There seems to be a huge interest from readers on the topic of monetizing new services.  As I mentioned a few days ago I simply can't see telcos generating huge revenues from 'entertainment' services such as movies & music. Let me add general information access to that list of things people simply do not want to pay for.  Newspapers and business magazines went free on-line a number of years ago, and there is simply no way back.  I read last week that a major survey in the US showed that over 80% of US consumers...

Hello again, I'm just back from an other adventure that included an unhappy interaction with the airline industry - if you like to see a man suffer, see my previous blog.This time I was booked on a flight that did not exist! When I arrived at the airport I felt a but like Harry Potter looking for the magical platform. The document said there was a flight but the departures board told a different story. Harry Potter caught his train I had to find another airline!  Still third time lucky ( I hope). A question...

It’s not even being delivered yet but I bet most of you are already sick of hearing about the Apple iPad. If you are a CSP (Communications Service Provider) you are probably dreading the extra load it is going to put on your mobile network and how you won’t necessarily see an incremental increase in revenue. Think again! Rather than sitting around navel-gazing operators should be looking at the greatest potential use of  iPad and similar devices and work out how to get onto the curve early. I wrote back in January...

A report released this week by Arbor Networks states that Google now boasts a network bigger than all but two of the world's ISPs. Don’t say you weren’t warned! The search giant looks like it’s just one step away from becoming an ISP itself. If it were, hypothetically speaking of course, it would now be the fastest growing one in the world and the third largest globally. The two leaders carry substantial volumes of Google transit themselves. More than half of its own traffic over its own network is sent directly...

The telecoms industry may have shown resilience during the recession but the focus on driving efficiencies and reducing costs looks set to continue, according to Ovum. A new report, entitled Telco Strategies for Recession and Recovery (March 2010), examines how the economic downturn has impacted service providers and how they are shaping up for recovery. Ovum warns that although the economic downturn hasn’t resulted in the downward pressure on telco top lines that many expected, revenue growth is in decline for many mature...

Maine (USA) legislators continue their determination of a bill requiring mobile phones to carry health warnings about the dangers of brain cancer. Supporters of the bill claim that Ignoring the health risks of heavy cell phone use invites a cancer epidemic, despite the fact that there is little scientific evidence supporting the claim. "We can do nothing and wait for the body count. That's what happened with smoking before warnings on cigarette packs were mandated”, David Carpenter, director of the Institute...

My background is not in telecom or software development, but business. Perhaps that is why I get lost in translation when our industry discusses the future role of Communications Service Providers (CSPs) in terms of dumb pipes or smart pipes. In my view, the discussion should probably go in a different direction.According to Wikipedia, the term smart pipe refers to “an operator’s network which leverages existing or unique service capabilities as well as the operator’s own customer relationships to provide value above and...

Google looks to do for the ‘cloud’ what Apple successfully did for the mobile world by setting up a Cloud-based app store. But that could be easier said than done. For third-party apps to successfully proliferate in this environment they will first have be integrated with existing Google Apps. The Google Apps Marketplace is an online store where Google Apps users can browse different cloud-based applications and select from a suite of online tools. The ability to share data between existing apps like Gmail and Docs,...

Back in China this week, working on my chop stick skills and have now mastered (almost) the art of taking noodles, one of my favorites, out of a big bowl without leaving most of them in the bowl or all over the table!  Also, tried some new things– cold goose with fresh chopped garlic and a soup of mushroom and donkey..that’s right donkey. Speaking of noodles, I often call my brain my noodle or when trying to come up with an answer to a question, I often say “I am noodling it out”.  So, here I’ll noodle out a question about...

One of the hot topics that I'm predicting is going to dominateour thinking by the end of this year is the topic of Mobile Money.  Thishas had an interesting niche role for the past few years in Africa and Asiawhere the mobile infrastructure & credit is being used as an alternative tolegal tender in regimes with either high inflation or little generalaccess to banking facilities.  That in itself is an interestingdevelopment, but in parallel with this we have seen a serious growth in mobilepayment, using near field...