Asia leads the world in mobile internet access. The region’s mobile data pipes are getting not just bigger but “smarter”, so as to keep pace with growing smartphone and tablet populations. To recoup their investments in next generation, high-capacity mobile internet technologies such as 4G TD-LTE, Wi-Fi Hotspots and 3G TD-SCDMA in China, operators will need to sell innovative value-added services over these pipes. In this paper, Spire Research and Consulting argues that the key opportunity lies not just in streaming music and movies, but also in cloud applications for the workplace, high-quality VoIP and a whole host of niche applications like simultaneous language translation and healthcare applications for eldercare.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”