They’ve created an international calling card application that you can download for your app. It’s a really nice idea — and something that I think most o2 customers who call abroad now-and-again should have on their phone.

If you’re a regular caller abroad then obviously, you should buy a special price plan or add-on to help mitigate the costs. However I think most users won’t call abroad enough to warrant an extra £5 or £10 a month on top of their standard price plan.

And when you want to phone the States, that’s when things get tricky as you’re likely going to have to pay lots of cash for the privilege.

Going to the local store to pick up a calling card is an option. But it’s a hassle.

An infinitely better experience is to download the all new o2 International Calling Card app. It’s a genius concept and a beautiful implementation.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1 – Download the app for free
Step 2 – Buy your calling card through the app, using your iTunes account
Step 3 – “scratch” off the panel to reveal your pin
Step 4 – click on make a call and either dial the number or select from your contact list.

That’s right, you scratch off the panel to reveal your PIN! Heh! A very cool addition, that.

I am particularly impressed that you can bill the cost of the card to your iTunes account. Seamless.

I’m going to give this one a go.

The app is free from iTunes and available now.

Let’s have some screenshots then…

The app frontpage:

Buying calling credit with your iTunes account:

Unwrapping and scratch off your PIN! Note — I particularly like the way you can send the card by email/text. Very useful.

To make a call from the app with your credit, just dial the international number and press call…

And once you press ‘call’, the app sticks on the access number for you and places the call.

Nice work o2!

The series has been terrifically well received — thank you once more to all the executives from around the industry who’ve complemented us. And hello to the chaps from o2 Innovation who, almost every week, point out that they’re working on something very similar. I do hope this is the case — o2 is historically well regarded for innovation. Do you remember Genie Mobile? Utterly fantastic. In recent years, the company’s BlueVia development team has been leading the charge for developer access to operator APIs. So I’m expecting good things from the o2 Innovation team.

Before we get started, I need to deliver a tip-of-the-hat to the team at Orange who pulled the Film To Go service out of the bag this week. Very good indeed. (Find out why I think it’s rather smart.)

Right, let’s get started.

- – - – -

Last week I wrote about wanting one number for all my calls both incoming and outgoing. Right now I have five smartphones on my desk, all ‘live’ and active. Managing their various identities is quite a challenge.

When it comes to SMS, though, it’s even more of a minefield.

I can redirect my calls to one voicemail system, or one follow-me number. There are plenty of shit-but-good possibilities with voice.

But SMS?

It’s a total fracking nightmare.

SMS is still the king — and I do mean king. Even in today’s app economy, SMS still has a priority. It’s still the medium that we all fall-back to, isn’t it? You can arse around with Facebook Chat, Google+ Huddles and even email, but when it comes to needing to get a message to someone, beyond making a voice call, you have to use SMS.

This is because SMS breaks through.

It interrupts.

It’s real-time.

We all have confidence in it’s delivery (despite the fact the operators still cannot assure delivery to anywhere near a decent service level).

It’s built directly into the operating system of every single device.

It works the same on every phone. There is ALWAYS an inbox. There is always some kind of alerting function built in.

It’s international. There is universal compatibility whether you’re in Timbuktu, the Maldives or London.

As Apple are fond of saying, it just works.

And the 160 character limit is not a problem. Again, most devices support multiple-message length transmissions.

(BBM, because of it’s lack of cross platform support, simply doesn’t cut it unless you KNOW the other person has a BlackBerry).

So what’s the problem?

Well, first of all, if you have two or more devices, managing your SMS messages is a flipping-fracking-flucking nightmare. It’s simply impossible. I have come across one or two ‘forwarding’ apps that you can install — they’ll then forward any messages received to you. But this completely screws the return path functionality. You can GET the message, but you can’t easily reply to it. And even if I have forwarded all SMS from my BlackBerry to my iPhone, when I reply, I’m going to get tons of ‘Who is this?’ messages in return, because of the different phone number.

Rubbish.

It’s not just about the users with multiple devices though.

Even if you just have one phone, the ability to be able to archive, review, reply and create text messages from your desktop, iPad, iPod Touch, laptop or browser, would be really, really smart. Sometimes I just don’t want to write stuff on my actual phone.

Archive my SMS in Google?
Why can’t you copy every SMS that I receive into Google and attach an ‘SMS’ tag to it? This is precisely what Hullomail does. They send you a copy of every voicemail you’ve ever received. Your voicemail is actually stored IN your Gmail. It’s fantastically useful. It certainly doesn’t have to be Google, but I’d go so far as to suggest that if you’re a multi-geography operator, it’s highly likely that Google would do the development for you as long as you assign them one bod to help with the integration. Likewise I suspect Yahoo would be delighted to offer true SMS integration into their email client as a bonus.

07769658104@vodafone.net
And whatever happened to the ability to send a text via an email? I know some operators still offer this. But why was this facility switched off for so many? I loved this. It was a quick way of getting 160 characters to someone’s phone via the medium of email. Some bright spark decided that it might cannibalise revenues, eh? Idiots. Utter idiots. Don’t worry. They’ve probably either left the company or been promoted to CEO. So it’s worth a look again. I do know that lots of operators have moved to offering the facility via MMS. But.. eww, it’s just so badly implemented.

Real-time device SMS Synchronisation, anyone?
Indeed, if you’ve got a moment and a few million quid of development money, I’d like my SMS messages to be synched across all my devices. Why isn’t this possible? Why hasn’t it been done? Come on!

SMS from the desktop
I want to be able to SMS from my desktop. One bright spark has actually made this work for you if you’re an o2 customer. You can text from your phone’s number using Text Deck Pro on the Mac. But you can’t receive. There’s no inbox. I want to be able to browse all my SMS messages. I want to see what I’ve sent and received since the start of my relationship with the operator. Don’t even consider telling me that this is ‘logistically difficult’, Mr Operator. Just stick them all in Google if your 1TB SATA hard disk solution isn’t good enough.

SMS: The ticket to relevance for operators
Just like the phone number I depend on for my voice calls, SMS is also your ticket to continued relevance. Lose this at your peril.

And you know what, that’s precisely what every single over-the-top player is trying to do. They’re all iterating fast to try and remove our reliance upon SMS. You just need to look at what Apple’s doing with iMessage and Google’s G+ Huddles. Once you make the username (Facebook, iCloud/Apple, Gmail) the unique identifier — properly — the operator is literally moved to a place of irrelevance. Just the bandwidth, thank you very much.

I’d very much like to see operators working on methods to solidify the position of SMS by extending the technology all over the place. First of all, I need to be able to see the back archive. Second, I need to be able to access and write messages from some browser/app. Wouldn’t it be neat to see the Vodafone logo on my Apple desktop? Third, you need to let me do smart things like sync and archive into Google. And I expect to be billed for the privilege. Maybe it’s a quid a month. Maybe it’s a ‘come on’ to get me to swap to a higher range of price plans. Can you imagine going out to market and asking people if they’d like to archive all their SMS messages for £0.50 a month? Folk would love it.

The SMS Mobile Application
I’d LOVE to be able to download the Vodafone SMS application on to my Three iPhone. I’d just have to verify my account and boom, I would be able to get ALL the SMS I normally receive on my BlackBerry via my iPhone too. And I’d be able to write messages from the iPhone via the app that get sent out using my primary Vodafone number, not my iPhone number. This would rock. Voda could send me a push notification of SMS to my iPhone. The integration on an Android phone would be even better.

Ah dear.

Back to reality, eh? The fact that I’m actually getting excited over something so mundane, so easy, so SIMPLE to implement, geez it’s depressing.

Thus ends the fifth Operator Innovation post.

[Note: o2's Bluebook is due a mention. Just a brief mention. You sort-of got this working, folks. Sort-of. But to my utter annoyance, you really didn't go anywhere near as far enough. Come on. What about a proper refresh, eh?]

- – - – -

Check out the other posts in the Operator Innovation series:

- One number for all my voice calls
- Fancy a MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad for £100/month?
- Why can’t my operator talk to my bank when my card declines abroad
- Taxis, baby, Taxis!

To these executives, let me say this:

1. I love you all. In a proper manly way. Without your continued efforts and those of the industry, I recognise Mobile Industry Review would be pointless. And I wouldn’t be able to get off a plane in the Maldives and still be able to send and receive email.

