Chris Lennartz, Vice President of Product Marketing at Airwide Solutions, considers what impact Barack Obamas presidency might have on the mobile industry

President Obamas election campaign was one of the most talked about in history,  not only because of the barriers it broke down in terms of race, but also because of the innovative ways in which it engaged with the electorate. In many ways, it was a turning point for mobile messaging, employing the most coordinated text messaging get-out-the-vote campaign in US history. His campaign tactics were also a telling indication of the emphasis his administration would place on communications technology.
Despite many high-priority national, international and economic issues to tackle, speeches given over the last several weeks show that Barack Obama has not abandoned his commitment to shaking up longstanding communications policies in an effort to bridge the digital divide once and for all. He has already pledged to extend broadband to every US community through a host of initiatives, including better use of the nations wireless spectrum.

Competition intensifies
Although it is difficult to definitively predict what impact this will have on the mobile industry, what we can say is that if his ambitious plans for broadband investment go ahead, competition among US mobile operators will certainly intensify. However, whilst it is likely that Obamas administration will introduce incentives to attract new broadband entrants, many predict that it is also aiming to support existing mobile operators by giving them access to the Universal Service Fund to help expand their networks to remote and rural areas.
It is all part of the plan to create jobs, allow more people to use the Internet and improve the USAs international standing in terms of broadband penetration, where it has fallen from fourth in the world to 15th.
But whether or not Obama opens the floodgates for mobile telecoms, he has already done wonders for the profile of the humble text message. For the first time, SMS played a key role in a US electoral campaign and to great effect! He used text messages to promote new speeches, important TV appearances and major rallies. And they worked. They proved effective in reaching voters, particularly those born of a generation where text messaging has become part of everyday activity – the under 30s.
In an effort to get out younger voters, Obama also developed a mobile page that allowed supporters to download ringtones and wallpaper, sign up for Twitter updates, and receive text messages with policy updates, campaign events and voting reminders. Innovatively, the campaign also had the foresight to register a common short code (CSC) that numerically represents the word Obama (62262). This code was used during the mobile message alert opt-in process and delivered to subscribers issue-specific updates on subjects such as healthcare policy, education, and the war in Iraq.
Other organisations have followed. Just recently, for example. Save The Children in London sent over 100,000 SMS petitions to the English government, protesting against the war in Gaza.
Not only that, but the number of people who want to use web-based applications for their mobile phones is increasing, with SMS often used as the communication bridge to make the downloads possible. However, whilst the uptake of mobile applications and services increases, the king for mobile operators is still SMS. Recent research conducted by comScore M:Metrics on behalf of Airwide Solutions revealed that the number of people sending text messages across the EU is growing 3.3% year on year, a figure only beaten by MMS, which is growing by 9.2%.

Innovative applications
Such a high penetration service provides the perfect opportunity for operators to differentiate themselves, adding innovative applications and services which marry the possibilities of the Internet with the specific ultra-valuable capabilities of the mobile network. SMS also provides the perfect medium for mobile advertising campaigns, with its unrivalled reach and personal connection to the user. Out of office, auto-forward and storage/back up capabilities are also helping move SMS further into the lives of users and, due to its reliability, into the business world, for banking, tickets and billing.
While it is very difficult to predict what the future holds, it benefits mobile operators to prepare, by ensuring that their infrastructure is flexible and scalable. By breaking down traditional messaging infrastructure silos into separate, scalable tiers, operators can respond to market conditions and launch new services as and when they need to, to meet customer demand. They can take advantage of all the revenue benefits of rolling out new messaging types while mitigating the risk of building a dedicated infrastructure for an unproven messaging type. Many operators are already taking these steps and will find that they have transformed their legacy infrastructure into a future proof one that is prepared for the future.