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Implementing Open Standards will benefit the whole wireless industry, but for it to succeed it must be embraced by both handset manufacturers and operators. However, elata's CTO, Bruce Jackson is concerned that efforts to maintain brand loyalty and reduce customer churn may undermine this goal

The delivery of compelling, personalised wireless data services is now universally recognised as key to the success of the mobile Internet. Over the past year, mobile network operators have begun to re-focus their marketing strategies, concentrating on maximising revenues from existing customers instead of simply winning new subscribers.

So far, the delivery of mobile data services has been a relatively simple one for both customers to use and operators to manage. Downloadable ring-tones, SMS alerts and screensavers has been the limit for most subscribers, with a few early adopters making use of steadily improving WAP services.

However, with GPRS networks rolled out and 3G starting to emerge on the horizon, the stakes are rising considerably for network operators hoping to maximise their data service revenues. The key to their success will be the ability to manage data across a wide variety of different platforms, standards, networks and devices within operator middleware systems. The creation of an Open Services Architecture (OSA) would simplify the development of solutions for operators with this purpose in mind.

Middleware systems integration is a costly, time consuming and problematic exercise for operators. The fees involved are often far more than the cost of licenses for the software that the operator is purchasing and in competitive terms, the length of time involved means a very slow time to market for new subscriber services. The Parlay (www.parlay.org) and JAIN (http://java.sun.com) standard interfaces have gone some way towards alleviating the problem for developers but platform support from the big vendors has been lacking.

The past few years have been marked by an increase in efforts to open up telecom functionality for application development. This means that applications can access core network functionality by means of open standardised APIs based on open technology. One value of opening up the network is the emergence of new business models where applications can be developed and provided by enterprises outside traditional network operator domain. Combined with the fact that applications can be built with standard IT technology and tools, new innovative applications will hit the market with development cycles far shorter than ever before, enabling the network operator to extend its service offerings and increase competitiveness.

Parlay / OSA is becoming a powerful toolbox that provides the necessary openness and flexibility for fast application development. By means of the joint API standardisation working group, one standard is achieved and one common developer community is addressed.

In order to become really accessible for the common IT development community, the Parlay / OSA specifications should, in certain areas, be simplified and made more readable. Also it is important to link up with XML based initiatives such as Webservices and SOAP.

The JAIN APIs are a set of Java technology based APIs which enable the rapid development of Next Generation telecom products and services on the Java platform. The JAIN APIs bring service portability, convergence, and secure network access to telephony and data networks.

By allowing Java applications to have secure access to resources inside the network, the opportunity is created to deliver thousands of services rather than the dozens currently available. Thus, JAIN technology is changing the telecommunications market from many proprietary closed systems to a single network architecture where services can be rapidly created and deployed, creating a level playing field for the deployment of new services. This model is best served when all network levels participate - hardware companies, stack providers, network equipment providers, service providers, and carriers.

In the fiercely competitive telecom market, the carriers that embrace these next generation capabilities will succeed by leveraging their ability to create new services to differentiate themselves from less nimble competitors. OSA harmonises with the principles of new Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) - a group of companies and organisations that are committed to a shared set of principles and have come together to drive the growth of the mobile industry. Its goal is to grow the market for the entire industry by removing barriers to interoperability and supporting a seamless and easy-to-use mobile experience for the end users.

The elata senses platform, which has been adopted by Hutchison 3G for delivering and managing subscriber services, uses OSA protocols to assist with every stage of senses subscriber delivery and management processes. It also assists senses in determining who the subscriber is, their profile and the kind of services they are interested in. The platform enables these relevant services to be filtered and delivered 'over the air' (OTA) according to handset capabilities and generates information that links to the operators' billing and mediation engines.

Hutchison 3G is in a favourable position as regards their middleware systems. As a new network operator it has no legacy systems, which demand costly integration and consequently, can define its own strategy in aiming for best practice. Most mobile operators, however, tend to take a sit back and look view in standards bodies. The primary reason for this is that they are worried about competition. The vendors also share these concerns but from a different angle. They want operators to be locked into using their platforms and systems for as long as possible.

It looks increasingly likely that as consolidation in the operator community increases, vendors will be forced to become more compliant in developing standards for their middleware systems. As a result, operators that have massive global presence, such as Vodafone, could start to develop their own internal open, but proprietary systems.

OSA benefits everyone in terms of accelerating innovation and time to market of new services and applications and decreased operational costs for all involved by improving industry efficiencies.