Tuesday, March 27, 2007

EMS GREETING CARDS, WHY DON’T WE HAVE THEM?

EMS GREETING CARDS, WHY DON’T WE HAVE THEM?

Greeting cards are as old as the desire to show modesty, courteousness and an acknowledgement of a relationship with another individual or group. They express our sentiments, feelings, and a recognition of the ties that bind us together and can be used on occasion, events or at shared moments.

The mobile media should be seen as a ready tool that is at the point of flashes of creativity for its owner and is more suited for greeting cards as telephony is a creative tool for long-distance communication. Like every other media before it, the mobile media would benefit, in our country, from a dedicated greeting card, shared amongst every operator, with all the bells and whistles of our traditional print offerings.

It should be realized that greeting cards make it easy for one to express an emotion at a point in time, when the feeling has just washed over us or delay the expression and give them life in words at a later time. If we can get personal despite the 160 characters limitation of SMS, we can become even more cosy so with the Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) service which is an advance over the SMS that provides for interactivity, animation, ringtones, sound and graphics on the textual layer of a basic SMS.

Furthermore, no delivery can be as instant as an EMS greeting card such that the sender will be satisfied that an action that began with so much symbolism behind it ended the way he/she would have wanted it to be. By the way, a sender won’t be billed beyond the basic SMS country tariffs.

How much does it take to send a greeting card on print? Most of us do send greeting cards by hand, especially the more personal ones (not overlooking the fact that snailmail also handles a huge amount of this traffic also). With the card, the message and the transport medium are just at the tip of one’s fingers, paying for a little less than the cost of print is not money well spent, but also enjoyed with pleasure.

I wonder why we don’t see applications written for this purpose in our mobile networks? I can remember MTN’s Y’ello valentine promo during the valentine. What beats me is why that initiative was caged within a season. Greeting cards aren’t seasonal, they live for a lifetime.

I believe our mobile carriers do not realize they should be running subscriber sensitization campaigns on what services are available and can be discovered on their networks. Flashing text messages at infrequent intervals is not just enough. This should be carried out with the aim of creating a local pool of developers for the mobile media who can be relied upon to provide creative content at the lowest cost.

Marketing agencies should also be involved because they can build brand awareness and launch campaigns around EMS greeting cards, enticing subscribers with ringtone enclosed brand logos and branded messages, in collaboration with other members of the ecosystem, making this cards free to subscribers like television advertising is.

We don’t need to wait for subscribers to ask for a service, they need to be directed to as much water of services that can be made available and then given the freedom to choose which best meets their needs and provides utility.

We do need greeting cards on our mobile phones, if our carriers care to listen.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(3)

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(3)

This blog takes the mobile value chain a step further. How can a print media tap into the possibilities offered by the mobile media and become a strategic player in its industry by adding value through this information dissemination media?

I hope my answer will open up grounds for future considerations. To get a better picture of the thrust of this blog, I suggest you keep the mobile value chain figurative diagram from iLoop Mobile, Inc. handy[1].

Our print media house, Acme Newspapers, a sports newsmagazine, wants to provide sports news to a wider audience through the mobile media because a manager of Acme Newspapers read a blog on http://mobilenigeria.blogspot.com.

So he made a comment on my blog:

Acme Manager: I have read some interesting articles on your blog and would want you to give me a proposition. My yahoo id is noname_man@yahoo.com. You can IM me anytime.

I did so. Promptly too. A snippet of our chat session.

Me[2]: Hello. David. Author of the blog, Mobiles and Para, on http://mobilenigeria.blogspot.com.

Acme Manager: yeah, I’ve been waiting for your message. I want you to help me, just some advice.

Me: If it’s in my capacity.

Acme Manager: I work for a newspaper house, Acme Newspapers. How can a mobile phone increase our readership as you claimed in your value chain article on market niches and strategic decision making.

Me: Definitely. What department do you work in?

A. manager: newsroom. Sports.

Me: fine. Let’s say your magazine wants to increase its readership and your core competency…or let me say, what you know how to do best at lowest cost is providing sports news to your subscribers.

