However the walledgarden on mobile portals i

In telecommunications, the slowdown in the growth of revenues from voice and SMS requires mobile operators to find new growth opportunities. The development of the Internet in mobility, simultaneously with the implementation of convergence (fixed and mobile voice applications networks and data terminals), is a major opportunity from this point of view. Indeed, by introducing several breaks in the world of multimedia, these technological developments are likely to cause a significant redistribution of maps for the players. First of all, by eliminating the time and location constraints inherent in traditional distribution channels (TV, PC, CD player...), mobile Internet and the convergence create a breakdown at the level of usage. It is thus possible to watch an episode of his series preferred on a mobile device (phone, laptop computer) of anywhere and at any time.

Then, in decompartmentalizing traditionally segmented trades (music versus television versus books), these technologies create a breakdown at the level of the distribution of content. They give the opportunity to new actors, including from the fixed Internet, to compete with the traditional players (major specialized surfaces, TV channels, newspapers...) with of new "business models": Yahoo! Unlimited, Google Print or iTunes are very explicit examples. Finally, by giving an active role to the end customer, Internet introduces a break at the level of the production of content. The growing place blogs in the information of the public, to the side of the traditional media, is a flagrant illustration. In this context, most of the players in the media, Telecom and Internet (chains of television, Internet portals, operators...) therefore try to capture revenue by positioning itself on other trades of the value chain of multimedia.

So far, mobile operators globally are very cautious about the development of the mobile Internet, that they see as an opportunity than a threat. First, many are reluctant to push the development of a medium whose products (telephone on Internet, e-mail, Instant Messaging...) cannibaliseront inevitably term their traditional sources of income (voice and SMS). Then the question of the role that mobile operators can play to their clients and their suppliers (in particular), beyond the "single pipe" and billing service. This issue is even more crucial that new wireless technologies approach maturity (Wi - Fi, WiMax,...), allowing new players to compete with mobile operators on the "pipe".

Finally, many operators fear losing their current stranglehold on the final customer. However, the "walled-garden" on mobile portals (i.e. the inability for the client out of the operator Portal) cracks, as illustrated by the alliance of T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom mobile subsidiary) with Google in Germany. The mobile Internet will inevitably open: the final client may term choose between Google and its operator Portal. If he chooses Google, the operator becomes a simple pipe...

Some mobile operators (mainly Asian) yet seem to show the way forward. Thus the South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom, with nearly 20 of its revenues from the mobile Internet, has managed to make a genuine growth relay. Its success rests essentially on a set of fixed and mobile Internet, leaders in their field generalist portals, sites sites on music (Melon), blogs (Cyworld)... which formed strong client communities. The observation of the Internet of SK Telecom strategy to identify three factors of success. Firstly, the capacity for innovation in products and rates: the operator was introduced in Korea the first sites converged fixed and mobile, the first unlimited subscriptions "streaming" for music, TV on mobile satellite. Secondly, the control of the value chain: purchase of catalogues in music, capital-intensive agreements on TV, strategic partnerships with manufacturers of phones. Thirdly, the ability to retain customers and capitalize on client bases of its different activities: communities (blogs) Cyworld and NateOn (Instant Messaging).

In Europe, and in particular France, will be decisive mobile operators the ability to take initiative, to clearly define their positioning on the value chain of multimedia, to reach adequate partners on the looms on which they are not present, to innovate by developing products and really useful services to their customers and their suppliers, and to consider a "business models" in strong break with existing. Mobile Internet is not yet actors truly leaders in France: the game is still open. But, like that teaches the fixed Internet, it will need to act quickly and stop looking behind to not sink into the fate of many of Internet access providers: those of suppliers of pipes.