3G data cards - think business apps, analyst urges

Recent falls in the price of using 3G data cards around Europe sound like a good thing but, according to one expert, they are dangerous if operators don't turn the technology into an invaluable business tool, capable of extending the reach of key applications.

Current Analysis has picked up on price cuts in Germany, the Netherlands and Spain by Vodafone - soon to be followed by other operators - that have seen initial prices reduce from around €300 as little as six months ago to €1 now. It calls this stage, one of rapid customer acquisition, 'Plan A'.

However, Emma McClune, wireless analyst at Current Analysis, said: "'Plan B' is figuring out what to do with them [once signed up]. But there's no real interest on the operators' part in tackling integration."

In the recent past, users such as BP have told silicon.com that they want pure bandwidth as opposed to 3G-based consumer services but the latest research suggests making good use of that bandwidth is critical.

McClune singles out Vodafone's strategy, as the company that has been most aggressive with 3G data cards to date.

"Vodafone have marketed a basic connectivity service and subsidised cards to the hilt," she said. "But they don't seem to have a medium-term strategy to claw back that money."

At the heart of the issue is how organisations use such connectivity - typically at rates up to 384Kbps - beyond allowing employees to surf the web and download email, whether webmail or corporate email using a VPN.

Key software providers in the mobile space such as Microsoft and Symbian have long touted relationships they have built up with systems integrators (SIs) - the very companies likely to prove vital in bringing all sorts of applications, some of them unique to user organisations, to mobile devices using 3G. However, it is likely many of the user organisations will see operators as the natural facilitators here - after all, that's who they already receive bills from.

Vodafone insists it is addressing the system integrator part of the mobile puzzle. A spokeswoman said the mobile giant works with a range of SIs such as Accenture, for applications from the likes of Citrix, Microsoft and Oracle and that it is looking at different sectors, such as a pharmaceutical, where one customer is moving the filling out of reports in the field to applications that use 3G instead of GPRS, a slower technology for data.

"With complex applications there's simply nothing 'off the shelf' that does the trick," she said.

At the heart of whether Vodafone and others can afford to offer 3G at a low cost is how much they pay for the data card technology, in their case, from either Option or Lucent.

The wholesale cost of the technology, based on a chipset from Qualcomm, is thought to be under $100 per card but the exact amount will have some bearing on the time, without greater use because of making enterprise applications mobile, that it takes to see a return.

Current Analysis' McClune added: "There is an opportunity because every enterprise has different enterprise functions [to be taken mobile] but this opens a whole new Pandora's Box for operators who have a consumer background."