A. manager: correct.

Me: if those subscribers receive your news, this need I assume or presume should be behind your question, it would reduce cost for you, increase revenue, place you in a strategic position from other newspapers and furthermore, give you a channel for customer surveys amongst others.

A. manager: interesting, but how?

Me: according to Tomi Ahonen, the mobile media has 5 distinctive features apart from other media: 1.the phone is the first truly personal media. 2. the phone is always carried. 3,. The phone is the first always-on mass media. 4. the phone has a built-in payment mechanism. 5.the phone is a creative tool available always at the point of creative impulse.

Buzz!!! Buzz!!!

A. manager: yeah, am now online. I was jotting down your points and talking to a colleague. Continue…what do the five points above mean for me and my company?

Me: The five points above means so many things and they are really value adding for any company interested in this media. Let’s take your newspaper. You can send sports news and sports info to your subscribers at any time, anywhere, unfettered, with lowest cost possible, provided they opt-in, note, opt-in, to receive such. Furthermore, your newspaper can collect market data in ways unknown before and do advertising to garner more revenue.

A. manager: I was thinking along those lines. But it’d cost us something!! We don’t have the personnel to write the programs etc…

Me: not to worry. You can partner with mobile content providers who have the know-how who will bundle info trivia, contest and logos, paid ads as well as relevant content to your subscribers in non-intrusive ways that would never make a dent on your projected revenue. Marginal returns for both parties.

A. manager: we could share the cost of say, paying Celtel, MTN…! some candles are burning in my brain.

Me: you might never bear a cost if you choose a professional content provider. It’s their duty to work with mobile application solution providers and your well known and preferred operator to deliver a service that might even by paid 100% by advertising revenue. Remember Formula 1? Although you might provide the brick ‘n’ mortar ad support through your paper for mobile subscribers to discover this campaign exists.

A. manager: I get your point.

Me: just think, if MTN has been provisioned with a new four digit number, 0703, and between all the GSM operators there should be more than 50 million (fifty million) subscribers, what vast market is open to your newspaper house!

A. manager: thanks a lot. I appreciate this chat. How do I get the article by Tomi Ahonen[3]. I’ll like to read it myself and maybe give it to my superiors.

Me: I’m sending it to you right now. I have the author’s permission to do so.

A. manager: and your phone number? I’ll get back to you.

Me: anytime. 08082695871 or 08023031608 or 08061667878.

A. manager: I’ll be in touch.

Links and still linking:

1. http://mmaglobal.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=74

2. Me, that is to say: http://mobilenigeria.blogspot.com/

3. try, http://www.tomiahonen.com/ or email me and I’ll send the article to you, its titled: “Thought Piece: Understanding 7th mass media.”

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(2)

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(2)

For strategic reasons, it is important that companies interested in a cost-effective and value added participation in the mobile ecosystem understand the nature of the ecosystem and how they can, taking their traditional core competencies into account, gain a competitive advantage in this ecosystem while delivering valued and premium services.

From Michael Becker’s paper[1], four different and distinct interconnecting spheres can be derived in the mobile ecosystem where strategic considerations are of paramount importance:

Fig. 1: The mobile channel value chain.

1. The products and services sphere. This involves brands and content owners, new media and interactive and marketing agencies.

2. Application sphere. This involves discrete application providers and mobile application solution providers (MASP).

3. Connection sphere. This involves aggregators and wireless operators.

4. Media and retail sphere. This involves outdoor advertising and broadcasting media, direct marketing, on-package, internet, retail, email and print media.

A value chain analysis of the ecosystem can help companies:

1. Create organizational structures that is permeable to this new media, the mobile media.

2. Develop market niches, brand loyalty and introduce new brands by concentrating on core competencies.

3. Create a readily available and cost effective channel of data and information sharing.

4. Break down the traditional walls in mobile content delivery created implicitly from an era where wireless operators’ have to think up every resource from the horizontal and vertical spheres of the ecosystem and value chain.

