Mobile operators team up to punch their weight

Mobile operators from around the world including mmO2, NTT DoCoMo, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone have joined forces in an effort to exert more influence on the types of devices that are used on their networks.

The group, which at its launch today also includes Smart Communications from the Philippines, Spain's Telefonica Moviles and Italy's TIM, is going by the name of the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP). The organisation will be based in London and confirms rumours of such a teaming at the end of April.

Also within the last 24 hours, upstart mobile operating system venture SavaJe has received an additional $40m in funding, some of it coming for the first time from T-Mobile. Orange, Vodafone and several venture capital outfits already have holdings in the Massachusetts-based outfit, which in the long term will look to challenge Linux, Microsoft and Symbian in providing the brains for smart phones.

It is now not thought that SavaJe and the creation of the OMTP are directly related.

However, the creation of the OMTP and SavaJe's latest funding - the details of which should be fleshed out next week - already have some observers questioning operators' commitment to certain manufacturers and emerging mobile OSes. Yet hardware and software providers are claiming not to be losing sleep over the latest developments.

Peter Bancroft, Symbian VP of communications, told silicon.com: "Symbian welcomes organisations that are dedicated to supporting open standards. [The OMTP] is not about mandating OSes. This is very useful and positive as knowing [operator] requirements and expectations is a good thing."

Microsoft has issued a statement saying its strategy remains unchanged and spoke about its history working with "interoperable standards that create opportunity for innovation and market competition". The software giant also noted that it already works with many of the companies involved in the OMTP and said it anticipates "many areas of alignment" with OMTP principles over time.

As the use of mobile phones boomed in the 1990s some of the largest operators came to dislike the influence some infrastructure and handset companies - particularly Nokia - came to have on their businesses. Some looked with envy at the business model of NTT DoCoMo in Japan, which downplays device-makers' brand names and determines many of the specifications of handsets on its network.

Nokia was unavailable to comment on the creation of the OMTP at the time of writing.

In a release detailing its launch, the OMTP said it will "use existing standards, where they exist", but will encourage new standards in line with its requirements.

Its mission is to identify "common mobile operators' requirements, with the aim of establishing an open framework for mobile device manufacturers and associated software and hardware suppliers".

Other operators have expressed an interest in joining the group, including Amena, Hutchison's 3, KPN, One Austria, SFR and Telenor.