Mike Rowehl writes about something that has me perplexed, upset, and furious – see All traffic to US handsets require a valid short code registered with the different networks.
This is a very big deal. And is no good… Closed systems, over-control by carriers is the top reason mobility is moving so slow here in the U.S.
Coincidentally, yesterday I left a comment on MobHappy on “Daniel Taylor: Let’s Address The Industry’s Failures, Not Ignore Them” (a must read by Daniel). Since what I wrote there and this shortcode debacle are both related, i.e. same root cause, I will include part of that comment here:
There are a number of factors that have contributed to the “failure” – being the top one that the (mobile) network has been a closed system for way too long. It took the Internet and the Web like 15 years to be what it is today: open, accessible, standard, and service-oriented. I am not surprised it has taken and will take much longer on the mobile side.
The second factor is a result of the first one; because it has been a closed system/network, it has been very hard to introduce to our users innovative ways and methods and products – it is just a pain in the neck and expensive to deploy today.
The third factor is also a result of the first one – owning a handset is expensive and too complicated: data-plans, texting, and handsets that don’t work out of the box.
It has been a slow process, slow to mature, too slow for many of us who’ve become frustrated after seeing more of the same for the last 8 years; wow, it has been 8 years for me, and we still are in kind of the same boat.
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But it is not all bad, we definitely are much better off today than 8 years ago – the networks are opening – we just witnessed 3 making the first move/example. Carriers will finally learn and accept the fact that to realize the vision the network must be decentralized, open, with the flat-rates, and higher-speed networks, and sophisticated handsets, oh, and standards must be adopted. But to tell you the truth, we might be talking here about another 2-5 years.
This shortcode debacle introduces yet another detour on the road to open mobility… I am dead serious when I say we are talking about another 2-5 years of pain here. Note that this kind of pain is taken care of with an influx of money, but the reason this is not good is because it seriously restricts the kind of companies and innovation to just the few who can afford it – and this goes against the whole philosophy that has allowed anyone and everyone, you and me, anywhere around the world to contribute in whatever shape or form to the advancement of the (mobile) Internet/Web.
Now I must research this in detail, and map out the monetary impact of this: hundreds to thousands of dollars a month!
To the network carriers: think forward and long-term… to get there, we must start today… the ecosystem consist of “Big brother-Small brother” relationships to make it work… Let's make it work.
ceo