Acknowledgements:

1. Michael Becker (CTO, iLoop Mobile, inc.). Unfolding of the Mobile Marketing Ecosystem: A Growing Strategic Network. The URL for this case study is: http://mmaglobal.com/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=74.

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(1)

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(1)

Some mobile services we are presently familiar with are: trivia contests on television tied in with short code submissions, a mix of ringtone offerings that are purportedly “funky fones”(PHCN has deliberately stopped my listening to this ads recently), MTN’s valentine SMS promo, ability to send credits to friends and families on CELTEL networks and many more. On a careful analysis, in the ideal world, there would be four (4) spheres of players on the mobile ecosystem that with cooperation and regulations should be working strategically to make this offerings valued and premium for investors in the wireless telecommunications sector.

I really wonder how many players(stakeholders) are presently really involved?

For sure, with the lag in information delivery between the creators and users of information in our society, a lot is left to be desired.

Like in other countries before now, mobile services were delivered exclusively bundled on the mobile carrier’s technology network. The only information you can find is one that makes sure you work through aggregators designated by the wireless carrier’s preferred business partners.

What is desired, for this media not to suffer the negative initial publicity the Internet received (the Internet still really isn’t part of our culture!), is a reorganization, a re-strategizing of the mode of operation of our mobile carriers to involve more players in the mobile ecosystem, an opening up of their traditional barriers to information sharing with subscribers and other members of the mobile ecosystem and create an environment where every player gets marginal returns for investment.

Some issues that are to be considered are:

1. Pricing, both subscriber charges and prices for bulk SMS.

2. Subscriber uptake. There is no available data on SMS usage from the wireless carriers or a slight indication of willingness to make these available. A newsletter towards this end would much be appreciated. The management staff of our wireless carriers’ services department would do with input from other sectors.

3. Infrastructural economics. Although this can account in a large amount on the revenue share, it must be acknowledged that with economies of scale, these factorial could be reduced.

4. Content providers presence. Proactive engagement of content providers in the country would create a plethora of services that should generate a climatic announcement of the coming of mobile messaging as an alternative marketing media and informational resource.

5. Interoperability. If a standard set of regulations, standards, guidelines and conforming protocols are implemented by our three wireless carriers along with those operating on the CDMA platform for delivery of mobile services, it would do much to increase the integration of every participant in the mobile ecosystem.

There is no time to do it but now. Marginal returns on investment for every participant in the mobile ecosystem and an unbundling of the value chain system would entail:

1. Education and training. Not only for aggregator and wireless carrier’s staff but for everyone: content providers, mobile subscribers, brand owners and marketing agencies etc.

2. Enhancing the relevancy, discoverability of services and making pricing accommodative to subscribers.

3. For lack of concrete information regarding this issue, I’ll hold back every word on revenue formulas. But an adequate and equitable one would attract our budding content providers and marketing agencies to this playing field.

4. An administrative framework for mobile solutions and mobile management that encompasses every stakeholder. A common short code administration-like framework as obtains in America comes to mind.

Some issues presented above are still hypothetical because the author is still gathering information on this ecosystem in our country.

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(1)

THE MOBILE VALUE CHAIN: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS(1)

Some mobile services we are presently familiar with are: trivia contests on television tied in with short code submissions, a mix of ringtone offerings that are purportedly “funky fones”(PHCN has deliberately stopped my listening to this ads recently), MTN’s valentine SMS promo, ability to send credits to friends and families on CELTEL networks and many more. On a careful analysis, in the ideal world, there would be four (4) spheres of players on the mobile ecosystem that with cooperation and regulations should be working strategically to make this offerings valued and premium for investors in the wireless telecommunications sector.

I really wonder how many players(stakeholders) are presently really involved?

For sure, with the lag in information delivery between the creators and users of information in our society, a lot is left to be desired.

Like in other countries before now, mobile services were delivered exclusively bundled on the mobile carrier’s technology network. The only information you can find is one that makes sure you work through aggregators designated by the wireless carrier’s preferred business partners.

