GSM Association Aims For Open Standards
wirelessweek.com
BY BRAD SMITH
FEBRUARY 20, 2002
CANNES, France -- The GSM Association today announces the second phase of its M-Services
Initiative during its 3GSM World Congress here. The first phase was launched last June, and the
second phase of the initiative includes a clear set of operator-delineated requirements -- defined with
GSMA member and industry input. The association aims for the M-Services Initiative to assist
manufacturers in defining handset design, functionality and user interface to a universally recognized,
open and non-proprietary set of principles.
But the announcement follows those of Nokia and Motorola earlier in the show, who both trumpeted their own operating system solutions for smartphones and handheld devices on Tuesday. During the press conference, GSM leaders' comments appeared somewhat critical of Nokia and Motorola, who clearly aim to put their brand names on the mobile services of the future. Carriers, through the M-Services initiative, want to promote an open standard for any operating system, said Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association, rather than enable vendors to brand it themselves.
While keeping things open may sound like the best option in the big picture, the computing world
shows that achieving the nirvana of open platforms is difficult at best. Microsoft Corp. has remained
the top operating system provider for PCs, despite federal antitrust challenges. And the Linux
operating system, the closest thing to an open platform in the computing realm, is still owned in part
by Red Hat.
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