ROK Global urges telcos to take advantage of GPRS

Mobile operators are so focussed on 3G services that they are ignoring the potential of the previous generation of mobile networks, according to ROK Global, a company which specialises in data compression technology.

"Many of the Western carriers have missed a trick," Bruce Renny, marketing director for ROK Global, said in an interview with Total Telecom on Friday. "They're ultimately obsessed with 3G."

According to Renny, mobile operators should seek to unlock the potential of GPRS networks, which still have much wider coverage than 3G. "3G's okay, sort of, in the Western world," Renny said. "The reality is, if you jump on a train and travel... for the large part of that journey you won't be in a 3G area."

In addition, "only 15% of mobile phone users [worldwide] have pro-actively subscribed to a 3G service. In total, less than 40% of all U.K. mobile phone users currently subscribe to a 3G service," he explained. "The key thing is that 2.5G is ubiquitous, globally. 3G is not. Not even in the U.K."

But ROK, which began operations in late December, has so far been unable to persuade mobile operators of the efficacy of its data compression tools, which it claims "enable much greater things over 2.5G," Renny admitted. ROK's compression techniques enable telcos to use "GPRS as 3G was intended to be used," he insisted.

"That is not possible," Renny quoted one unnamed operator as saying. "If that was possible we would have done it."

In a bid to make its point, ROK Global launched a BlackBerry app at the start of this year that streams BBC channels over 2.5G networks. The app generates around 1,000 downloads per day and has been downloaded more than 100,000 times in total, Renny said. However, he admitted that the company cannot tell whether the app is being used over 2.5G or 3G networks.

As a result of the experiment, ROK Global is in contact with other content providers, bypassing the operators by offering services over the top. It has already brokered two major deals, Renny said, although was unable to disclose names.

Renny also shared details of other potential applications of ROK's technology. It could also be used by "various, shall we say, government agencies," he said. "[An officer could] patch into CCTV cameras in Tottenham from Croydon, live," he explained, using areas hit by the recent riots in the U.K. to illustrate his point.

"Rather than carrying a standard mobile phone with him, he carries a ROK-enabled handset, whereby every picture is compressed, encrypted, and automatically sent back to HQ," over GPRS, Renny continued. "[This is] all born of the data compression."

ROK Global has a range of subsidiaries, including ROK TV, which provides data compression techniques for streaming video over WiFi, 2.5G, and 3G. It is currently partnered with 11 America Movil operating subsidiaries, providing ROK TV services to Latin America.

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