2. I know a lot of you are actually innovating. I have received quite a lot of email from executives pointing out that there is *some* innovation going on at their respective operators. I do try and highlight this routinely here on MIR, but if you feel I’ve missed something, then please email me.

3. Thank you everyone for your emails on the subject. If there’s an area you think we should explore with this series, drop me a note and let me know.

4. Yes, it’s possible to hire me and my cohort of innovation brain surgeons. Drop me an email, tell me what’s challenging you, and I’ll mail back with some ideas about how we might engage.

As always I’m ewan@mobileindustryreview.com.

Last week’s “sell me a MacBook Air” post generated a ton of comments and mail. I think this week’s one will get a lot less response. I’m afraid I’m looking at an exceedingly boring issue this week.

But I think I’m right to say it’s something you, dear reader, would like fixed tomorrow.

I have more than one phone.

So do you. Yes? I think the last MIR survey revealed most of the readers had at least 3 devices.

The chances are you have a work mobile, a personal mobile — and since the audience are rather geeky, you probably have at least 2 or 3 personal phones.

Let me set the scene to lead up to the problem statement. I have a BlackBerry Bold 9780, soon to be replaced with the gorgeous 9900.

I also have an iPhone 4 running on 3UK.

I routinely carry a BlackBerry Curve too — this is required for some daily consultancy that I provide.

I also have an iPhone 4 running on Orange. I use this one as a secondary iPhone, for testing things, for media playback and sometimes as a back-up iPhone.

The Nexus S is my Android device du jour. This is the one I use to check-out Android gubbins. It usually runs on one of my Vodafone contract SIMs. I also have a top-of-the-range HTC Windows Phone running on my o2 sim.

This, then, is me.

I rarely begin a ‘work day’ without carrying at least 3 phones. My absolute minimum is my Bold and the iPhone. Despite what Apple and RIM wish, I really do quite enjoy the separation and I find that each device has it’s plus points. I can get through a ton of email (and do a lot of messaging) on the Bold. The apps and the media management on the iPhone are fantastic.

I don’t always like to carry both phones. Or all three.

Indeed, sometimes I like to walk out with just the main iPhone in my pocket.

Other times, I feel in the mood for the Nexus.

Sometimes if I’m popping out to the shops, I’ll just slip the Bold into my jacket.

That’s the background.

Now the problem statement: Which phone do you call?

Each of them has a different number.

This is a total arse for me.

I have each handset directing to HulloMail for voicemail. So if you call me on one of the phones, the chances are I’ll get your voicemail notification irrespective of what device I’m carrying.

The real issue for me is: Which phone does my wife call?

We’ve got a little baby. Well, a toddler. And I am a parent. I need to be responsible. I need to be contactable.

So when I leave the house to pop to the shops, I have been finding myself automatically saying, “I”m on the iPhone” or, “I’m on the Nexus”.

This makes me feel better. But then it winds up my wife because she usually doesn’t bother to remember what I’ve said. She’ll phone my main number — running on the BlackBerry — and if she’s lucky, she’ll get through.

If I took the Nexus S, I’ll never get her call.

Managing incoming calls when you have multiple devices is really annoying.

It gets even worse when you try and place a call. If I’m calling from my Nexus S, most people don’t pick up. The call goes straight to voicemail as they don’t recognise the number and — mostly — my friends don’t have time to take calls from numbers they don’t recognise.

Some of my friends sensibly save my number as Ewan2 or EwanNexus or something like that.

I am then driven to distraction my frustrated friends calling Ewan2 or EwanMain or EwanNexus and not being able to get through to me.

“I didn’t know which one to phone,” is the complaint that winds me up chronically.

It winds me up because I haven’t dealt with it.

And further, it annoys me because the mobile operators are generally oblivious to this issue.

Oh, I could have every phone automatically divert to a single number. I could spend 5 minutes configuring my ‘live’ device every time I leave the house. That would be the sensible option.

Indeed, what I should probably do is give all my fiends a fake mobile number that diverts to whatever phone I’m currently using. I’ve tried this. It does sort-of-work. Except, the whole thing falls apart when you try calling people because they don’t have your number.

The solution is ultra simple. Mobile operators can easily implement a system that identifies your current live device (I wouldn’t mind clicking a button or an option to set this manually) and then route all calls to that number. It would also be possible for the operator to route your outgoing calls through a particular defined identifier.

Of course when I’m using multiple operators to power multiple phones, that complicates matters. I would be prepared to restrict my communications to one operator, if they could offer me some kind of phone number fidelity service.

Give me one number, but make it work on multiple SIMs?

So when I make a call, my friends see my main number calling?

And make every device I use ring — and when I pick-up on my iPhone, stop ringing the other ones?

This is eminently possible.

It’s just not implemented.

It would be a great way of ensuring fundamental loyalty.

The good news is that this last bastion of operator control is begin eroded slowly.

Google Voice, for example, is slowly approaching a total fix for this. I was rather impressed to see Sprint integrating with that (more information). The Sprint/Google Voice solution is almost there.

I’m highly disappointed that the operators haven’t recognised the value of enabling some kind of ‘one number for voice calls’ functionality. Give me five sim cards, all responding to the same number — and all sharing the same minutes/texts/data bundles. That would be amazing.

[By the way, last week using the Huddle function on Google+'s iPhone/Android platforms, I was able to abstract the operator completely out of my communications. Instead of functioning as a primary route to me through their mobile number, I just used the operator as the bit-pipe. Google was my identifier and my comms platform. I was able to successfully communicate with my peers across a full day using Huddle. Sometimes I used my iPhone. Sometimes I used the Nexus S. Sometimes an iPad or laptop. Interesting times.]

What do you think? Would you like to see this feature offered by operators? Or do you think it’s far too specialist a need?

- – - – -

Check out the other posts in the Operator Innovation series:

- Fancy a MacBook Air, iPhone, iPad for £100/month?
- Why can’t my operator talk to my bank when my card declines abroad
- Taxis, baby, Taxis!

Before we get to that, here’s a brief word on this series. Generally speaking I will touch upon issues that I’ve briefly explored before here on the site — or that I’ve mentioned in passing. I’ve recently had some complaints from a number of operator executives that much of my strategic ramblings in this area aren’t easily accessible. Of course everything here on the site is freely available. The challenge is finding it. For example, one of the most popular operator posts I’ve ever written was this T-Mobile one back in December last year. Although the points made are brief, I’ve done a lot of advisory work off the back of each point! So whilst it’s easily accessible if you happen to be reading when I publish it, I recognise that later on, finding this content can be challenging. Hence this series.

If you caught my audio podcast walking around the park with the baby at the weekend, then you’ll have already got a precursor to this one.

Right then. Lifestyle.

In the United Kingdom, the mobile phone is now a leading status indicator. Our purchase decisions are heavily influenced now by what we can do with our phones and what people will think as a result. For many, an iPhone is simply a basic requirement. Indeed, amongst many communities, I perceive a severe issue with the iPhone 4: There’s nothing better. He’s got a 4. I’ve got a 4. She’s got a 4. But I’m better. Or, at least, I want to feel better. So why can’t I get a 4A. Or 4S.

It’s the same with cars. Heck, it’s the same with everything. Bags, sunglasses and so on.

And it’s not just iPhone, of course. HTC, Samsung, Nokia, they’re all at it, delivering multiple products for multiple market segments. Galaxy S? Or Galaxy SII? You’ll want the best, right?

There aren’t that many companies that specialise in lifestyle as apposed to a product line. Apple does lifestyle. And this, we all know — at least, anyone who’s drunk just a few sips of theca koolaid (and forked out £24 for a plastic £0.05 converter) will acknowledge.

Years ago, my good friend Tom adopted Apple. Hook, line and sinker.

“It’s just fantastic,” he said, “I love it all, everything, it’s beautifully made, elegant, aesthetically pleasing and it’s made in california!”

[And if you're reading on your 8-minute commute, Tom, am I paraphrasing, accurately?]

Tom started with a MacBook Pro. And before you know it, he was buying all sorts of gizmos. I remember ridiculing him for buying a £75 Mac iSight webcam — when the very best alternative was about £39. It did look good. He felt good. I felt good for him. I wondered if I was missing something. I carried on life and then a year or so later, I too made the switch.

Ding.

