Convergence (slow but coming)

Telecoms and media businesses are converging, more slowly than many predicted but it is happening.  It is no longer viable to be a carrier that can take a "stuff" part of the way. Margins are now so thin that you need to be able to control the entire value chain. Mobile operators now offer fixed broadband and TV, free land line calls from your mobile as well as VOIP services.

The search for ARPU

Applications are the only way to increase ARPU in the developed economies.  The UK now has greater than 100% mobile penetration - that right, more than one mobile line per person.  Until someone develops a way for the human brain to generate on two simultaneous speech streams, that means we can only talk on one line at a time.  The mobile operators would like us to be doing other, more bandwidth hungry things on our other mobile lines.  If not, we reach the end of the road in terms of year on year earnings growth - SATURATION! - unthinkable.