? If you are developing a location application and
only have resources for one platform, what do you choose? Undoubtedly,
many of you would pick Android. For the first half of 2010, The Nielsen
Company reports iPhone sales (23 percent) trailing Android (27 percent).
Android devices are now selling at about 200,000 per day, double the
units selling daily two months prior. iSuppli released a recent
prediction that Android will pass the iPhone in market share by 2012.
“Android is taking the smartphone market by storm,” said Tina Teng of
iSuppli, “Cellphone OEMs representing all tiers of the industry have
committed to support Android.”

Android now accounts for 13 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, RIM’s
BlackBerry 35 percent, iPhone 28, and Microsoft Windows Mobile down to
15 percent from 27 percent last year. Android’s surge puts more pressure
on BlackBerry, which recently unveiled a new version of its operating
system. Despite improved interfaces and cool new features, BlackBerry’s
RIM will have a hard time pushing back the Android tide.

How Loyal Are Smartphones Users? A Nielsen study shows that only 42
percent of current BlackBerry users plan to continue with their current
platform. Despite problems with poor voice coverage, 89 percent of
iPhone users plan to stay with the platform. That’s loyalty.

Don’t forget, I want to hear from your thoughts on net neutrality. Send
me an e-mail. More, next month.