Q&A: Renato Iwersen, VP International Sales at Bytemobile
Bytemobile was founded in July 2000 and has, to date, received $44m in VC investment. A leading provider of mobile optimisation service infrastructure to the world's mobile operator and large enterprise customer community, the company's Macara platform features include application layer data compression, http compression as well as TCP acceleration.
Renato Iwersen is VP International Sales. An MBA, previously Renato was MD of Nexi Systems Corporation and Sales & Marketing Director, Americas for Macrovision.
We caught up with Renato Iwersen, VP International Sales at US mobile network optimisation company Bytemobile to discuss the wireless data marketplace.
Q. Renato, your personal career experience and that of Bytemobile itself, is truly global. What do you see as the key differences by region for mobile data services?
A. The key difference is the stage
at which each region - or even country - has reached in terms
of wireless data. Japan, for example, has in excess of 2 million
fully committed wireless data subscribers. This contrasts
significantly with say the UK, where we are only just beginning
to see the 1st successes with wireless data.
There are also some differences in terms of applications, by region. For example, Lotus Notes is particularly big in Asia. As far as Bytemobile is concerned, we are network agnostic, so the technology can be applied anywhere in the world.
Q. What can be learnt from the success of imode in Asia?
A. Imode has been important as it really provided the 1st
step in getting wireless data truly accepted - to the point
where people now expect wireless
data access in this part of the world. The concept of 'anytime
anywhere' has therefore been realised.
From a technology standpoint, Imode supports browser phones, and this is currently being evaluated by Bytemobile.
Q. Who do Bytemobile see as driving the all-important demand for mobile data services, businesses or the consumer?
A. Demand has certainly started
with the business community, but for wireless data services
to be truly successful, then consumers must adopt
as well. In the most advanced countries right now, two-thirds
of wireless data usage is by business.
Q. Do you have any views on specific applications that might drive demand?
A. There is no killer application. What is driving the market
right now is internet access and
e-mail. These applications are
way ahead of the next most popular application, although in
certain markets gaming is becoming
increasingly popular.
Q. What would you like to see the mobile operators do to drive the uptake of mobile data services?
A. Incentivise use. KDDI's wireless
data business in Japan transformed itself from an unprofitable
voice carrier to a profitable pure-play
wireless data business in 15 months, during which time subscriber
growth grew from 15000 to 1.3 million users. They did this
by providing a fast throughput (128k) modem along with a flat
rate monthly fee: thus providing good technical access, affordably.
Mobile operators can become profitable carriers because
of wireless data services. This time next year, we would expect
revenues from wireless data to be significant.
Q. Bytemobile clearly delivers on the wireless data promise today - what value can you add to the mobile operators when 3G truly arrives?
A. The product will be slightly refined, and we currently have trials underway in Asia, North America and Europe. So, we see a need for optimisation in 3G networks as the internet and wireless continue to converge.
As well as the advent of 3G, we also foresee significant new demand from large corporate customers who want enterprise solutions and for whom security is a critical issue.
So for us, optimisation is about more than just 2.5G and carriers. We are conservatively expanding our product line beyond just wireless data and our market into the enterprise community to reflect this - we expect optimisation to be around for a while!
To find about more about Bytemobile visit www.bytemobile.com. Renato can be contacted at renato.iwersen@bytemobile.com.
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