@ GDC: Nokia Continues GDC Mobile's Carrier-Bashing Theme

This morning, Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki took the stage, appealing to the hundreds of developers in the crowd by telling them that their value and creativity have been limited by the carriers. Vanjoki's statements were a continuation of yesterday's panels and speakers who were predicting that the carrier's dominance in distribution was nearing an end.

"Mobile operators have monopolized the distribution to a large degree, and this means the value that it is creating is not being sent to those who developed the game, but to the ones who are sending the bill," he said. "This has to change, just like it is on the Internet. That's why we have made N-Gage, a client in the device that will allow you to discover stuff. You can try it, and if you like it, you can buy it, and then you can easily share it. It's about allowing the business model of mobile gaming to be contextual gaming experience and make the discovery, trying, buying, using and sharing, easier than it is today."

Yesterday, much of the discussions focused on how the carriers hold a monopoly because most games today are sold on the deck, and how alternative business models, including off-deck and future platforms such as Apple's (NSDQ: AAPL) iTunes were challenging that dominance. However, Robert Tercek, GDC Mobile's chairman, also said in opening remarks to be careful in assuming new platforms will be better. "If we shift to the iTunes model you just have to ask the music industry to know you might be moving from the frying pan to the fire."

Vanjoki appealed to the crowd by saying Nokia's (NYSE: NOK) Ovi platform can solve their frustrations. He said Nokia is building Ovi to challenge carrier's presumptions about the market. He said in a survey of highly sophisticated technology consumers, they found that 52 percent of their data traffic was being conducted over a Wi-Fi network because it was fast and most resembled the open nature of the Internet. "Our old company is going into its next chameleon move, from mostly making money by selling devices to an environment where software content is the value. We are moving into the area of services and enabling people like yourselves to participate in an open world. That's what we are intending to do with Ovi."

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• @ GDC: The End Of Carrier Control In Mobile Gaming May Be Near