What is desired, for this media not to suffer the negative initial publicity the Internet received (the Internet still really isn’t part of our culture!), is a reorganization, a re-strategizing of the mode of operation of our mobile carriers to involve more players in the mobile ecosystem, an opening up of their traditional barriers to information sharing with subscribers and other members of the mobile ecosystem and create an environment where every player gets marginal returns for investment.

Some issues that are to be considered are:

1. Pricing, both subscriber charges and prices for bulk SMS.

2. Subscriber uptake. There is no available data on SMS usage from the wireless carriers or a slight indication of willingness to make these available. A newsletter towards this end would much be appreciated. The management staff of our wireless carriers’ services department would do with input from other sectors.

3. Infrastructural economics. Although this can account in a large amount on the revenue share, it must be acknowledged that with economies of scale, these factorial could be reduced.

4. Content providers presence. Proactive engagement of content providers in the country would create a plethora of services that should generate a climatic announcement of the coming of mobile messaging as an alternative marketing media and informational resource.

5. Interoperability. If a standard set of regulations, standards, guidelines and conforming protocols are implemented by our three wireless carriers along with those operating on the CDMA platform for delivery of mobile services, it would do much to increase the integration of every participant in the mobile ecosystem.

There is no time to do it but now. Marginal returns on investment for every participant in the mobile ecosystem and an unbundling of the value chain system would entail:

1. Education and training. Not only for aggregator and wireless carrier’s staff but for everyone: content providers, mobile subscribers, brand owners and marketing agencies etc.

2. Enhancing the relevancy, discoverability of services and making pricing accommodative to subscribers.

3. For lack of concrete information regarding this issue, I’ll hold back every word on revenue formulas. But an adequate and equitable one would attract our budding content providers and marketing agencies to this playing field.

4. An administrative framework for mobile solutions and mobile management that encompasses every stakeholder. A common short code administration-like framework as obtains in America comes to mind.

Some issues presented above are still hypothetical because the author is still gathering information on this ecosystem in our country.

Friday, March 16, 2007

MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SERVICES (MMS): Brief overview

MULTIMEDIA MESSAGING SERVICES (MMS): Brief overview

Multimedia messaging services (MMS) transforms the simple limited text messaging that has been with us for years into an entertaining, relationship building experience through a convergence of text, music, video, pictures and animated graphics.

The possibilities with MMS are endless. If well deployed by a wireless carrier in conjunction with content providers and mobile application developers, it gives a stream of revenue that is predicted by research trends observed in our recent time to surpass SMS and MIM(Mobile Instant Messaging). I’ll cover MIM in brief in another blog.

Rich text, colored, formatted, expressive non-limited character range text (remember SMS is limited to 160 characters) are the rich package that comes with MMS.
Music, of MP3 format including the ability to sample music on the network.
Video, full length video possibilities are not present in many phones although this will be available to a majority of the 4 billion mobile phone users in developing countries in the far future (Apple’s iPhone to be released this month with full length holding capability is one such product but for sure, it won’t come cheap while still hot!)
Animation, just imagine, the power of powerpoint presentations creating lots of new business opportunities for you and I as well as the ability to make framed pictures and sending them as presentations. At your fingertip is a medium that transmits the creative impulse without much prodding.

Among the above would be logos, ringtones, screens built to support MMS that cover the full color spectrum. Except for the full length videos, most of the features above are already present in our phones, so is MMS sending and receiving ability.

MMS works on broadband (3G) networks and GPRS networks which our wireless carriers support. If your phone is built for MMS sending or receiving capability, then SMS and its limitations have met a revolutionary messaging alternative! But that doesn’t mean SMS isn’t going to fight back.

To send MMS, you could do it from your phone (called MO or mobile originating device) to another phone. This is an MO to MO MMS messaging use case. One could also send it from a network mobile application (an MT or mobile terminating device) to a MO. Whichever way this is done, your wireless carrier has a MMSC (MMS centre) which operates on a store and forward basis when it captures an MMS sent to an MO in its subscriber database.

