Microsoft advocates ‘three-screen’ strategy

As the world of telecoms services becomes more complex, Microsoft is adopting an inhouse development strategy that will see all new services run on three screens – the TV, PC and mobile.

Making the case for this move is Steve Zimba, Managing Director, telecom business for Microsoft, who presented an in-depth review of the company’s progress with its Telco 2.0 programme at yesterday’s Mobile Innovation Summit.

According to Zimba, the telecoms services market is in a state of disruption as new entrants, such as Google, Facebook and YouTube, enter the arena. “These companies are riding on the back of operators’ networks and making difficult any ROI on broadband investments. We plan to reverse this situation by stepping into the telecoms services market and using our partnership methods that we have developed over many years with our PC hardware providers.”

Microsoft’s Telco 2.0 initiative calls for the company to work very closely with the telecoms operators and the developer community to create a portfolio of software and services specifically for the mobile environment. “We have to embrace telcos in the same successful manner we have adopted for our PC partners.”

One particular area of success, claims Zimba, is Microsoft’s Connection Services Sandbox. “This is a proving ground for Microsoft, telcos, ISVs and developers to work together on new services. We’ve made some mistakes, of course, but also some significant progress with establishing relationships between these communities.”

Bill Gajda, Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Marketing Officer for the GSMA, reinforced this viewpoint at the Summit – which attracted a 50 per cent increase in delegates over the 2006 Summit – by stating that the GSMA’s Mobile Innovation Programme will be expanded and benefit from better promotion to operators and the investment community.