Recent news of Facebook acquiring Beluga, a group messaging start-up for mobile phones must have Mobile Networks operators scratching their collective heads and wondering what next. The move signals Facebook confidence that the social network group will be the platform for conversation in the 21st Century.
The telecommunication blogger sphere is awash with news that Facebook is again showing its intent on becoming the major player in how we communicate online. Communications today takes many forms. Text, voice and video all have a role to play and Facebook have all the bases covered. Facebook’s latest purchase is consistent with it creating a ‘one stop communication platform’ acting as a unified inbox for Text, SMS, chat and e-mail where all communications is grouped together and on a single platform (@Facebook.com). What Beluga brings to the Facebook table is the ability to create groups called pods where the social group are connected via the interface and notified when another group communication is received. It is the social aspect of this platform that caught Facebook’s eye.
MNO’s see Facebook creating great value for themselves, all on the back of their network infrastructure for which Facebook, and other likeminded over the top operators, pay nothing themselves to the mobile network operator.The customer pays for a data plan but Facebook leverage their value added services and pay nothing themselves. A point of great frustration and pain for the operators!
It is Facebook’s interest in everything mobile that also has the mobile network operators worried. Facebook is creating services demanded by their customers and MNO’s must just compile and watch their previous walled gardens start to crumble about them. We soon may be all logging into all our web content by our Facebook log-in ID. The writing may be now on the preverbal, ‘garden wall.’
So what can the MNO’s do to stay relevant in this new era of online communication? The answer is simple and arguably a little selfserving. They need to partner with a Morodo type organization.
Morodo and via its collaboration with Ryerson University will soon offer a partner portal to all social networking sites for the provision of a full range of telephony services. The Mobile Network Operators, as it stands today, are made to act as dumb bit pipes for others to deliver the content and appreciate in value. The social network does not recognize geographical boundaries. This new paradigm of browser based telephony gives the mobile network operators a chance to step out of the geographical chains that have bound it and engage with the World as it has never been able to do in the past. The World is going social and with this the way we communicate is changing.
Morodo believe great value will be assigned to those who join the new ecosystem and participate in the new IP communication network. Morodo today stands ready!
Morodo’s other offering of building context awareness into their smartphone applications will assist with how the socially enabled handset learn of their environment and take advantage of location and other intelligence adding value to the social experience. With this and capabilities yet to be discovered social networks will seek out Morodo as the network enabler of choice and it would be nice to share the ride with a modern thinking MNO.
In 2009, if you wanted to holiday in Cape Town, South Africa, there is a fair bet you would have opened your browser and browsed to Google and made a search of ‘Best Hotels in Cape Town’ or something similar. Your Google search would have returned some information to you based on a mix of natural search and paid search. You then made your selection and called or e-mailed the hotel of choice and you went on from there.
In 2011, if you want to holiday in Cape Town, South Africa you now jump online, log in to your social network, probably Facebook, and ask your social group, ‘ Hey guys – who has holidayed in South Africa? Can anyone recommend a great Hotel to stay? The way in which we search and get information today is different from yesterday. Who we depended on for our content yesterday is different from who we get our content form today. Value is being created and shifted away from traditional providers and towards those who can provide platform support for social networks around content (media) delivered to the social network and shared by its members.
What is the value of a Social Network today then and what about its future value? Does the defining lines of what a Social Network is, merge with the activities of a mobile network operator or behemoth like ‘Over the Top provider,’ Google?
In a recent report by Ovum’s Eden Zoller, he stated, ‘’Facebook is shaping up to be a strong competitor to mobile operators that are in danger of underestimating the threat it poses.’’ The report goes on to say Facebook is much more than a social network and is better viewed as an increasingly rich platform for communications and content. Facebook wants to integrate with everything and be the main way that people consume and share information, anywhere and on any device.”
The caution to Mobile Network Operators and others being spoken of here is the understanding that all this very valuable content needs to be transferred and shared within the social group and it is the ability to provide a network that can readily interface with IP networked groups like Facebook will be valuable going forward. So what of the MNO’s? They have networks that do not readily interface with what the social set are doing today and further content, once the domain of the MNO’s are now being created by all and shared within these groups for free.
