As if you needed further evidence, the 81 mobile- and wireless-related vacancies posted on the Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) site show how serious the search giant has become about the prospects of wireless communications.
After Google claimed a partial victory in the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 's ruling on the upcoming 700MHz wireless broadband auctions Tuesday, a glance at the firm's available jobs show it still has some large shoes to fill if it wants to be a mobile player in the U.S. (See FCC Straddles Open Access Issue.)
Most notably, the firm is looking for a "Head of North American Mobile Business Dvelopment" who should have "a thorough understanding of the mobile vertical – both from a carrier and a handset OEM perspective."
Devices, however, are by no means the only focus of Google's mobile intentions. The job listings call for everything from developers familiar with wireless Web technology and application delivery, to a mobile product marketing manager.
"We build the servers ourselves that run Google and offer the Google Search Appliance to enterprise customers," responds a spokesperson for the search giant via email. "It shouldn't be a suprise that we're looking for experieced professionals in technology hardware."
Good point. RIM's been clever like that – it helps operators make lots of money.
The point I was trying to make is that RIM and Apple stick to what they're good at (so far!). I haven't seen either of them opining on spectrum allocation or thinking about becoming wholesale network operators.
Google can definitely help operators sell data plans... by delivering great apps and services.
Yeah. Although, I'll concede it's not easy to develop good phones.
One thing that's happening in the UK is that operators are trying to link the price they pay for handsets to service revenues.
So the vendor gets more money if people spend more with the service provider.
I don’t have any details, but it's interesting. If operators can force it through, it could start to change how handset makers think about design and functionality.
What Google's actually doing in mobile (or trying to do) is much more interesting and useful than the bizarre crusade on 700 MHz.
The big thing holding back mobile data is lack of useful, fun, and interesting apps.
This is more of barrier than spectrum policy, incumbent telcos, market structure, etc, etc…
Look at how well BlackBerry has done with a good application – all the carriers want to work with RIM, even thou they're really just reduced to glorified bit pipe status.
Or look at Apple – it has a mobile product people want and the wireless carriers are delighted.
The blogs and comments are the opinions only of the writers and do not reflect the views of Unstrung. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
To save this item to your list of favorite Unstrung content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Digg
Del.icio.us
Reddit
