Alfie Dennen of moblogUK tells it like it is to the Telegraph on mobile data

Nice one Alfie!

Link: Telegraph | Digital Life

Alfie Dennen, who runs moblogUK, a photo site built around uploaded cameraphone pictures, agrees. “The amount of innovation in the mobile sector in the UK is phenomenal,” he says. “Also, there is now a hell of a lot more investment.”

Kudos to Robert Colvile of the Telegraph for checking up with Alfie. There’s more…

Before we can embrace this wireless world, however, another revolution is needed – in data transfer. At the moment, mobile companies operate on the Gillette model: give ’em the razors, gouge ’em on the blades.

Handsets are heavily subsidised, to lure you into those expensive calls and texts and downloads (this is a problem for the iPhone: its music and videos come from the user’s computer, not its partners’ networks, reducing the income carriers can claw back).

“The operators have been charging so much money for so long,” says Dennen. “Even with text messaging, the cost is ridiculous. That’s one of the main things that’s kept people from using these high-end functions on their handsets.

If you’re a T-Mobile customer, you’re paying 2p per kilobyte of data — that’s 60p for a 30KB email. It’s mad.”

However, the advent of unlimited-data price plans — such as 3’s X-series — and of phones that can take advantage of the rapid growth in Wi-Fi networks, could transform the situation.

“If, in five or 10 years’ time, we have ubiquitous wireless coverage, you’ll see mobile operators becoming more like data providers,” predicts Dennen.

“Once you have the right sort of connection speed, you can have all of the phone’s processing done online. What you’ll have in your pocket will essentially be a screen – maybe made from ‘smart textiles’ so you can fold it into your wallet – which drags the data from the internet.”

Get in. Even an X-Series mention too.