Let’s put a check mark next to Apple, as they join Google in their quest to control the wireless last mile. According to Business Insider, Apple is in talks with carriers to launch an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) in the US and Europe, just like Google. Although it won’t be anytime soon, sources say it will take five years to launch the service, with the possibility of it never coming to fruition. We beg to differ, five years is an eternity in our field, and we strongly believe it will be three years or less. Call it a hunch. Why does Apple have to move quicker? Because they can’t let Google have all the fun.
After all, they’re fierce competitors in the mobile market. Also, lets not forget that Facebook and Amazon are investing heavily in drones, balloons, and satellites that provide Internet bandwidth to the masses. In five years, its likely Google will be a full blown hybrid wireless company providing customers Internet access via a combination of WiFi and Mobile. This is a bold move by Apple, and they will wreak havoc on mobile operator business models after they go from MVNO to a hybrid operator. With so much money in the bank, Apple doesn’t need to play by the rules of the game in the telecom industry.
Will Apple one day become a full blow hybrid wireless company providing WiFi and Mobility solutions in a soup-to-nuts package of voice, data, and Internet access? Probably, because content isn’t the only king in town, content delivery over the last mile is just as important, and the content company that controls that, controls the entire delivery value chain, from creation to CDN PoP to mobile tower to mobile devices to fat profit margins.