Lifestyle. Everything here at MIR is Mac. I do take quite a lot of pleasure from it all. Now detractors might think this is a little silly. However 76 billion dollars of free cash is not silly. Neither is the fact that I feel delighted with my Apple ‘lifestyle’.

Many of you will, I’m sure, be — in some small way — Apple converts. It might just be an iPad, perhaps an iPhone or maybe one of their laptops. The fact Apple has grown so fast and so huge means that if you’ve got an income over $100k, there’s a strong chance you count yourself an Apple fan by some measure.

Apple is now. They’re knocking it out the park in so many different ways. So they’re a good company to watch. They are, if you can work out the right deal, a phenomenal company to work with too.

As per my post earlier today, selling Apple products is ridiculously straightforward. I have generally been in the market for another iPad 2 for a few months. I just haven’t bothered doing anything about it. That was, until Vodafone happened to phone me out of the blue and offer me one on a deal that I considered to be pretty good. Actually I didn’t bother doing any calculations or research to determine this. It just felt right. So I bought it, there and then. I didn’t have to think. It’s Apple. Likewise, the chap from Vodafone only had to say the words “Apple” and “iPad” and we were both connected on the right plane of understanding.

This would not have happened if the chap had phoned up to sell me a Motorola XOOM. Nor would the guy — on his own reckoning — be reaching a rough success rate of 70%. (That is, out of 10 calls, 7 customers take the Apple iPad deal he’s offering — shockingly good!)

One other indicative Apple statistic comes to mind. I remember back when Vodafone was launching it’s very own ’360′ social-cum-mobile-OS platform with dedicated handsets. There were reportedly 50 pre-orders for the VF360 Samsung M1/H1 handsets. Not long after 360 launched, Vodafone secured an iPhone distribution deal. This had 50,000 pre-orders. Fifty-thousand. If you assume a rough subscriber base of 18 million, half of which are contract, so, very roughly, 9 million customers — that’s 0.55% of Vodafone’s customer base.

(Note: These are estimates: I haven’t looked at the company’s recent subscriber figures. I was just aiming for an indicative figure.)

So Apple and mobile works, especially for the contract marketplace and especially for anyone with a bit of money.

So let’s get to the crux of my argument. If you’re going to sell me an iPhone, why not sell me an iPad? The chances are I’m probably going to be interested. Indeed, I represent a far more likely prospect.

We’ve actually seen this happening already from the enterprising chaps at Orange. The deal is utterly simple:

- 16GB iPhone 4
- 16GB iPad 2 3G+WiFi
- 600 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited BT Openzone WiFi, 2GB shared data per month

Total cost?

£99 up-front and £65 per month, based on a 2-year contract. You’re shelling out £1,560 in total, but the iPhone and iPad are worth about 500-600 quid each, then you’ve got to factor in the cost of a price plan and line rental. When you work it out, it’s actually a rather accessible deal.

Interestingly, the deal is only available to existing customers. You’ll need to stump up another £50 if you’re new to Orange.

I’ve mentioned this offer to a lot of people and it’s raised a lot of ‘oh, really’ eyebrows. Unfortunately I don’t know how popular it’s been. I think I’m right in saying that I can name two people who’ve actually signed-up for it. So beyond anecdotal evidence, I don’t yet know if it’s winning a lot of attention. I shall aim to find out.

But let’s take it one step further.

Lifestyle, yes?

I don’t just use a mobile phone and a tablet. I also need a computer. This is the UK, after all. We’re still wedded to broadband and we most definitely still need to punch keys on physical keyboards.

So my lifestyle requires a ‘computer’ too. A laptop, let’s say. We here all the time that the iPad is nailing one category of laptops: Those £299 specials from PC World that seem to be just one step away from a Fisher Price model that I’ll shortly be buying for my baby son. Horribly plastic and not really that good. The iPad is perfect for sofa computing.

But yes, laptops are still needed.

So what can you do for me, Vodafone?

Let’s say I’m going to buy a MacBook Air. The entry level Air starts at a highly reasonable £849 (rising to £1,349 for the top, top spec).

This isn’t a world away from the top of the range 64GB iPad sold by Vodafone at £645.

So what would it take for you to sell me a MacBook Air, Vodafone? £849 across 24-months is a fairly reasonable £35.38. But I’d assume you could get a decent bit of a margin from Apple to make it worthwhile.

At £35 per month, I’d buy. Definitely.

So sell me an iPhone. Check.

Sell me an iPad. Check.

Sell me a MacBook Air. Check.

All price plan/access fees included. Check.

My rough maths put the monthly cost for this package at £100.

For some, the transparency of this would be too much, despite the fact that (as Dan Lane points out on Twitter), many probably do this anyway using credit cards.

For others, though, the point-and-click convenience of all three devices will be too good to refuse. Especially if you’ve been admiring those nice MacBook Airs you often see proudly displayed in Starbucks.

Would you go for something like this?

Here’s some immediate feedback from Twitter:

SimonLR: @Ew4n I downright despise both Apple gear and contracts and I’d say that’s a hell of a deal.

DhruvBhutani: @SimonLR @Ew4n Ditto ! Hate Apple gear but that deal is as good as they come IMO

PatrickJPR: @Ew4n I think that’s a pretty good deal, esp for a small business .. if I’d been offered it I might well have signed up for that 18 months ago. I still might to equip a team member

Jok5r: @Ew4n I’d do it but only if there was a contract with a certain amount of free minutes/texts, tethering and unlimited downloads.

djnermal: @Ew4n think thats a fair deal. Although it could mean more vikki pollards owning high end kit to snort coke on top of

[Note, do read my 'Vicky Pollar has an iPhone 4; You are not cool anymore post' - djnermal has a point!]

Now then, why wouldn’t an operator consider this strategy?

Let’s look at this comment posted on my audio podcast discussing the issues:

Reader Stefan Constantinescu writes: What you’re asking for is a radical transformation of well established business models. Whereas before an operator subsidized a device over the length of your contract, note: a device you’d use with their network, and a bank gave you a small loan to do things like pay for school or renovate your kitchen, you want your operator to act like a small loans provider. In doing so, they risk being classified as a financial institution. This may or may not be a bad thing, especially considering the upcoming “mobile payments revolution”, which can best be described as a bar fight between operators, traditional debit and credit card issuers, banks, consumer electronics companies, and alternative payment providers such as PayPal or MoneyBrookers.

The question here is why would someone want to go with an operator for a small loan when they can instead just put it on their Visa card? If the operator offers better interest rates, then they become the more attractive option, but … it’s messy.

Your point is well made Stefan.

I am asking for radical transformation.

Sell me a MacBook Air, Mr Operator, and you’re relevant to me. Because I can’t subsidise that easily. I have to think about it. I need to put it on a credit card. It’s a proper purchase for me.

Use your financial muscle and help me out. Recognise that for a segment of your already nicely performing customer base, you’re going to dramatically increase revenue and ensure phenomenal lock-in.

Can you imagine how people would react to receiving an Air with their iPhone and iPad? The lock-in would be tremendous. You wouldn’t ever look at another operator. You’d need to deploy some smart upgrade options, especially as Apple will obviously deliver new devices during the 24-month contract. But you could offer a swap — and recycle/resell my equipment.

The interesting thing is that you can charge the hell out of me. Because it’s Apple.

That’s right.

I want the Apple kit.

I couldn’t give a toss over some OEM equipment or a plastic Dell laptop.

But Apple, I want it. And I’m already preconditioned to PAY for the privilege.

Want to get your iPad repaired at the Apple store? You can’t. Simple. You *can’t*. Provided you’re in warranty, you can pay a few hundred quid for a replacement. Oh, Apple will repair the iPad and then resell it for money, but you’ll need to stump up that fee, whether you completely nailed the iPad or just cracked the screen.

And we just do it.

So I could imagine a one-time ‘upgrade’ fee of £199 or £249 that would get me a complete refresh after 12-months (with another 24-month extension, thereby guaranteeing my revenue). Something like that.

People are funny when it comes to Apple.

Why not jump on that?

Why not get into some transformational excitement?

You, Mr Operator, already have a logistics network second-to-none. Vodafone could, over night, become the largest retailer of Apple equipment in the United Kingdom. All of a sudden, the company would now have some relevance to Apple beyond the usual bit pipe conversation.

How about putting a genius bar in every one of the hundreds of Vodafone shops across the country?

How about a small business deal? £199 a month and instead of an Air, you get a MacBook Pro?

Or a movie-maker package? £249 a month and you get both a MacBook Air and a Mac Pro tower?

Now you’re helping me. Now you’re relevant to me. Now you’re recognising that yes, you’re a bit pipe. But a valued one. I nee the connectivity, but alone, that’s not very exciting and you’ve next to zero market differentiation.

This kind of offering would certainly differentiate you. Move further though. If I sign-up for the £100/month package, guarantee me 5-minute replacement on all hardware. Charge me extra for this if necessary. But if my iPhone screws up, or if I have a problem with my Air, let me walk to your nearest store and swap it. Job done. Move on. No questions asked. Now your value is skyrocketing in my eyes.

Don’t just sell me airtime. I can get that anywhere — and increasingly, that’s what folk are doing.

Would Apple allow this strategy? Who knows. Could you duplicate it with Dell or Sony? (for the non-Apple fans) Of course. Would the operator CFO wear it? I wonder. How would the markets react? As long as you’re demonstrating sustained, reliable and renewable revenue streams, one would imagine they’re react positively.

Right then. This post is most certainly a contentious contribution to the series. As Stefan pointed out, it places operators quit far outside of their default comfort zone.

Let’s be clear though: Where the operators are now, that’s not at all comfortable.

What do you think? I promise that next time, I’ll stay within the traditional ‘innovation’ sector!

- – -

Check out the other posts in the Operator Innovation series:

- Why can’t my operator talk to my bank when my card declines abroad
- Taxis, baby, Taxis!

Update: Thanks to reader Rarebit who points out that 50k into 9 million is actually 0.55%. And not 5% as I originally published!

I’m stunned.

I just called 3UK *Business support* from a random landline and got the PIN on my voicemail changed, using just the info on my business card.

All they asked for was my mobile number and address/postcode. And what I’d like the PIN reset to, of course. How kind of them.

So anyone finding my business card, or a colleague’s phone, or a vendor/customer’s phone – with my name, my number and my place or work/address, CAN ACCESS MY VM.

And because the PIN is not needed when checking the VM from my mobile, I’d have no idea the PIN had changed until I tried to remotely access it. Which is never, so far.

My name is out there. I am ‘public’, I have a profile on social networks. Who I work for and the address/postcode is 15 seconds on Google away.

Fisher-Price security? More like zero security.

I then called O2 business. I have another phone with them, again on a business account. Completely, utterly different experience.

They insisted on the company details as well, but crucially, they required me to pass through a security procedure involving knowing the business account password, or detailed info like the last billing amount etc.

No matter how much I pleaded, making up a story about urgently needing access to just one VM, etc – no dice. They were adamant. No security, no PIN reset.

3UK, in topical parlance you come a News Of The World last to O2′s shining Guardian. Their CEO should be getting this process changed TODAY.

This comes from a highly technical-savvy mobile industry executive known to me personally.

Deary me.

What were 3UK Business Support thinking? I trust this is an isolated example and not par-for-the-course?

Update: I wrote some more on the wider issues.

I’m not bothering with names at the moment though. I wanted to get stuck in.

This series focuses on changes and enhancements I’d like to see mobile operators make. Today I’m writing about card transactions when I’m abroad.

Here’s the problem overview: I’m sure you’re familiar with it.

A few weeks ago I got off the plane in Austin, Texas, and hopped in a cab to the downtown Radisson Hotel. I arrived at reception about 20 minutes later and presented both my passport and my Natwest credit card. Having been out of the country for about half the year on business, I’m an old hand at this. I don’t even wait to be asked. I get the card and the passport ready just before I approach the desk. In many hotels now, the receptionist will simply swipe the card without bothering to ask now. It’s how things work.

But, there’s a fundamental problem for me — and, I’m sure, you — when I’m traveling.

Despite the fact that my credit record clearly shows me going all over America, France, Germany on a routine basis, 9 out of 10 times, my credit card ‘swipe’ fails.

I’ve already checked the balance on the Natwest app in the taxi to check there are no surprises. But when that ‘swipe’ fails (on a valid card with plenty of credit), a little mobile operator fairy dies.

That’s because the mobile operator knows where I am. It knows that I’m in America. It knows I’m Austin. In fact, it can probably infer with a bit of LBS jiggery-pokery, that I am *at* the Radisson hotel.

That information is sitting in the big dark ‘orrible mobile operator cloud. Locked away.

Marry this with the clueless bank fraud detection system and, goodness me, it’s a flipping depressing experience, it really is.

All I want to do is check-in. All the receptionist wants to do is for my card to swipe properly. The bank’s fraud systems — or perhaps, Visa’s systems — I don’t know and I REALLY DON’T CARE — trip up over this unexpected behaviour. This is perfectly fine. I understand the need for these kinds of systems.

What is COMPLETELY INEXCUSABLE is the total lack of innovation in this business segment.

Natwest will tell you that you ‘need to advise them’ when you go abroad. Bollocks. Utter flipping rubbish. I am not — repeat NOT — going to phone the bank and tell them where I’m going. I’ve done it. I’ve tried this. It’s a flipping con, it really is. The nice lady on the phone sounds incredibly professional whilst she lists down the dates and locations as I read them off my itinerary.

I know — and she probably knows — that this information is all but pointless. It doesn’t get integrated into the automatic fraud system. I’ve tried it. I’ve tried phoning up and giving the information like a flipping idiot. How stupidly inefficient is this? I’ve given them the dates. I’ve given them the locations. And the card is still ‘marked’ or declined or — well, I really don’t care except for the fact I can’t get my hotel room key.

One time, when I’d actually called to say I was going abroad, my card was declined. I phoned up — luckily there’s 24/7 access for my account — and the chap said, “Oh yes, I see from your record that you’re traveling to the United States Mr MacLeod?”

“Yes, I’m in San Francisco,” I said.

“Right, yes,” he replies, “I see that here in the notes.”

I take a breath.

“Ok, so why is my card blocked?”

“Ah well it’s just a routine blah-de-blah-de-blah.”

And then I get transferred and go through the flipping rigmarole of confirming transactions. All at a gorgeous £1.25 per minute international call.

£20 later the card is ready to be used.

Back at the Radisson, I gave them another card — the HSBC Business Card. That was declined too, despite the ton of credit available. Finally one of my other cards — you know the one in the bottom of the wallet that you forget about? — that one worked. Despite the fact I hardly EVER use it. So much for ‘fraud detection’.

I know all institutions are different. But the experience is broadly the same, isn’t it?

I got so annoyed and so frustrated with this stupid, stupid arrangement that I got one of those ‘cash cards’ from Lloyds Bank. You charge it up with up to $3,000 and boom — it’s there to spend. It works everywhere. It’s like a pay-as-you-go credit card. I was delighted with this. I used it all the time because it never got declined.

Until one day when they ‘detected unusual activity’. I spent about £50 on the phone walking up and down University Avenue in Palo Alto trying to get them to unlock the card. They eventually managed it. I promptly withdrew the whole balance as cash and never used it again. Arses.

Now.

Let’s get to the point of this post. The mobile operator is to blame here.

Show me a virtually full-proof manner of determining whether I am present during a transaction? Yeah. Location-based services from your mobile operator.

Why haven’t the mobile operators jumped into the breach? Why can’t I authorise Vodafone to provide my bank(s) with real-time location lookups for in-person transactions?

Why isn’t this a service that Vodafone offer? Why haven’t some sharp Vodafone chaps put on some sharp suits and popped down to the Square Mile to have a sensible conversation with some High Street banks?

Why haven’t High Street banks done the opposite?

You know, there’s a revenue model here. I could imagine a Bank agreeing to pay a fee-per-lookup. Or a fixed fee per month to be able to query customer locations as part of their fraud systems — all subject, of course, to the proper data protection opt-in stuff.

If your bank told you that you could be virtually assured of having ALL your foreign transactions be processed instantly — and that all you have to do is ‘click here’ to agree that Vodafone can provide this information — we’d all be doing it.

There is NOTHING WORSE than standing in a queue at Starbucks in San Francisco (and those queues do get veerrrrry long) and having your flipping card decline for some mundane fraud reason.

I could imagine Vodafone charging an extra £1 per month to me for the privilege. Some kind of financial-location-assurance charge. I’d stump up for that.

