GSMA MWC2013レポート～キャリアのコア事業とその周辺事業の行方

2013年2月に開催されたMWC2013を報告する。今回は、過去のMWCの中でも最も「コネクテッドカー」の展示・セミナーが多い回となった。車両へのコネクティビティ搭載（GMによるLTE搭載車）や車載用インフォテインメントシステムの高度化（GM、Ford、インテル等）が進む一方、「mHealth」の状況には大きな進展がないという印象。各種課題（ビジネスモデルや技術標準の欠如等）においても、明確な解決策を見いだせておらず停滞感が漂う。
本レポートでは、通信コア領域の動向として「NW API」「RCS joyn」「対OTTにおけるキャリアのスタンス」を、通信周辺領域の動向として「コネクテッドカー（車）」「mHealth（ヘルスケア）」を取り上げる。

This report summarizes GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2013, highlighting market trends for core areas within the domain of traditional telecommunications services such ‘Network API’, ‘RCS joyn’ and “operators’ stance against OTTs’; as well as discussing related areas such as “connected car” and “mHealth”.
Services’ leveraging using a network API is no longer fresh concept. However, an ever-increasing number of companies are using network API to create business opportunities. In addition, API specialist companies, such as apigee, are emerging to take advantage of the opportunities before them.
The potential for RCS joyn to effectively compete against OTT services is not yet fully clear, although it is making steady progress. It is widely considered that providing APIs to application developers will be the key to success for joyn.
Operators widely acknowledge that they need to cooperate with, as well as compete with, third-party and OTT. Although OTT, such as ‘Viber’, also emphasize the importance of cooperation between operators and OTT, the company does not appear to envisage the same type of cooperative partnership as the operators.
MWC 2013 had the highest number of connected car-related exhibitions and seminars amongst MWCs to date. Car connectivity and IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) are proving fertile grounds for development. On the other hand, mHealth hasn’t seen a lot of progress. The problems are numerous and include, for example, the lack of a business model and stagnation of technical standards.