The store and forward framework works this way: an MMS destined for your cellphone when it gets to the MMSC initiates the sending of an SMS notification to your cellphone and stores the original message for you so that in case your phone is switched off for problems of battery, non-reception of signal or any other extenuating circumstance, the SMS notification is received by you. You then decide when you want to receive the message. When the MMSC receives your request for the MMS content, it is sent formatted according to the capability of your device.

The opportunity for business, advertisement and the ability of MMS to leverage other medias is immense and this will be covered in future blogs in relation to the Nigerian mobile ecosystem.

SUCCESSFUL SHORTCODES: TIPS FROM THE CANADIAN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION(CWTA).

SUCCESSFUL SHORTCODES: TIPS FROM THE CANADIAN WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION(CWTA).

Marketing has as much important as content provision if one wants to make money on
this alternative mass medium, the mobile medium. Short codes are tools for successful
marketing campaigns.

The tips outlined below were drawn from the document: “Tips for campaigns” by the
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA).

Six tips I want to share with you are:

1. Clearly define your goals.
2. Make the short code campaign interactive.
3. It should be relevant.
4. Response Immediate!
5. Give it ease of use.
6. Provide opt-in, opt-out and help features.

CLEARLY DEFINE YOUR GOALS: Know what you want to achieve: increased
participation; target group feedback; new product introduction, brand awareness or
even brand loyalty? Your goal is much as important as getting the target group to
participate.

MAKE THE SHORT CODE CAMPAIGN INTERACTIVE: Reward participants. Be
generous and make sure they realize it.

IT SHOULD BE RELEVANT: Target-audience and situational relevancy of your
campaign will drive response. Imagine you want to promote a banking product, what
would be your target group, a gambling public or a set of young, mobile salary earners?
Would you want it to take place in conjunction with a sports event or an exhibition that
will draw stakeholders in the financial industry?

RESPONSE IMMEDIATE: Think immediacy of response. Always acknowledge the
participation of each and every mobile phone user. Be a gentleman. Never wait until your
support staff start logging customer calls as per the campaign.

GIVE IT EASE OF USE: Sending of the message should be easy, the messages short,
codes consistent and code retention a treat for even dummies.

PROVIDE OPT-IN, OPT-OUT AND HELP FEATURES: Oneth after a million times,
all short codes must be permission based! Opt-out should also be easy for mobile phone
users. We’re still in the middle of an internet spam filtering battle to create another
industry of mobile spam. Provide a “HELP” feature where mobile phone users can
receive more information. Employ user-friendly texts.

The CWTA site is: http://www.cwta.ca. If you write me, I can send you the document
through email.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

COMMON SHORT CODE (CSC), A PARED DOWN PRIMER

COMMON SHORT CODE (CSC), A PARED DOWN PRIMER

These notes are a pared down version of the complete mobile marketing associations’ common short code (CSC) primer[1].

Common short codes are phone numbers that are used by cellphone users to request for information, sports scores, weather alerts as well as other services that can be delivered through this novel medium.

Why are common short codes advantageous?

1. They are fast. Subscribers of wireless carriers along with marketers of mobile content can respond quickly and timely to the push or pull messages generated in a CSC communication.

2. CSCs are convenient. Entering long stretch of text through a mobile device takes time, user’s patience and sometimes, deftness with the keypads.

3. User response to adverts and marketing promotions increases. A CSC that is creative gets immediate response in a world where the cellphone or mobile devices have become an always ready, always available, communication appendage.

4. Facility of consumer content customization. Subscribers, the target consumers of this medium, can choose or opt-in for whatever content they want to receive and given the ease of an opt-out if they so desire.

To launch a successful CSC campaign, it is important to plan well for it. Better to consult experienced companies in this field if one is a new entrant. Some Wireless Application Service Providers (WASPs) one can consider in Nigeria are M-tech and Cellulant Nigeria Ltd.[2].

Some issues that have to be considered if a CSC application has to be approved and launched are:

1. Choosing a capable WASP.

2. A clear and concise outline of campaign goals, targets, period it’ll be run, intended start date if tied to a brand, etc.

