For more discussion on everything mobile, visit the Service Provider Mobility Community at www.cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity.

1. Arming the Road Warrior
Posted by davidpringle on Jun 6, 2012 3:46:33 AM
We need another breakthrough in the long-running war on downtime.
Derived from the 1981 Mad Max movie, the term road warrior suggests freedom: You work anywhere
and everywhere, a paragon of productivity.
But the word “warrior” also has more negative, and more realistic, connotations. Working anywhere can
be a battle: A battle with waning battery life and intermittent connectivity.
Although that battle rages on, smarter software, smarter tariffs and smarter use of mobile operators’
retail stores could ultimately turn the tide in road warriors’ favour. They are now better armed, with
weapons that are light enough to carry easily in a rucksack or in a handbag. The new breed of tablet
computers are ideal for reading documents or reviewing presentations on a train or a plane. For more
productive work, ultrabooks and their ilk, such as the MacBook Air, are more potent than netbooks,
while still weighing less than 3lb.
At the same time, increasingly sophisticated Internet-based apps and cloud services enable people to
access their files on just about any device. Of course, the cloud depends on connectivity and that can be
the road warrior’s weak spot.
In theory, at least, widespread WiFi, together with growing mobile broadband coverage, enables the
road warrior to get online as and when they need to. But, in practice, connectivity is a slippery foe to
pin down. Most laptops don’t ship with embedded 3G, so the road warrior, beyond the reach of WiFi,
has traditionally turned to the dongle to connect to a mobile broadband network. But dongles have
drawbacks. They quickly drain the computer’s battery life, like a leech sucking blood, and they soak up
scarce network capacity.
Why don’t more devices ship with embedded 3G? Saddled with hefty IPR licensing charges, 3G devices
cost more. Moreover, potential buyers can be put off by the complexity and inflexibility of data tariffs,
together with increasingly stringent caps. Price plans can be expensive, especially when roaming is
involved. Following the damage caused by dongles, many mobile operators are wary of encouraging
more PCs on to their networks.
Smarter software, smarter tariffs and smarter use of retail space
How to bridge the connectivity gap? The first step is smarter software, underpinned by smarter data
tariffs. Devices with embedded 3G need to ship with software that forces them on to WiFi, whenever it
is available. They also need to be equipped with smart browsers and applications, which use cloud
services to strip down the data transmitted by a 3G connection to the bare minimum – many PC

2. applications are very profligate with bandwidth. Mobile operators should also give rebates to
customers who don’t use their whole data allowance or use 3G during off-peak periods.
The second step is more radical. Mobile operators should turn one section of their retail stores into
flexible working spaces, equipped with tables and chairs, high-speed WiFi and adaptors and chargers for
popular laptops, tablets and smartphones (note, mobile operators should keep pushing for device
makers to adopt an universal charger).
Like airport lounges, these working spaces would be available to high-spending customers only – let’s
call them gold and platinum members. Platinum members could qualify for free technical support and
free coffee. Like airlines, mobile operators could form international alliances qualifying customers to use
partners’ working spaces in foreign cities.
For mobile operators, these working spaces would help build a closer relationship with affluent
customers. For road warriors, they would be a safe haven from the ongoing battle for power and
connectivity.
For more discussion on everything mobile, visit the Service Provider Mobility Community at
www.cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity.