Consolidating Mobile Development Platforms

Alcatel_Lucent seems intent on simplifying the development of mobile applications for its carrier customers. It announced today that it has acquired OpenPlug, a mobile software and applications development tools vendor. What makes this announcement interesting is that traditional NEPs are now offering applications solutions to operators as data consumption grows and voice revenues decline. For years carriers have been attempting to build their own ecosystems to attract developers on their network but have largely failed to do so. ALU's acquisition is clearly part of the company’s broader application enablement strategy, which helps wireless operators leverage the network so operators can remain relevant to end users. Open Plug allows developers to create mobile applications once and convert the code into native software that runs on leading device operating systems such as iPhone or Symbian. There's also another angle here available to ALU since the OpenPlug technology also supports porting applications to non-mobile devices such as IPTV set top boxes, game consoles and other devices.

ALU appears to be on buying binge as it assembles the necessary pieces to offer its carrier customers. The company bought ProgrammableWeb in June. That company enables developers to easily access new APIs as they are created and shared in a clearing house type of format. Ideas for creating interesting mashups, leveraging social networks and other How To tips are available.

We can expect to see similar acquisitions across the NEP community as the industry increasingly seeks to leverage the growth of smartphones and data usage. The easier it is for service providers, enterprises and developers to write mobile applications without regard to device type, the more broadly content can be distributed and consumed. And that equals higher ARPU.