Indeed I’d be happy for Vodafone to act as my trusted location broker, offering the data to services on-demand and anonymised as necessary for banks, insurance and other such purposes.

But no.

The operators are NOT doing this, are they?

Of course not. They’re too staring into the abyss of irrelevance.

Because, dear reader, here’s a rather annoying problem for Vodafone [For 'Vodafone', by the way, read, 'your operator' -- they're all as bad as each other in this context]. The problem is called OTT.

Over-the-top. It’s the phrase being bandied around often now. It means, effectively, cutting out the lumbering irrelevance that is the mobile operator.

The operator COULD do this.

But they haven’t.

I need the service.

Natwest needs the facility too. They need to limit and assure their fraud processes. It’s in their interests to keep everyone happy and the fraudsters out.

This OTT issue is painful. Really painful.

You see Natwest already has a mobile application. It’s provided by Monetise and they’ve recently upgraded it to make it look and function half decently. (The first version was an abomination, it really was). This application runs on my phone. Monetise has physically verified my identity prior to letting me use the app. I wasn’t able to run the app until I received a special PIN code through the sodding post. Fair enough but incredibly annoying.

Still. The app is as secure as a consumer banking app needs to be. It even has a PIN number that is requested every time the app runs.

I use it a few times daily when I’m abroad.

And now let’s get to the science bit.

The app is location aware. Well, it can be. Oh, I don’t think Monetise has done anything about it yet — but the fact the app is running on an iPhone means that my precise location is available to the app with just a function call.

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch of imagination for Monetise to walk into their next meeting with Natwest and ask for £20m to deliver an enhanced upgrade to the consumer banking app that integrates directly with the Natwest fraud protection engine, would it?

Provided I’ve run the application and verified my physical location — and, of course, provided I’ve got sufficient avialable credit — the Natwest Fraud system should approve any transactions that take place AT my location within 30 minutes.

That works.

That’s communicable to customers.

Run the app when you get to the hotel. Just by running it, you verify your location. That will help ‘us’ (the bank) automatically approve any transactions you make from that location/venue.

You could even physically check-in to the location. When I was waiting for a receptionist to become available, I fired up Facebook and ‘checked-in’ to the Radisson.

My concern is that I could easily see Monetise or the banks building this into their application strategy. This would render the mobile operator useless. Just another example where this is happening.

Critics will, I’m sure, point out that Vodafone doesn’t know where I am when I’m roaming on AT&T or T-Mobile in the States. This is true. But Vodafone can easily request it. The guys int he roaming team will have a fit because it upsets the applecart, but it’s totally and easily doable.

Now then: There’s a lot of holes in this example — but, broadly speaking, it’s possible. It’s doable. It’s adding value, it’s helping everyone have a better day.

Will the operator do anything about this? No. I doubt it.

Will banks do so? I reckon some of the more enterprising ones might do so.

I’d switch operator for this function.

I’d switch banks for this function.

ANYTHING that stops the ‘sorry sir, that card doesn’t work’ experience. Anything.

What do you reckon?

Update: Sam Machin of The Lab at o2 comments: “Watch this space”. Interesting.

More from Larry:

More from Ofir:

Here is the video:

There is nothing worse in this industry than a mobile operator that thinks it knows what it’s customers want.

Time and time again, the market keeps on having to correct the mobile operator’s misguided attempts at trying to evolve beyond a utility bit pipe.

In this post, I’m going to explore that issue, culminating in explaining why the idea of a jointly created mobile operating system is absolutely ridiculous (and yes, as I will explain, this is precisely what Vodafone, Orange and a few others are mulling right now). So this is coffee-and-a-biscuit read, I think. I’d very much welcome your opinion at the end.

Are you sitting comfortably? Right, come with me…

There is perhaps one more thing that’s worse than a mobile operator trying to innovate in unfamiliar markets: It’s another utility provider, such as your local electricity provider, trying to sell you entertainment services.

Now, this generally doesn’t happen because electricity providers understand that they know nothing about entertainment. Instead they leave that to companies like Channel4, Endemol, Fox and NBC. Those specialists produce and commission entertainment content that is delivered over a multi-layer infrastructure platform manufactured by an array of hardware specialists such as Samsung and Sony. The end-consumption device is the television. Consumers plug in their televisions (powered by the electricity provider’s output) and enjoy the resulting entertainment.

At no point did the electricity company interfere with the delivery, style, substance, production or hardware beyond specifying that all devices must conform to a 220v range.

And we’re good.

The electricity company knows nothing about entertainment. Or user interfaces for kettles, electric razors, or anything else that runs on their utility. They just sell electricity. They don’t even bother marketing their services. I don’t see advertisements encouraging me to use my television for an extra hour per day. I don’t even think about my electricity consumption beyond a) paying the bill at the end of the quarter and b) trying to be ‘green’ and not leaving lights on unnecessarily.

Interestingly, I will never receive a flyer with my electricity bill asking if I’d like to upgrade my television. The electricity firm doesn’t try and sell me an upgraded interface for my television. They don’t suggest I get HD — that’s left to the content providers and hardware vendors. They don’t try and produce their own version of ‘The Wire’ or ‘Big Brother’. They don’t hire a series of young actors and try and produce television dramas. Nor do they sell me toast to go in my toaster or lightbulbs, electric toothbrushes, toothpaste or doorbell buzzers.

In some circumstances, my electricity company will expand it’s utility presence to offer me gas. Or perhaps water.

But they never try and sell me a kettle ‘to go with my water’, an oven or some cookery books.

They just don’t bother.

They recognise their responsibility, their DNA and their fundamental limitations. Their job is to make sure their production and delivery network stays live on a 99.999% (“five nines”) basis, respond swiftly and effectively to any outages, invest next generation electricity delivery technologies to augment (for example, the effects of weather or disaster) and to take their well earned profits.

I want my utility providers to make a bucketload of money. I don’t want their Board of Directors panicking about trying to counter Sony’s new Playstation or worrying about how to make me buy more sport content on my television. I want the provider to be able to burn £10 notes. Figuratively. I need them to be well fed, well financed and I need their CFO to encourage massive investment into assuring the supply of one of the key utilities I rely on. I want the lights to stay on. I need the cash dispensers to keep on working so I can get money to buy some food in Sainsbury’s to feed my young child. And I want to be able to heat my house precisely as I wish. Further, I want the company to be able to invest sufficiently at scale so that it is able to offer me service at reasonable rates. I want everybody to be able to afford to purchase a basic amount of electricity without it costing the Earth.

And that’s it. That’s what I want from my utility provider.

There’s the odd exception but generally speaking, especially here in the West, the model works really nicely for all utility providers and their customers.

A mobile operator is a utility provider of telecommunications services. Are we agreed? Fundamentally, a mobile operator provides voice calls, messaging services and data connectivity services. Through their utility services, it is also possible for them to function as a transaction engine, initially offering revenue to content providers (premium rate SMS/voice) and more recently, by offering other companies (such as mobile developers) the ability to transact with the provider’s customers.

Now, let’s take a look back at the emergence of the mobile operator.

The Utility Exception: Mobile Operators

In the face of unprecedented demand for mobile services over the past 20 years, our mobile utility providers have grown dramatically. In their formative years, mobile utility providers competed against each other to deliver better and better utility. It was simply amazing to be able to take a taxi from one part of London to another and be able to continue a mobile telephone call.

Later, the utility providers recognised they’d deliver greater utility by enabling interconnectivity, so I could call a friend using a different network.

Everything was working nicely as the utility providers continued to upgrade and strengthen their networks. Data services were launched. Text messaging as a utility service was ‘discovered’ and the medium exploded.

Customers were provided with financing in the form of an annual contract to enable the supply of ever evolving mobile ‘terminals’ or handsets.

Device hardware manufacturers sought to produce better devices. Continued innovation delivered hardware with integrated FM radios, MP3 players and even cameras. Consumers who purchased a device with a camera were delighted to be able to use their GPRS data network to take a photo and then email it to their friends. Granted, the transmission speeds were slow and the method expensive and charged ‘per megabyte’ (or, more accurately, per kilobyte!) by the utility provider. Some kind of charging mechanism had to be introduced and ‘per meg’ was — well, it was at least usage based charging, like the per minute structure.

The First Utility Provider Screw-Up

And then it all went wrong. Mobile utility providers became mobile operators. They decided they knew what their customers wanted. They turned into the electricity company trying to sell us toasters.