3. Know the guidelines of major players in the CSC application, provisioning and launching process.

4. State clear billing rates and if the service is standard or premium. Premium services are billable in addition to carrier base charges, while standard services are not billable, although carrier could still bill for base charges.

5. Estimate a reasonable and realistic traffic volume so the carrier’s staff and technical personnel can anticipate subscriber requests.

6. Have clear cut opt-in, opt-out and help instructions for the short code campaign.

Note that as in every other media, content that could give birth to subscriber backlash should be avoided, especially intense profanity, intense violence, graphic depiction of the sexual act, nudity, hate speech and/or any activity deemed illegal in Nigeria, noting especially our indigenous customs.

Footers:

[1]. You can get the pdf file, http://www.mmaglobal.com/shortcodeprimer.pdf., that contains a clear-cut common short code primer, but the perspective is American.

[2]. A list of WASPs is available at Celtel’s site, www.ng.celtel.com . As for those recognized by Glo and MTN, well…

Monday, March 12, 2007

QUESTIONS AND ISSUES BUGGING ME.

QUESTIONS AND ISSUES BUGGING ME.

After going through the websites of our wireless carriers, only Celtel has a defined section for content providers, Wireless Application Service Providers (WASPs) and bulk SMS services. Will somebody prove me wrong, please?

But noticeably, there was no indication of the type of campaigns currently being promoted or “carried” by this wireless carrier. Where content providers do not interface directly with wireless carriers, so much potential points of conflict for rights and licensing agreements made with WASPs could be avoided if the carriers dedicate a site to campaigns currently running on their networks.

It goes without gainsaying that although these faceless aspect of the mobile ecosystem are dispersed, they are invaluable.

Celtel has a clause that states that they share 50% of the revenue with any registered WASP doing business with them. That figure does make some skin eruptions appear on me, but apparently non-existent, is a total non-reference to the rights and copyright issues for material named “content!” such as is found in all other media: television, radio, films, internet etc.

Particularly striking is the question: if I do a one-off business with Celtel and after my contract expires they implement the intellectual aspects of my content, do I have the right to claim REVENUE! Even if I only receive 50% as a WASP of revenue or 10% as a content provider with a WASP providing me service to Celtel’s subscribers?

Another is: if content is termed age restricted by the wireless carrier against the content provider’s non-stipulation after a campaign has taken off, who bears the cost of lost revenue for discounted subscribers or subscribers restricted from mobile content?

Age restrictions and assessment procedures might in the future follow that of Nollywood, but that is yet to be seen. One can find guidelined principles though on Celtel’s WASP document and that of the mobile marketing association.

Celtel did not state how revenue share would be divided if content is part of a content bundle. For example if I launch a shortcode campaign that integrates a trivia contest along with subscription to a ringtone service, if Celtel bills both services differently, which they reasonably would, would the content provider be paid differently or as per the bundle? An undiscerning content provider might not realize the connection between the two, especially if his campaign is an initiative which Celtel considers premium and decides to integrate it with a standard one.

As for the revenue sharing percentages quoted by Celtel, I really do not know the rationale for that, whether it was agreed upon amongst the respective operators in Nigeria or a unilateral decision and if any of the two, with the duressed or non-duressed agreement of WASPs and content providers with their hands tied by forces they don’t understand?

It’s a topic for further deliberation.

SETTING THE TABLE OF WIRELESS CARRIERS

SETTING THE TABLE OF WIRELESS CARRIERS

For traditional reasons, one is tempted to think wireless carriers should and tend to concentrate on their telephony functions[1]. They’d only be building beautiful houses without anyone setting the table for humans to really live in them. Content provision, especially for premium services, is as much valuable as revenue from telephony.

But one doesn’t just set anything on the table for the house; it has to be the right food and a healthy diet.

Before the video and film censors board was established any and everything was fed to the masses which provoked reaction from the general public who were stuck to public televised offerings from NTA. Same could happen to our wireless carriers if proactive steps are not taken to, at least, to set guidelines for what could be defined as content on their networks.