Morodo collaboration with Ryerson University announced in November 2010 is all about offering a communication platform via open API to Member Communities / social network groups. These groups will be communities within themselves where content and contact information is provisioned moving and shaping new habits of communication. This report is not surprising to Morodo and only gives us reason to smile and press ahead with our plans.
In our quest to raise funding, the management team of Morodo is often asked what differentiates Morodo from Skype? There are a number of things today and this post highlights some of these differences.
Recently at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, Spain, Skype announced that they’ve made deals with mobile operators to get more users access to Skype VoIP services. The Mobile Partner Program aims to bring Skype to mobile users in markets with low 3G broadband penetrations. The new program uses a purpose built client/server solution for operators to enable Skype use on a broad range of handsets that is optimized for optimal bandwidth usage.
What does this mean? It means where there is available bandwidth Mobile Network Operators are happy that users, with a select number of smart phones & feature phones (100 in total) and a downloadable Skype application, to use the available bandwidth on the GSM network for Skype calling.
What does this mean for Morodo? We admire Skype for all the ‘trail blazing’ they are doing in promoting the alternative and cheaper calling model of VoIP. Morodo supports this technology across a much larger number of Smartphone platforms but also across all network operators. If it is valuable for Skype supporting one 3G bearer only how much value does it assign to Morodo who support all 3G networks with their 3G enable VoIP applications?
We are also happy with the Skype MNO relationship as the Mobile Network Operators are allowing behaviors to be learned by a new group of users to their customers to the benefits of VoIP calling. It also educates the user that voice & SMS are applications that other service providers can (and do) offer. The greater the exposure to and recognition of the value of an alternative network, the greater value assigned to Morodo. It is the ability to originate and terminate a voice call that remains the ‘cash cow’ for the telephony industry. MO-Call understands and does this better than anyone else. The MO-Call service is agnostic of transmission bear type therefore, if your MO-Call 3G VoIP call failed or was of poor quality you would simply choose another MO-Call calling mode to place your call.
Morodo’s motto is “any time, anywhere, on any handset (2,300 supported and growing), across any network (700 – 800 network across the globe) over any transmission bearer (voice & data), MO-Call will work to save you money”!
Seven days ago Cellular News published an article which set out O2′s plan to deploy additional WiFi hotspots in the UK allowing free access from connected devices, to access (et al) Mobile VoIP services. On 8th February the same source confirms the claim that WiFi as an access technology is increasing in popularity.
802.11ac is a new Wi-Fi technology standard developed to provide Gigabit speeds. In-Stat, forecasts that the impact of this new standard will be equally as fast, as it will push shipments of 802.11ac-enabled devices from 0 in 2011 to nearly 1 billion by 2015.
According to Frank Dickson, Vice President of Research, “The goal of 802.11ac is to provide data speeds much faster than 802.11n, with speeds of around 1Gbps. The timing for 802.11ac approval is to have a draft standard created by 2011 and have the first 802.11ac products out by the end of 2012. The technology behind 802.11ac has not been finalized. However, it will likely involve bonding four or even eight channels together and some tweaks to the modulation scheme.”
The research also reveals some attractive findings:
* Mobile devices with Wi-Fi will still dominate shipments. In 2015, shipments of mobile phones with embedded Wi-Fi are projected to approach 800 million.
* By 2015, In-Stat projects that 100% of mobile hotspot shipments will be 802.11ac-enabled.
* E-readers Wi-Fi attach rates will increase from 3% in 2009 to 90% by 2015.
* In 2012, Wi-Fi automotive shipments will reach nearly 20 million.
At Morodo, we see that consumers are demanding faster WiFi access and this is great news for Mobile VoIP providers like Morodo. With bigger WiFi hotspots coverage and much faster data speeds VoIP users are able to enjoy more all new features that VoIP services are offering.
The growth in devices having access to WiFi hotspots is phenomenal. This is just another reason why Mobile VoIP is growth industry over the next decade and beyond.