Their marketing teams went into overdrive and their technology teams introduced MMS (“Multimedia message service”). The idea? Duplicate the success of text messaging by taking the burgeoning send-photo-by-email facility and screwing it up. Instead of working out a global standard to send photos (and perhaps video later on), the utility teams over complicated it, over priced it and delivered an utterly shit service to their end users. Handset manufacturers struggled to work out the best way of integrating with ‘MMS’ and in the end, had to do their best to make their devices work with it. The result was a complete disaster with consumers being charged for messages that never arrived, or — even worse — did arrive but the size of a postage stamp (because the network ‘optimised’ the photo for the user’s handset). The medium never recovered until Apple arrived with an iPhone UI that made sending photos (and video) easy… By email.

So the same feature that some of us were experimenting with a decade ago is reintroduced by Apple to a hail of amazement. We didn’t reckon on the mobile utility provider’s ability to make an arse of the whole process.

The Second Utility Provider Screw-Up

The mobile utility providers were just getting started though. Can you imagine your electricity provider demanding that you only purchase a Sony television — and ‘locking’ the TV so that it cannot be viewed by your neighbours if they pop in for a coffee? Witness then, the utility provider deciding to buy millions of handsets from Nokia to offer to customers — but insisting that the VOIP facilities in the devices are deactivated (Here’s a link to a 2007 The Register article about this issue). The worry? Utility providers might lose a bit of revenue. Fast forward two years and the same utility providers are screaming for their customers to offload any and all possible data usage to WiFi.

The Third Utility Provider Screw-Up

It wasn’t long before the utility providers decided to launch all sorts of services for their consumers, simultaneously restricting them from using services delivered by competent specialists (e.g. MSN messenger). Witness, for example Orange insisting that all their Windows Mobile devices have Pocket MSN Messenger removed so that users can install Orange’s own sub-standard, useless and rubbish instant messenger service. Obviously no one bothered to use the Orange IM service and — from memory — the service was dumped quickly, in favour of the shiny MSN logo.

Almost every third party service introduced by a mobile utility provider goes nowhere.

It gets worse though.

The Fourth Utility Provider Screw-Up

It gets MUCH worse.

Now and again, ageing executives read inspiring articles in American business magazines and decide that, somehow, even though they’re a utility provider, they should reach beyond that function. They look at other fun companies operating in the technology space and think they can do the same.

Vodafone 360 is perhaps the best example — ever — of what happens when a utility provider thinks it can ‘do-an-Apple’.

In the same way that it’s ludicrous to consider my electricity provider supplying me a toaster along with weekly deliveries of bread to use within the toaster, it’s entirely unnatural for a mobile operator to reach beyond a basic transaction-led service oriented architecture.

In the case of Vodafone 360, the operator controlled every facet of the service, from specifying the Samsung hardware, operating system, handset user interface to the application layer. What happened? They produced a ‘service’ that simply didn’t work to spec. It was utterly shocking to see — a global billion dollar company, humbled and brought to its knees because of a functional inability to deliver beyond the company’s utility mandate. The people paying the price? The small number of customers duped into spunking their money on 18 or 24 months of 360 misery.

Like all utility provider experiments, 360 was hugely expensive, completely misaligned, poorly executed and woefully managed by a totally ineffectual team of senior executives. And, of course, it was quietly sidelined.

Yet another gazillion dollars down the pan funded by profits I willingly paid for their utility service.

The Fifth Utility Provider Screw-Up

Systemic structural change arrived recently to the world’s economy masquerading as ‘the financial crisis’. Not one of the utility providers saw a dramatic decrease in overall revenues. (Oh, revenues went down, but not in the same way they disappeared for, say, estate agents). Most mobile utility providers have actually done very, very well in terms of revenues recently. This, despite trying their best to innovate rubbish, irrelevant and totally misguided products and services in an attempt ‘to stay relevant’ and ‘beat Apple/Google/etc’.

Toward the tail end of 2010, the utility providers are still in rude health in the context of delivering utility.

Meanwhile as utility provider executive teams delight over huge sales of devices such as iPhones, they continue to obsess with what they see as the horrors of becoming ‘a bit pipe’ without seeming to notice that they’ve always been a bit-pipe utility provider that continues to make ridiculous amounts of money.

The fifth screw-up then, was the continual obsession of becoming something they are not and should not be.

The Sixth Utility Provider Screw-Up

It’s just about to happen, if reporting is to be believed — which brings me (finally) to the subject of this missive.

Telecompaper published a little article this week titled, “Orange to discuss joint mobile OS with Vodafone, others”.

Here’s a quick summary. Before you read, prepare yourself for the’ what-the-hell’ battering your neurons are about to receive:

France Telecom-Orange CEO Stephane Richard has invited the heads of Vodafone, Telefonica and Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile) to Paris on 8 October to discuss the possible development of a common operating system for mobile devices. He told Le Figaro that mobile operating systems were the Trojan horse used by Google and Apple to establish their own relationships with mobile service customers.

Utterly preposterous. We don’t see electricity companies getting really, really REALLY frustrated by BSkyB or DirecTV for establishing a relationship with their customers. For good reason. It’s not their business.

Yet mobile utility providers seem unable to accept that they are .. well, utility providers. Instead of innovating utility to deliver a plethora of ways to enable services for Google, Apple and the rest of the market, they’re obsessing about competing with them.

The Telecompaper post goes on to explain that France Telecom’s CEO, Stephane reckons that since the four operators mentioned have almost a billion customers combined, they have the capacity to influence the industry.

They do.

But not in the way they think.

Network As A Service?

Can you imagine the potential of a mobile operator working WITH Google, Yahoo and an array of (reliable, well financed) startups to deliver network-as-a-service facilities such as advanced, ubiquitous location services? Can you imagine being able to track every piece of hardware you own thanks to your mobile utility provider? Can you imagine being able to switch on your car’s heating from your bed in the morning on a cold day, thanks to a combination of services from your mobile utility provider, Apple, Nokia, and goodness knows how many other companies in between? Wouldn’t it be brilliant to simply wave our mobile handset at the taxi and hit ‘confirm’ to pay for the fare? Wouldn’t be even better if Vodafone had deployed LTE Advanced to give us <6ms latency for a network-as-a-service real time taxi service auction the moment I come out of my city meeting?

It’d be great, but…

No.

Unfortunately our utility providers are far too busy obsessing with irrelevant nonsense.

Time for some dodgy-but-workable-fag-packet calculations.

Assume that Vodafone’s 18 million customers each spend on average 25,000 pounds a year on all sorts of things — from meals to shoes to clothes to cinema tickets to food to rent. Work with me on this. 18 million people x £25,000 = £450,000,000,000 (that’s 450 billion). A year. Now assume that Vodafone can get 100% of their customers to spend that money via their Vodafone account with an NFC-enabled handset (work with me, here).

Now assume that Vodafone takes a workable 3.5% of revenue as a service charge. That’s £15.75 billion in revenue. To put this in perspective, that’s 35% of the Vodafone Group’s annual £44.5 billion in worldwide revenue last year. I know these numbers are made-up but they do indicate one possible future revenue growth possibility that involves transaction management (something mobile utility providers already excel at) and doesn’t involve arsing around with non-core things like device operating systems.

But no.

They’re off dicking about with operating systems, application stores and developer outreach programmes that reach nobody.

Meanwhile, in every mobile operator, there’s a small collection of forgotten Business-As-Usual departments working away feverishly trying to do their best with diminishing budgets. They’re trying to reduce network failures, sleepy cell towers and data speed delays. They’re trying — with limited senior management attention — to stick to the knitting and evolve their utility service as best they can.

I understand a heck of a lot of work is spent on business as usual activities within a mobile operator. But if only senior management time and the huge ‘innovation’ budgets were better aligned to delivering better utility…

I Dreamed A Dream

I often wonder what it would be like to be a customer of a mobile operator that invested heavily and singularly in providing really, really, REALLY good utility services.

What might that look like?