For one, you’ll agree with me that content with insulting sexual innuendoes and affiliation would get a failing grade. Tribal and racial slurs for another. Politically motivated and inciting campaigns fall into this class also. There are classes of films rated as for Adults only, for the eighteen and above, those that must be viewed with parental guidance etc. It would be appropriate for such assessment to be introduced into this medium, the mobile medium[2].

Appropriate safety measures, government initiated or self-regulating schemes from our national carriers, can and should be put in place now more than ever when the mobile landscape still seems virgin, where it concerns content provision and content provision issues.

If we throw a coin, heads the government wins, tail self-regulation from wireless carriers gets the vote, what face will we see? What face would you want to see? Much more at stake is the question of who pays for establishing content assessing policies before deployment, whether carried out independently or interdependently. He who pays the piper dictates the tunes!

These are problems that must addressed to avoid consumer backlash and a possibly harakiried resort to face-saving short-term solutions, to keep the industry safe from abuse, whether financial (as the recently purported Celtel promo), sexual, or political; whether self-regulated by the wireless carriers or a governmental instrument, the essential is that a defined framework should be seen to exist.

Footers:

[1].Those who are familiar with Nitel (now Transcorp!) will tell you that saturation of the telephony channel will come soon or late.

[2].Celtel has a rudiment of required guidelines on their website. http://www.ng.celtel.com/en/wasp-resources/index.html. You can click on the content provider, local or international links. As for Glo and MTN, I didn’t find any reference to content or valued services. I tried writing to the Glo customer care centre from the website, the attempt failed. This is not the first time too.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

MOBILE INTERNET OR WAP

MOBILE INTERNET OR WAP

Mobile internet gives subscribers to wireless carriers the ability to access web sites which are usually written to function on mobile devices. Any material that can be accessed on our all too familiar internet web pages should be available on a mobile device.

Mobile web is synonymous with Wireless Application Programming (WAP) and presently WAP2.0 is more emphasized than WAP1.0. WAP2.0 is based on xHTML or extensible markup language. For those familiar with the internet and pages written for the internet, a markup language consists of a set of specifications and constructs that tell a software application called a browser (like the one you’re presently using) how to arrange, present and render the images, text and multimedia elements that make up the components of that page.

One feature that is predominant for both mobile web users and page authors is the screen size of the device. The amount of display space a particular handset can offer varies from one handset to the other and from one handset manufacturer to the other. You need not worry though, guidelines for screen specific presentations exists for both manufacturers and authors.

Some I’ve gone through on the internet are that of the mobile marketing association, http://www.mmaglobal.com/mobileadvertising.pdf as well as that of the open mobile alliance, http://www.openmobilealliance.org/tech/affiliates/wap/wapindex.html.

Mobile internet has not reached up to its potential. It has had successes though in some Asian countries like Japan but which success will surely be copied progressively in other countries. With gprs enabled handsets slowly gaining ground in Nigeria, mobile internet has lots of prospects, especially if wireless carriers like Celtel, Glo, MTN and Starcomms, content providers, mobile application programmers and other players in the mobile ecosystem work together.

As for yourself, do you realize that after the medium is layed out, lots of opportunities exists for you to provide the content and take a part in this life-changing slowly evolving mobile ecosystem? You really never have thought of it have you? But content provision can give jobs to thousands of Nigerians who can see the wires insulated with gold.

SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE (SMS) SNIPPETS

SHORT MESSAGING SERVICE (SMS) SNIPPETS

SMS or short messaging service is a familiar word to so many. It is basically seen as a means of sending text messages through a mobile device to another mobile device. SMS, due to its utter simplicity, is a huge success for the mobile ecosystem. According to a recent metric, there were about 28 million text messages sent in a three (3) month period in America alone.

First introduced in Europe in 1992, it was included in the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) standard from the word go and later ported to CDMA and TDMA. Think Starcomms for CDMA. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is presently responsible for developing and maintaining the GSM and SMS standard, the initial overseer being the European Telecommunications Standards Institute.

