Jon Summers is SVP, App & SVC Services for AT&T.

How do you see the role of the operator in the apps ecosystem?
At AT&T, we have a fast, widely-available network, top-tier cloud infrastructure, and developer tools and APIs that are second to none. By making all these capabilities available to developers and start-ups that might have minimal resources, we can accelerate the pace of innovation and deliver the great new apps and services that our customers expect.

Why should developers look to work with operators rather than aligning with a platform play (eg iOS/Android)?
We aren’t necessarily looking for exclusive arrangements with developers. But we do bring capabilities to which developers might otherwise not have access. AT&T offers developers the opportunity to create and refine their apps on the full range of mobile platforms. In addition, our network knowledge has enabled us to create developer tools, such as the recently-introduced Application Resource Optimizer,  that allow programmers to fine-tune their apps to be as data- and energy-efficient as possible.

We will continue to innovate with new capabilities that enable developers to take full advantage of the AT&T Network. We are really positioning ours to be the most open, secure, and feature rich network when it comes to enabling application innovation.

Has working with a broad and varied developer base required a change in mindset for operators?
AT&T has done developer outreach for years, but we’ve clearly accelerated the pace recently. Last year, we officially launched our three AT&T Foundry innovation centers (in Palo Alto, Texas and Israel) to change our engagement model and really to help developers bring their products to market faster than traditionally possible. And to find the most promising developers, we engaged several sponsors: Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, Microsoft, Cisco and Juniper.

We are also working with several venture capital firms. Those sponsors and VCs scout out the most promising developers in areas of technology in which we have an interest, and then those developers present their ideas to us in “fast pitch” sessions of 10 minutes or so. In 2011, we did more than 500 fast pitch sessions in countries around the world, including India, Ireland and everywhere in between. We then invite the best companies to work in the AT&T Foundry for a few weeks or months to get their products to market as fast as possible.

Do you see HTML5 as having a transformative effect on the app industry?
HTML5 is part of the broader trend that we’ve embraced at AT&T of enabling developers to create their apps and services across as many platforms as possible. While native apps obviously remain a huge part of the app ecosystem, HTML5 is also gaining traction as a universal, reliable standard for mobile app development.

Which technologies do you think will be important in next-generation apps?
Cloud is a major driver and enabler in mobile apps, from the consumer level to the enterprise. At our annual developer summit in January, we announced several new cloud offerings, including the Cloud Architect solution and our support for the OpenStack ecosystem.  Our solutions enable developers to both run their apps in the AT&T Cloud while also leveraging our Cloud platform to access a variety of network and billing APIs.

We also announced a beta version of our Developer Center forHealth offering. The Developer Center ForHealth is an open set of developer tools and infrastructure for building connected fitness- and health-related apps.
   
Are customers demanding cross-screen apps, rather than discrete products for different platforms?
Yes, which is why we’ve been announcing several new products in this area. Earlier this month, we launched the AT&T U-verse App for iPad which allows users to link their iPad with a U-verse receiver to get info about shows and access to the U-verse programming guide and DVR scheduling. Qualifying users also can watch hit shows and movies on their iPad using their in-home Wi-Fi.

Do you think apps will ever be a significant profit generator for an operator?
Great apps are valuable because customers expect them. What’s more, they expect those apps to take full advantage of the network capabilities, while being data- and energy-efficient. By making our resources available to developers, they can build those great apps, which in turn results in customer growth.

That strategy is paying off. In the fourth quarter, AT&T set a new record with 9.4 million smartphones sold, nearly double the number sold in the third quarter and 50 percent more than the previous quarterly record.