Mobile operators should be launching cloud-syncing services to compete with those offered by Google, Apple and other handset manufacturers, says Funambol CEO Fabrizio Capobianco.

He thinks cloud-based services are attracting users with the ability to store their contacts and media in the 'cloud', but at the same time are undermining their relationship with the operators.

"Device manufacturers want to make the carrier a pipe by taking the most important content out of a phone – the address book, calendar, pictures and messaging – and putting it in their cloud," he says.

"And then there are the portals like Google Sync and Microsoft’s MyPhone. If you're a carrier today, you need to jump into this... It’s a great opportunity for them if they move fast. If they don’t move, they’re done."

Funambol offers a white-label cloud syncing technology to operators, which makes these views partly a pitch on Capobianco's part to the carriers.

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For the full ME Funambol interview, click here.