Analysis: Minorities Lead Wireless Internet Utlilization Rates

The news that is out on the wire services today matches news that was presented years ago:

• July 2010:  Minority Youth Lead Growth In Wireless Internet Access
• June 2009: Wireless Internet Will Be Key To Minority, Low-Income Areas
• January 2010: Minority Businesses Bridging The Digital Divide
• July 2010: Wireless Internet Usage Now Mainstream

All these are good news stories.  Even before the FCC successfully lassos the wayward telecom companies (if you allow some to tell it) and forces them to work for the people these reports show that wireless Internet access is thriving.

As an industry insider I am not surprised.  After doing strategic research for my career focus years ago it was clear that mobile communications was the key growth area.

Most of these stories above, however, point out the CONSUMER use of these tools.  Honestly most of the use is for social networking.

As I made my transition into the wireless field I noticed that wireless, more so than traditional wire line networking is all about applications.  By providing a person with a powerful tool for information in the palm of their hands a potentially significant game changing event has transpired.  Add to it faster data rates, GPS capabilities and video recording & playback and we are on the precipice of a radical change in the way we live and communicate.

Mobile computing is all about "process change".  If a solution developer has merely converted a paper process into one where the same rote information is now done on a wireless laptop screen or iPhone while everything else remains then they have failed to tap into the possibilities that these connected devices can bring forth.

When you see those service vans from national chain stores parked in the driveway of their employees over night you should realize that there has been a fundamental process change.  Instead of the employee jumping into his car every morning, driving to the maintenance facility where the vans are parked and retrieving the work orders for the day the adoption of wireless technology makes this process inefficient.  It is now more logical to allow the employee to take the vehicle home.  To distribute the jobs to the employees using a routing system that is aware of there their starting point is and how to reduce their driving time as they go through the day.  Saving the company gas money and increasing the productivity of the group of employees.  The only time the employee needs to come back to the depot is to restock the inventory for the truck (if this is in line with the company's line of business to do so.)

In summary the mobile device does not stand alone.  It is merely a portal to an array of information.  It is attached to a systems architecture that allows the end user to interact with the system using this remotely connected tool.  

The next round of stories trumpeting "wireless interactions by minorities" needs to be tales of how a SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE was constructed to add value or coordination to the individual actions of a team of people and the mobile device was used to allow that individual to communicate with others through the wireless network.

Location based applications (GPS) are hot.
Video applications are hot.
Automobile Telematics are hot.
Mobile Payments are hot.

In order to move from consumers to industry players, making 6 figures like iPhone app developers are doing the following items are a must:

• Develop programming skills - Java, Objective C, C#, Flash, Silverlight
• Master the concepts in Systems Engineering - allows solutions to scale to millions
• Master Business Process Analysis Skills - the old ways of doing things are so because no one ever bothered to ask the business "What are you really trying to accomplish" and then fine tuned the process and administration to fully leverage all of the resources that are at their disposal

 The community around Georgia Tech that has been terrorized by Street Pirates has accepted the proposal from a company that has mounted video surveillance cameras on various light poles.  These signals are wireless sent to a command center.  If an incident occurs all of the student subscribers are notified via their mobile phone.  Premium users are allowed to view a live video feed from the camera that is pointed at their front door.  While there are some "Big Brother" elements to this solution - these are the type of applications that will be implemented to address our security concerns in this country.

Either you are going to be a consumer of this type of service - complaining that the company overcharged you OR you are going to OWN a company that provides a value added service to a large group of people and you get to employ works to assist you and you get to debit the accounts of your customers every month, insuring cash flow.

The choice is yours.