HTML5 may be the future of mobile apps and the mobile web, but right now it’s having just a little bit of a PR crisis.

That’s because last week Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg made the claim that developing a version of Facebook in HTML5 was “one of the biggest mistakes if not the biggest strategic mistake that we made.”

Carriers may soon feel the very same way, as it remains unclear whether HTML5-based apps will add to their growing network congestion challenges.

Zuckerberg made his comments from the perspective of being a very early adopter of the technology, and laments that he didn’t develop his app using native code and save the development resources that he burned on the HTML5 development.  In fact, he’s actually bullish about a more mature version of the technology.  Here’s what he said, according to a CNET.com report:

“It’s not that HTML5 is bad. I’m actually, long-term, really excited about it. One of the things that’s interesting is we actually have more people on a daily basis using mobile Web Facebook than we have using our iOS or Android apps combined. So mobile Web is a big thing for us…”

Therein lies the problem with HTML5 for carriers, it makes mobile web, video, audio and other over-the-top content services much easier to build into a site and also to access from a smartphone.

And, just as importantly, it distracts developers from focusing on improving the signaling and data transfer efficiency of their sites.  Developers are now learning how to take advantage of HTML5 and will be focused on delivering key functionality before they then consider how to make HTML5-based sites or mobile apps more efficient.

HTML5 is another reason why carriers should have a traffic optimization layer in their mobile infrastructure using software like our Open Channel.  With this optimization layer, their network is prepared for any new technology that could impact the network access performance.

Open Channel trials are now underway at tier-one carriers across the globe.  Let us know if you are interested in learning more about our unique signaling optimization solution.