SMS’ limitation is that it can contain at most 160 characters or 140 bytes of data (2 1/3 lines of text strings without spaces on Microsoft Word document! ). You can bet it supports international languages, even chinese characters. And SMS is not limited to texting, but can also carry pictures, operator logos, wallpapers, animations, business cards (Vcards).

There is no cellphone on earth that does not support SMS!

To solve the character limit problem, long SMS or concatenated SMS was developed. In long SMS, the sending mobile device breaks up the complete message into 140 bytes blocks and sends each block separately and if the receiving phone supports long SMS, for sure, it’ll be rearranged at the receiving end into a unified message. That means not every mobile device understands long SMS.

Our all expressive smileys are not left out in SMS with the introduction of an application-level SMS extension known as Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS). An EMS can include animation and melodies and you can bet it, you can format your text as bold, italic, underlined, or even indented text.

Why SMS? It’s a huge revenue generating platform for the entrepreneurially inclined. These will be broached in future blogs after basic GSM and mobile marketing concepts are slowly explained.

Further reading?
www.developershome.com/sms
www.mmaglobal.com/
www.nowsms.com/
www.3gpp.org/
You can get specifications for technologies like SMS and MMS that we’ll discuss on this blog.
www.openmobilealliance.org/ The OMA are implementation specific in contrast to 3GPP specs.

MOBILE MARKETING: THE WHAT

MOBILE MARKETING: THE WHAT

Mobile marketing could be said to be a way of taking the selling point of the needs and objectives of a brand to the consumer through the mobile medium. It is an extension of conventional and internet-based marketing practice to the mobile context. This definition though is not normative.

Some unique features of this medium is that it is based more on personal marketing. A marketer uses his engagement with the consumer to drive any marketing campaign. It also facilitates one-on-one communication with the consumer. On the plus side of this medium is that the scope of assets and tactics available to the mobile marketer is limitless.

Remember, no medium has a more direct channel to the consumer than that offered by the cellphone which is always close to and open to the mobile marketer and consumer.

And for you reading this, am sure 355888 (three double five triple eight!) is a number that should easily come to your mind? That is a short code based aspect of mobile marketing using SMS services. Mobile marketing should open up possibilities for you and I to release the entrepreneurial spirits nascent in us. That was the objective of my investigation and what, amongst other issues, which I will share with you on the pages of this blog.

I believe the weeks ahead will be eventful.

Acknowledgement:

Resources for this blog were from sites like:
The mobile marketing association, www.mmaglobal.com
BusinessWeek Magazine online, www.businessweek.com
Glo Mobile website, www.gloworld.com

INTRO: WHY AM INTO MOBILE MEDIA NOW

INTRO: WHY AM INTO MOBILE MEDIA NOW

Back in 2001 when GSM licenses were being handed out, we the underprivileged never realized that the papers didn’t really explain in clear terms the fact the a simple handset in monochrome would change the lives and means of communication of a majority of Nigerians.

That is why five years after, I decided to investigate the mobile landscape; I must confess that there are more to what meets the eyes when it comes to the quality and richness of offerings compared to the traditional text-based media that the mobile medium offered at the initial.

First of all, I must say the facility of embrace of this mode of communication and its associated paraphernalia: SIM cards, rechargeable batteries, handsets etc, was quite astonishing.

The freedom and power of owning a personal telephone, a small gadget called a cellphone, is quite novel in the developing world.

I never had to be tech savvy, and I can say the same for millions of Nigerians, before I could understand the basics of mobile devices.

But you may ask, do I have something new to say?

Certainly. My investigation was principally against a nagging question: are GloMobile, MTN and Celtel offering Nigerians something worth the hype, something much more than text messaging, cheaper phone calls (they should go cheaper though), and affordable channels of communication? That was when I discovered mobile marketing. Being unemployed, I realized this investigation would benefit millions of young idle tempted to yahoo! graduates like myself so I decided to share my knowledge.