Leader: Mobile giants jostling

"We're still at the beginning of this journey. There is going to be a huge bunfight over who controls the user experience. This story will run and run."

So said one mobile industry insider today as it became clear that many of the world's largest operators now have a common mantra: "United we stand - against Nokia."

OK, so that may be a little unfair on the Finnish giant. The likes of NTT DoCoMo, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone founding the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP) group is arguably more about operators insisting on economies of scale and consistency from one device to another running on their networks.

It is not merely about standing up to Nokia. Or Microsoft, for that matter. Or anyone else.

But why should we care and what do today's developments mean?

At stake is nothing short of the future of computing and communications. That sounds grandiose but in a decade's time so much of what we do will be about computing (in various guises) over wireless networks, that most in the industry realise the importance of jostling for pole position now.

Network operators want to own the user experience. Others believe it will be content providers who rise to the top or device makers that will keep on bossing the market - or at least most markets.

As such, the news today that SavaJe, a start-up backed by Orange, Vodafone and, as of now, T-Mobile to provide a Java-based mobile OS, has taken another step forward should be noted.

This publication has heard plenty of experts doubt whether SavaJe-based smart phones - despite relationships in place with other building block stalwarts Intel and Texas Instruments - will ever see the light of day.

They say that even a $100m investment in the venture from a Vodafone will have been more than worth it, if over the long term that leads to a one per cent reduction in costs from established suppliers.

In truth, no one really knows how SavaJe or the OMTP will pan out. But we can say with some certainty that current positioning isn't about an industry being self-obsessed.