- They’d have ‘network-as-a-service’ API access to every part of their infrastructure
- Whilst every other provider was stuck on “3G+” speeds, our fictional operator would have already launched super fast Advanced LTE. But they’d have time to make it backward compatible.
- They’d have innovated their billing structures to eliminate customer confusion
- They’d have introduced support for 3 different NFC payment standards, before deciding on a clear-market-winner
- They’d enable me to pay for anything with my NFC-enabled handset so I’d start to pay people via my operator account and adopt the operator as my primary current account
- They’d have broken the silly standard network limitations with mobile numbers and devices, enabling me to have 10+ devices running the same phone number. And when I call out from each device, they’d all use the same phone number.
- They’d let people call my Twitter ID (by resolving that to my chosen device)
- They’d provide Google and Facebook super-API access into their network allowing their users to do amazingly cool things — and control their security absolutely and precisely. This kind of open can-do attitude would prompt most of the operator’s users to purchase multiple devices and additional service plan offerings (Yes, I would like a 10″ Facebook Gallery Frame running on my operator’s data network for an extra £4 per month. In fact, I’ll have three please.)
- They’d let me use my service plan(s) anywhere — absolutely anywhere. I’d pay a simple easy roaming charge integrated into my monthly bill — and I’d pay it monthly whether I went abroad or not. But when I’m abroad, it’s like the Kindle’s data connection: It works anywhere without any stupid bills.
- The operator would quickly become my trusted gateway to the planet, enabling me to easily and clearly manage my privacy settings.
- They’d have fixed or been close to fixing the ‘status’ issue, working closely with handset manufacturers and other third parties to continually innovate an interface and set of standards

But no.

Our mobile utility providers are off arsing around trying to do it all themselves. Badly. Again, again and again.

What do you think? Have I missed out some key screw-up stages? What do you think Vodafone or Orange might look like if they’d invested 90% of their expenditure on steady evolution of their utility service, rather than spunking it up the wall on stuff that simply doesn’t work? And what do you think of a 4-way mobile operator defined handset operating system?

Back at the beginning of this year, Google’s launch of the Nexus One sent shockwaves around the industry. Mobile operators were quaking in their boots. Quaking, I tell you. Not because of the Nexus One’s market leading features, no. But because of the manner in which Google decided to sell the device: Direct to the public via www.google.com/phone. It had the potential to completely change the game as I noted in my post, The new way to purchase your mobile phone.

How times change. I posted that on the 5th of January. Four months later, Google’s direct-to-customer plans were in tatters on the floor with their admission that they’d screwed it all up royally.

Representatives of mobile operators from across the planet were calling me with their concerns, wondering what I thought. They were panicking about the very clear danger of whole segments of their customer base migrating to a beautiful google.com/phone experience and simply treating their operator as a pipe. Dumb or not, the concept behind google.com/phone deliberately made the operator an also-ran semi-irrelevance in the transaction. How many consumers, drawn by the promise of the Nexus One and the ‘Google Experience’ would churn to deliver their loyalty first to Google and then second to the operator? It was a very real issue that had many in the industry frothing at the mouth with concern.

But then reality hit Google in the form of consumers wanting stuff. All of a sudden, Google — the multi-billion dollar giant that had never handled anything physical beyond hiring a really good Chef — was having to deal with screw-up after screw-up. Reader Patrick contributed to the short post I did on Friday explaining that, “A friend of mine in South Africa got his handset shipped to Serbia.”

Not good. It didn’t end there for Patrick. He’s got another friend in Singapore who had his Nexus One delivered by mistake to somewhere in Europe.

Not good at all.

What were Google thinking? When you sell someone a $600 handset, you do need to make sure it arrives. Ideally in the same country. At the same address as the billing statement too. I wonder if Google thought they’d sell 100 units in total and that they’d simply address the deliveries by hand and ship them using the Google UPS account?

The moment these kind of crazy stories began hitting the web, mobile operators around the planet began sleeping easier. One thing mobile operators can do is manage tens of millions of customers without breaking a sweat.

Google’s announcement last week closed the box on the google.com/phone endeavour so if you’d like to get hold of a Nexus One, the chances are, you’ll shortly be able to get the device from your favourite operator. You can pick one up right now free on a £35/month 2-year deal from Vodafone UK.

I’m disappointed that Google didn’t sort out the problems and stick to their original plan. The company has — you imagine — substantial resource at it’s fingertips to make sure this kind of thing could be done effectively. It would have been really interesting to see what kind of integration Google could have done with the mobile operators. Could I, for example, have been able to login to my google.com/phone account to check my minutes and change my price plan? Could I buy a ‘world account’ upgrade from Google for my Nexus One to give me unlimited global data usage for $150/month on top of my standard contract fees? It’d have really liked to have seen some dramatically cool innovation. Google, together with Apple, could really have changed the dynamic of the marketplace.

For now, though, it’s one less thing to worry about for the mobile operators.

What a shame, Google. What a real shame.

I followed up with Patrick Mork, VP Marketing of GetJar (got a video of him coming from the MIR Developer Networking event). I wanted to know more about how operators are reacting to GetJar nowadays. For a long time, mobile operators were seeing services such as GetJar (effectively a huge, free app store for mobile applications) as a massive, massive threat. Many wanted nothing to do with GetJar — indeed some even blacklisted the service just in case it canibalised their on-portal application downloads.

Crazy. But true.

However more recently, the operators have been entirely changing their tune — indicative of an increasing trend toward cooperation, perhaps?

Here’s Patrick’s explanation.

- – - – -

Ewan,

You asked recently about how and why GetJar, a company previously blacklisted by networks and operators alike is now welcomed and even partnering with them to provide mobile content. I think the answer to that is that the perception of the content we host and of the type of company we are has now changed for three main reasons:

1) Stricter policing and protection of the content on our network – we have put policies in place to protect Intellectual Property (IP) and to avoid piracy. For instance we recently had a Gameloft game posted by a user, our response was to immediately remove this from the site and to freeze that users account

2) We have looked into the positioning of content on our site – GetJar is an open sourced community which by its very nature means we have adult content available. We have worked hard to ensure this content only reaches the users who specifically look for it and are careful of how it is marketed, ensuring it will not appear in an inappropriate place or next to any large, established brands.

3) Traffic – With over 20 million downloads a month of free content, GetJar is fast becoming both an interesting source of content and traffic for mobile operators the world over. Operators are constantly looking for new ways to excite their customers through innovative mobile content offerings. In addition, they are also seeking to maximize their investments by generating as much data traffic as possible. The industry needs consumers to embrace content and the success of app stores like GetJar and of course Apple, coupled with the economic climate help encourage user adoption of mobile content and drive traffic.

Mobile Operators’ and GetJar’s success are not mutually exclusive, our partnerships to provide app stores for the likes of 3UK and Vodafone Ireland show that the combination of traffic and content works. GetJar as a company is growing up, monetising data traffic and hosting new and interesting content which for the networks is now a compelling offer.

Talk to you soon,

Patrick

- – - – -

Excellent stuff Patrick — thanks very much for taking the time.

If you, dear reader, are looking to get your mobile applications out to a larger audience, do think about GetJar. Let me know if you need an intro. As ever I’m ewan@mobileindustryreview.com .

Over at Mobile News they are reporting that Meteor reached 1 million customers earlier this month;

Meteor chief executive Larry Smith presented the network’s one millionth customer, Dublin man Keith Hanlon, with a prize of €500 (£397) credit every month for the next 10 years.

Hanlon also walked away with a holiday worth €10,000, giving his prize package a total value of €70,000.

It is really good to see Meteor celebrating this milestone in style, congratulations to the team over at Meteor.

For just ten pounds per month, users will be entitled to unlimited free evening and weekend texts. Obviously this will be in-accordance to a Fair Use Policy of some nature, but brilliant nonetheless.

Still not happy?
Well topping up thirty pounds a month entitles you to unlimited free texts anytime!

I’ve never taken Vodafone into consideration for anything really, but I have to say, I’m rethinking my plans to join Virgin Mobile. I’m not an avid text’er, but for ten pounds, I can’t go wrong can I?

In addition to this, new and existing Voda-customers will see the peak call price drop ten pence, to 20p.

That’s what I like to hear!

I have to say, in recent weeks all I’ve been reading about Vodafone is good (other than some price changes which weren’t that brilliant), but even so… They definitely seem like the people to go to for customer service, and reliability.

Almost every operator has got in on the laptops-for-30-quid-a-month thing — and they’ll thrown in a USB data dongle.

Well.

If my reader is right — and he’s highly placed within the mobile operator circles so I do credit his tip — a UK operator is preparing the launch of the Mini Inspiron.

