The Deloitte study also suggests the mobile power structure is changing. According to 49 percent of our respondents (70 percent of which are from network carriers), Web companies, rather than network carriers or handset makers will dominate the mobile business in five years.
Moreover, 89 percent believe the role of carriers will be limited to providing access services.
Also, 87 percent believe that carriers must make the transition from the walled gardens of the past to new organizational models built around open development ecosystems to sustain competitiveness.
Some 31 percent of respondents employed by network carriers think changes in open access regulations will accelerate the commoditization of carriers and 90 percent of the same group believe the traditional carrier “closed garden” business model is quickly becoming a strategic relic.
Future growth in mobile now rests on the proliferation of open platforms across multiple facets of the value chain. In particular, the burgeoning mobile software applications market is considered critical to success.