Let’s Talk Standards

The latest alliance of alliances starts with all the right buzz words and
aspirations! It also pulls together a ‘who’s who’ of the mobile
communications sector, including the usual suspects from the operators, handset
manufacturers, chip suppliers, software and content providers. Worthy names such
as Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo, AT&T, Vodafone, Texas Instruments,
Microsoft, Intel and IBM. And the latest entrant into that elite club called the
Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) is Sun Micro. It is reassuring that senior
representatives from these companies realize and admit there’s a lot of work
to be done. And that there will eventually have to be some serious compromises
offered if the fruits of this alliance are to be realized.

Presently, wireless device makers, service providers, and software developers
use a variety of disparate operating systems and applications that can make it
hard for different devices and networks to interact. At the same time, many of
these players have formed competing alliances, hedging their bets on which
standards might dominate wireless computing in the same way that Windows is the
dominant platform for personal computers. Wireless industry insiders have long
complained that the proliferation of separate standards bodies creates
"technology stovepipes" where techies working on emerging standards
are unaware of others’ work until it is complete.

Objectives of OMA
	Enable consumer access to interoperable and easy to use mobile services across geographies, operators, and mobile terminals
	Define an open standards based framework to permit services to be built, deployed, and managed efficiently and reliably in a multi-vendor environment
	Establish itself as the only mobile industry standards forum
	Function as the driving force responsible for creating service level interoperability
	Drive the implementation of open services and interface standards, through the user centric approach to ensure the fast wide adoption of mobile service

By folding multiple standards forums into the WAP Forum and renaming it the
Open Mobile Alliance, member companies hope to make the process of getting new
services off the drawing board and into their customers’ hands both faster and
better coordinated. The OMA was formed in June 2002 by 200 companies
representing the world’s leading mobile operators, device and network
suppliers, information technology companies, and content providers. The OMA is
designed to be the center of mobile service standardization work.

The foundation of the OMA was created by consolidating the efforts of the
supporters of the Open Mobile Architecture initiative and the WAP Forum. In
addition, the Location Interoperability Forum (LIF), SyncML, MMS
Interoperability Group (MMS-IOP), and Wireless Village, each focusing on mobile
service enabler specifications, announced that they have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding of their intent to consolidate with the OMA. Officially created
through a vote by the WAP Forum members to modify the structure and name of the
former WAP Forum, the Alliance boasts a board staffed with representatives of
fifteen industry-leading companies, including Openwave, Motorola, and Vodafone.
The group has invited other forums to join, and hopes to "be the catalyst
for the consolidation of standards forums". The principles of the body
include making available products and services based on open, global standards,
protocols, and interfaces and are not locked to proprietary technologies. The
oft-repeated mantra is that OMA will encourage differentiation and innovation
while ensuring interoperability of new and existing services. And that whatever
emerges need not mandate how things are done, just what needs to be achieved to
meet minimum capabilities.

Despite this entire furore, why is it that all we are left with is a sense of
déjà vu?

Dhanya Krishnakumar In New Delhi