Back in November, I wrote a Manifesto about Mobile 2.0 and what I thought it meant (and will mean in the future). Since then, lots of things have happened. The X-Series from 3. The Helio Ocean. The iPhone. The 700 Mhz auction and what Google wants to do with it.
Last week at HostingCon I had the exact feeling of how all this is changing the mobile world. Simply, the carriers are starting to lose the grip on their customers... Flat data plans are here to stay. The $20/month of the iPhone is the new bar and it is destined to go down (see $15 plans from Sprint or the €9 from 3, for example).
What does it mean? It means a new world. If the carrier just provides me the IP, anyone in the world (starting with web hosters and portal, such as Google, Yahoo and AOL) can provide me services. You would not need to go to a carrier to get mobile email, you can get it from your web hoster.
On the other side, competition forces the carriers to accelerate their deployments. They cannot sit on the SMS revenue stream any longer. They have to act and start providing services or the hosters will eat in their plate. Google is not really a friend, when takes the users away from you. Nor it is Apple when your brand is only in the top left and there is nothing else from you on the phone (I am sure one day at&t will regret the move on the iPhone). That means, better+useful+cheap services from the carriers. Starting now.
This is the beginning of Mobile 2.0, but it is happening very very quickly.
P.S. I am in Frankfurt, Germany today. If you are around tonight and want to meet, just give me a buzz.
