Frequently Asked Questions

Mobile network operators created OMTP as a place to discuss and agree recommendations with Terminal and Terminal component Vendors. OMTP’s ultimate aim is to improve the end-to-end seamless user experience of Mobile Services to grow the Data Business.

No. It is complementary to standards body activities; OMTP does not go to the level of technical detail required by a standards body, but focuses instead on the recommendation and use case level. However, a significant and valued part of our role is providing liaison between the key standards bodies and SDOs and our membership.

Absolutely not - our active membership is drawn from across the entire mobile value chain, and that is critical to OMTP’s continued success. OMTP is operator driven, but it is scoped to serve the industry as a whole. One of OMTP’s key strengths is that it provides a non-commercial space for consultation and co-working to help support Operator-Vendor relationships and drive the industry forward in a spirit of partnership.

There are currently nine full members: AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, KT, Orange, Smart Communications, Telecom Italia, Telefónica and Vodafone. OMTP also has the support of two sponsors: Ericsson and Nokia. There are a total of 38 participants from all parts of the industry; including application software, hardware and the Internet space.

We believe that a key factor in OMTP’s success is its size; large enough to encompass all the relevant players, but small enough to move swiftly and decisively in its decision making. There is no short-term plan to significantly increase the scale of OMTP, but enquiries from companies with something to contribute are always welcomed.

Many figures in the GSMA are also involved with the OMTP, and we have a strong working relationship with the organisation. While we share many similar objectives, we are however, an entirely separate body.

OMTP fulfils a unique role in the mobile value chain, with different motivations and working methodologies to many other organizations. It is not in our interests to ‘compete’ with anyone – cooperation and collaboration are central to our beliefs. Currently we maintain links with bodies like OMA through OMTP member companies who are also members of OMA. We may look at developing a formal relationship between at a later date should the need arise.

Much as with the OMA: no formal relationship exists to date. However, many of our member representatives are also involved with other bodies, so there is often informal communication. We are always open to more formal links as and when appropriate.

In Spring 2007, OMTP signed a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Wireless Internet Standardization Forum (KWISF), creators of WIPI (Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability). Under the terms of the MOU, we have agreed to work together to help drive international standards for mobile and IP-based services in World markets; KWISF has announced its intent to incorporate OMTP recommendations in its future specifications.

Of all OMTP’s areas of work, one that has made the most significant impact has been in the field of handset security. Securing the handset from the ground up ensures that applications can run safely and securely, whilst the integrity of data on the device is maintained. Going forward, putting trust in the hardware of the phone is extremely important for the growth of high security applications such as e-commerce and broadcast. As mobile phones have become more open and offer greater functionality, they have started to encounter the same sort of risks that have plagued the Internet world. If not guarded against, Malware and viruses, in their various guises, pose a serious threat to consumer confidence and therefore the development of the whole mobile industry. Security will continue to be a priority for OMTP; by acting proactively and collectively, we believe we can tackle many potential concerns before they start to become an issue for the customer.

The BONDI initiative continues to be a main focus, with the release of V1.0 and progress towards 1.5 and 2.0. We also focus on three core areas: Security, Usability and device enabler defragmentation. We will continue to develop new recommendations, assist Member Operators to integrate existing OMTP recommendations into their in-house terminal specifications and assist Vendors to implement them.

Ultimately the board makes the go-ahead decision on all new projects. However, there is an open transparent tollgate process by which any OMTP member can propose and get approval for newly identified projects. In fact this is positively encouraged; OMTP is scoped to tackle industry issues, and we look to our membership to identify the most pressing.

Yes, if the Operators agree that a requirement is firm then it’s pretty likely all the handset vendors will adopt the standard. Clearly the vendors are a part of the process to create the standards in the first place so they are able to influence the detail. Some OMTP recommendations may have an impact on differentiation but the objective is not to do this if possible. OMTP recommendations do not cover all the elements of a terminal. It is clear that it is important for the whole industry that operators and handset manufacturers continue to innovate and compete.

• Obviously increasing the level of uptake of new services and technologies will be key to growth, which is critically dependent upon the clarity, discoverability and consistency through which these services can be experienced through the user interface.
• Fragmentation – of bearers, platforms, device capabilities etc. – continues to hinder mass-market rollout of consumer mobile internet services. Fragmentation is never going to disappear, but OMTP aims to reduce the negative aspects of fragmentation without stifling necessary innovation.
• Taking unnecessary costs out of the industry will also be key as margins drop. Costs attributable to unnecessarily technology fragmentation are firmly in the sights of OMTP.

At the highest level we hope that it will be judged by seeing end customers using, enjoying and paying for Mobile Services. There are a number of tangible intermediate steps: seeing OMTP recommendations referenced in Operator Terminal Requirements, seeing them being adopted by SDOs and then actually seeing them delivered in Terminals.

Generally yes. However, remember that OMTP is not a standards body per se. As an organisation set up by operators, it is in a unique position to have significant impact before standardisation is complete (and also remember for many OMTP recommendations – standardisation is not necessary). Operators are in a position to start including OMTP recommendations either directly or by referencing OMTP recommendations verbatim. And as our deliverables to date have shown: OMTP has a record of producing such recommendations in a fraction of the time of a typical standards process.

The whole nature of the standards process means that the OMTP can only play its part. But OMTP believes the following can have a positive impact on timelines.

• Establishing clear consensus early within the operators which are the primary customers of any standards process
• By feeding in clear and solid recommendations in to the SDO process
• By referencing core recommendations in terminal roadmap recommendations as early as possible.

The mobile web is an important area because it provides one of the few means by which services can be provided to users across the many platforms, devices and operators which are available to them. Given the way in recent years that web 2.0 services have been hugely successful in attracting new customers, it is obvious that this trend will move into the mobile domain. The success of BONDI will result in a consistent and secure way for web based applications to make use of the great capabilities of the mobile device. With this in place, application developers and service providers will find it easy to enable mass market services across different devices and operators. This will ultimately benefit the whole value chain by increasing the overall market for data services.

BONDI will produce a number of different documents looking at security, architecture and the specific interfaces required to access the important features of the mobile device. The BONDI 1.0 Approved Release consists of use cases, requirements, specifications and a reference implementation.

All of the member operators of OMTP are supporting BONDI.

The BONDI initiative will be delivering documentation throughout 2009 with the aim of driving other activities in other appropriate standardisation and industry bodies such as W3C. Devices supporting some of the features of BONDI will become available towards the end of 2009.

Existing security activities in OMTP have focussed on hardware enablers to protect the base device from attack and on application security to protect the customer from the potential for abuse from malicious applications. BONDI is looking at the way in which web applications can make use of mobile device capabilities. Security is a key component of our work, but a consistency of approach across device platforms and browsers is also essential.

OMTP has many of the necessary companies to make this initiative successful. We are currently actively recruiting other key companies and will announce these.

The BONDI initiative is pulling together a consistent and secure web services interface that can be used by all web developers across multiple device platforms. It will involve work by OMTP members as well as interaction with standardization bodies. It is important to have an overall name for the activity which pulls all of the strands together. The brand will enable the OMTP mobile web initiative to be more easily communicated to the wider industry to get greater support.