Deutsche Telekom chief predicts consumer cloud computing

DT CEO Rene Obermann said a few interesting things in his address to Nokia World this week and not all of them will fit well with Nokia's strategy. Article on Total Telecom here.

Some of the predictions were relatively tame but there was also the kernel of a game-changing shift in the market too. Clearly it's no surprise that future growth must come from mobile internet and other data services as voice and SMS become commoditised. He also rightly points out that non-messaging data services are focused on access, which is itself commoditised. However, the intriguing element of his speech relates to how the operator can break that commoditisation: with consumer cloud computing. He pointed out that most people thought their phones were too complicated and needed to be simplified. He also opined that users will want to store less, not more, content on their devices, instead opting to store and manage content in the cloud.

The need for device simplification might not chime well with Nokia who, let's face it, develop some pretty complicated devices. However, there is an underlying logic in the concept. The mobile phone, more than any device, is designed to be connected. It therefore logically follows that content and applications will benefit from being network-based. More so than in the enterprise PC space, where cloud computing is going great guns.