It’s not just a gorgeous ultra-light notebook. Oh no. It’ll have HSDPA built-in.

Built right in. I’ll take two please. If this tip is half-way accurate, these things will be flying off the shelves. FLYING.

And what network?

Well it’d be rather convenient if I could simply add one of these to my Vodafone account.

Some highlights I plucked from his piece this morning:

• “Over at Intel, someone else (possibly at the same long lunch) piped up and said “Great idea guys, here’s several Billion dollars, hop to it”. And lo, the WiMax hype machine was born.”
• “But there’s a rather pesky technical fly in the WiMax salesman’s snakeoil.”
• “Moving on to the myth that WiMax provides better ‘coverage’ than 3G systems.”
• “And at currently allocated frequencies, you’ll be building 3-4 times the number of sites.”

We’re aiming to publish on Tuesday.

There’s gonna be fireworks.

Steve writes:

Sick and tired of the lack of customer service from Orange, I decided to cancel my contract with 10 months remaining.

Upon making the phone call to the customer (dis)service disconnections department, I found myself greeted by a rather rude and abrupt representative..

Informing said representative of my intention to cancel my contract, she informed me that the ‘charge’ for doing so would be £200. For the purpose of my sanity, I will leave out the shrapnel from this equation.
“How is this so?” I asked.

“Well, your contract is £20 per month, multiplied by 10 months, equals £200″ came the reply.

My contract is £20 per month, but that is INCLUSIVE of VAT. In my understanding, VAT is charged on a service being provided. Since Orange is not actually going to be providing me with a service for those 10 months, why should I have to pay the VAT?

Indeed, do I actually have to pay the VAT? Can I just send them the amount, less the VAT element and be done with it?

Is this another example of l’Orange’s ineptitude of providing excellent customer service? The real kick in the teeth? Vodafone don’t charge VAT on their cancellations, for exactly the reason stated above……

Maybe I’m just barking up the wrong tree. Taxation expert, I am not.

How did they respond Steve? Did they waive the VAT or stick to their guns?

They’ve done a bit of research to find out just how mobile mad we are. Have a read…

New survey by 3 Business discovers hard-working British staff unwilling to leave the office behind
Nearly a quarter use their mobile to work from the pub, 25% have sent emails and made work calls whilst on public transport and 13% even work from the doctors.

A survey of over 1,000 UK workers released today by 3 Business has uncovered that 31% of all people feel it is essential to be contactable by work, whenever and wherever they are. The survey also found that 23% of people have answered calls or sent emails whilst down the pub, 25% have worked on public transport and 13% have even sent emails and made work calls from the doctor’s surgery.
The survey also revealed that 7% of all people questioned, which equates to 4m people across the UK, have taken time out in the middle of a date to take a work phone call. An intriguing 4% of people have even managed to send emails and speak to work colleagues whilst having a waxing or tanning session.
Renato Bottini, Head of 3 Business, said, “The mobile phone has become such a crucial part of the working day that people can now no longer do without it. Whereas previously people would be lashed to their desk, their mobile now gives them the freedom to keep up with emails and other work events no matter where they are.

When I’ve got my Blackberry on me, I use my ‘downtime’ a lot. So I have definitely worked from the doctors. The pub. The restaurant. The plane (when on the runway with a signal).

I’m not too sure I want you emailing me whilst you’re being waxed.

Maybe we could get RIM to knock up some dynamic footers.

Sent from my Blackberry whilst I was on the loo.

Sent from my Blackberry whilst I was talking to the Doctor about that rash.

Sent from my Blackberry whilst I really should have been paying attention to the road.

I’ve agreed that, generally, we won’t be pulling any punches. We’ll be punching away. Or, at least, Mr Operator will be.

I’ve taken off the mask, the 10cm thick iron chains and the straitjacket.

Mr Operator is now waiting for your input. He will answer any question you care to put to him (provided it’s authored by someone with half a brain). I expect that sometimes, he might respond with a single sentence. Other times, you might get an essay.

Let’s take a step back first though. Who is Mr Operator? Here’s the original text I published when we launched the series:

There’s a chap I know. I’ve been calling him The Operator or Mr Operator in the recent SMS Text News Mobile Industry Review podcasts. He’s a little known gem that almost every mobile startup needs to talk with. Or, ideally, hire. Indeed, if you’re not talking to him at the moment, or if you’ve never heard of this service, talk to me and I’ll see if I can introduce you. He consults to a maximum of five mobile startups at any one time. His job? To rip their services to pieces. To rubbish every slide, to bludgeon the startup’s business plan. To slap the VC sitting on the startup board. To bring reality. Yes! His job is to help you craft a winning strategy to pitch a mobile operator.

How do you know he’s any good? Simple. He is that man. He’s the guy you pitch at one of the world’s largest international operators. Hardly a week goes by where he doesn’t send me a text privately ridiculing yet another high profile startup that’s just been sent marching, tail between their legs, from his office. He does the best he can to help smooth rough diamonds but, geez, the stories he tells me. He doesn’t ridicule them for spite. It’s frustration. He’s hugely frustrated with the total lack of understanding displayed by most entrepreneurs trying to do business with operators.

Here’s what I’m looking for: I’m looking for questions. Anything you’d like to know. Send me your questions with the subject Mr Operator and I’ll get him to answer.

You might like to know what revenue splits an operator implements with content providers. How to get on deck. Who runs their deck? How do you sell them an handset? How do you put a service on a handset?

Whatever your question — or set of questions — whack them to me and let’s get moving.

As ever, I’m ewan@mobileindustryreview.com.

I learnt yesterday after a meeting with the Blyk Manager of User Experience that it isn’t just poor customer service I’ve had, it’s plain ignorance. Blyk don’t want to accept any wrong-doing, even if it’s as simple as human error.

A simple analogy of Blyk would be they want sheep. They want a member base of “lazy students” who jump to their every beck and call, and to be perfectly honest; I’m not a sheep.

So, I end all coverage of my experience with Blyk right here, and right now. I’m joining another network, quite possibly my old one Virgin Mobile, but I’ll shop around to compare prices and stability. The best thing though is I’m not even sorry it’s had to go this far; Blyk don’t want me as their customer, they’ve told me that, and I don’t want them.

Thus the end of my Blyk coverage.

According to the source, the changes will come in 2011 and, while the EC won’t mandate any numerical caps, it will specify what charges operators can include as part of termination rates, which are expected to end up around 1.5 to 2.5 eurocents a minute.

Reding says that she expects that as a result of the termination rate cuts, consumers’ tariffs will drop. Seems a little optimistic to me – surely some operators will end up losing money as a result of the termination rate cuts and for those who end up better off, there’s no guarantee that they’ll end up putting that money towards cheaper rates rather than their shareholders’ returns.

The Telegraph says Sarin’s departure will be formally revealed at the company’s half yearly results announcement later on today, after five years in charge with the operator. Sarin had a rough time a few years back after shareholders attempted to oust him from the CEO role, but he weathered the storm and has proved a safe pair of hands since.

Under Sarin, Vodafone’s gone deeper into emerging markets, talked up WiMax and mobile advertising, got into broadband and mobile broadband alike, tried to reposition itself in the enterprise market and promised to get speeds of over 20Mbps on its network before long. Can’t wait to find out what Colao’s got in store.

RCR says the suit is looking for “recovery… for unauthorized charges, wrongful collections and unjust enrichment” as a result of, among other things, incoming text messages that incurred charges on users’ bills but which they allegedly couldn’t opt out of. The site also says a series of cramming suits have been filed against the US networks for allegedly charging customers for services they didn’t ask for.

An indication of America’s more litigious culture or that the US networks need to shape up customer service? One for the judges to decide.

The paper reports Verizon Wireless last issued dividends back in 2005, it handed over £923 million, with the company deciding subsequently to pay down debt rather than issue dividends and quotes an analyst as suggesting that Verizon should indeed start paying out next year but at a lower level than previously.

So does this make it more or less likely that Vodafone will sell? After all, if it holds on longer, it’ll get to see some pay back for its investment. But, the resumption of dividends also means that its stake could fetch a higher price if Vodafone decided to put it up for sale. And then there’s the question of the 700Mhz spectrum auction, which Verizon Wireless emerged victorious from. While it got itself a juicy section of spectrum, it also shelled out a lot for the privilege. There’s got to be some heads being scratched at Vodafone right now.