Recently published article in Cellular News released the fact that the next several years are expected to be transformational for mobile operators and other associated players. They have to find the best solution how to respond to a forecast of nearly 139 million mobile VoIP users by 2014.
“Mobile VoIP is gaining real market presence with usage rates climbing rapidly,” says Amy Cravens, Market Analyst. “As it becomes further incorporated into other mobile apps, specifically social networking apps, the realm of potential use is expected to broaden. This has created a great deal of jockeying among mobile VoIP players trying to develop market share and mobile operators trying to determine the best response to this potentially disruptive service offering.”
The article shows some interesting research details:
- Mobile operators will gradually remove barriers to mobile VoIP usage, however, will remain guarded in how these services are introduced.
- In-Stat’s consumer survey showed that T-Mobile subscribers had the greatest incidence of mobile VoIP usage; nearly twice that of total respondents.
- Total 2014 revenues will be split between the EMEA (39%), Asia/Pacific (32%), North America (21%), and the rest of the world (8%).
- Because mobile VoIP is portable, users can bring the benefits of VoIP with them when traveling abroad and avoid the expensive roaming fees that mobile operators charge.
Morodo has for some time recognised these trends. Mobile Network Operators have always behaved to maintain walled gardens over a service that is inherently social. As innovation moves to the software and social era, service providers like Morodo are competitively positioned to offer socially driven services that consumers want.
Morodo is in a growth industry and we are looking forward to the journey ahead!
Some who know Morodo may suggest we are opinionated concerning what Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) need to do to amend their business models and practices to maximise stakeholder value in this dynamically changing environment. The article from Fierce wireless suggests those changes need to be made immediately and is corroborated by a recent study commissioned by Tellabs and produced by Analysys Mason. The study predicts North American mobile network operators (MNOs) will lose profitability from 2013 onwards. While the article is lite on advice on how to correct the decline past cost cutting and adding intelligence into their Networks, Morodo believes the following represents a good start.
1. Spend less on physical infrastructure. Group together to share infrastructure costs and push more to the application layer in Software.
2. Set an acceptable acquisition cost per customer and stick to it. Pursuing customer growth at any price will not work.
3. Be selective in the services you offer and offer a great service. Do not try to be “everything to everyone”.
4. Keep tariffs as simple as possible.
5. Know those customers who are your most profitable.
6. Leverage the benefits of the internet to reduce costs.
Morodo embraces all of these principals and did so since inception. We have no physical Telecoms hardware (other than for servers) in our network. Our telecoms switches are in Software. We own all parts of the business and have designed and developed all our key internal systems around the internet from our Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) to provisioning and internal reporting systems. Morodo is focused on Voice and SMS (as cash cows in the industry) and has only (1) rate sheet in the entire business (for simplicity). Our CRM system tells us our most profitable customers and they are our first focus. Our network is completely redundant, fully scalable and will increase in value as data demands increase.
The Morodo Team will ensure that smart network topology and leveraging what is around and free is why we will prosper in these times of technological change.
Last weeks announcement by O2 (a prominent Mobile Network Operator in the United Kingdom) caught the attention, reporting about another very positive step in Mobile VoIP’s evolution in the UK and Europe as well. In the article in Fierce Broadband Wireless, O2 announced that it will provide WiFi hotspots through partnerships with key venue owners and will be open to anyone for free, regardless of what mobile or broadband network a person may be on.
O2 WiFi will address the many shortcomings in the way most WiFi hotspots work – you won’t need to buy a coffee to use it and it won’t matter what network (sim card) is in your phone.
This means, making MO-Call VoIP calls just become a lot easier. Morodo suspects that other networks around Europe will follow this initiative. In reality, in some European cities, a Mobile Network Operator connection is not required. Free WiFi + MO-Call Mobile VoIP has all basis covered and you avoid ROAMING COSTS.
Mobile VoIP is growing. Handset manufacturers understand this and now Mobile Network Operators are getting it also.
A positive development for Morodo.
