As widely anticipated, HTML5 was one of the hot topics among the app cognoscenti at Mobile World Congress. But what really gave the technology a fillip was the broad support it is now seeing from across the industry.

Take, for instance, Telefonica Digital’s partnership with Mozilla to offer an “all HTML5” smartphone. While the operator highlighted how this can lead to high-performance, low-cost devices with full and unencumbered access to the internet and web apps, it also noted that the technology can bring some openness to an ecosystem dominated by Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Speaking to Mobile Apps Briefing before the event, Carlos Domingo, director of product development & innovation for the operator, said that “the whole point is not just about making devices, but about advancing the HTML5 standards.”

He noted that HTML5 has a number of issues, including fragmentation, performance issues and missing capabilities, but that the work is intended to “advance the state of HTML5 so it becomes a real alternative to provide mobile cross-platform development without the problems of today’s ecosystem.”

This backing was followed by Facebook stating that it intended to work with the industry to evolve HTML5, particularly in the areas of technology standardisation and monetisation. In a keynote address, Bret Taylor, the company’s CTO, said that “if you look at 100 different devices, you’ll find 100 different versions” of HTML5, as the industry stands at the moment.

Late last year, when there was significant debate about Facebook’s strategy for mobile apps, it was noted that the company could have a disruptive role in the industry. For example, the company already has close ties to its customer base, has its own payment options, and offers its own app discovery tools, meaning it could look to create an HTML5-based “walled garden” – open in some regards, but controlled by Facebook in others.

However, Taylor’s stance was definitely one of collaboration, arguing that “these are hard problems, but they are solvable problems, and we are going to solve them together.” Working with handset vendors and operators through W3C, the company also said that the voices of developers would be important, to ensure that HTML5 evolves to offer the capabilities they require.

But the path to standards is not an easy one. Fragmentation will not be eliminated immediately, as Telefonica’s Domingo concurred.  “When you take the lead and implement something, obviously in the short term you are creating fragmentation as you are adding features that are not working somewhere else. But the idea is that because you are taking the lead and using the features, you can then move it to standardisation much more quickly,” he concurred.

And “standards” and “quickly” are also not terms that often sit well together, especially when multiple stakeholders are contributing separately to a process.  Indeed, W3C is reported to have acknowledged the need for speed in its work going forward, to enable it to keep pace with industry innovation.

Although many bemoan the control Google, Microsoft and Apple exert over their respective platforms, these companies are at least in a position to drive development forward. And these companies have done well in these roles: the feature sets available to consumers across-the-board are impressive, and each has also done a good job (within reason) of managing fragmentation.

While there is much to be said for open governance, having a single company able to manage and coordinate development offers many benefits. Likewise, open and widely adopted standards are also, without question, a good thing. The big issue is whether the HTML5 community can blend the best of both worlds, to enable the technology to evolve and develop quickly, while also supporting the standardisation drive.

Steve Costello

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members