Ilpo Mattila accuses operators of thieving (Helsingin Sanomat 10.7.2010). He is fed up with expensive dataroaming prices despite recently anounced price caps by the European union (http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/roaming/regulation/index_en.htm).
Technically speaking operators are not stealing, but if users start to rebel and with pressure coming from the EU, operators will have to reconsider their strategy or they risk to loose both brand value and market share.
One of the problems with operators is that they do not understand the business they are in and in particular they do not understand how and why the business model will change when migrating from telephony to data applications. There is a fundamental reason for the existence of flat rate data plans and why flat rate will spread. You might want to look at my YouTube video in which I argue the logic of flat rate (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIiBPil4tKI)
I believe that international dataroaming will also migrate toward flat rate data plans. If the domestic data plan is 20 euro´s per month which is c 0.6 euro per day, I would predict that paying triple price i.e. 2 euro´s per day flat rate, when roaming, would be more than adequate. However it will take some time before the operator world reaches concensus in this, despite pressure from the Eu. In the meanwhile I will allways check that my hotels abroad have inclusive (free) internet and preferably wlan and will use those services instead of the overpriced international dataroaming
lauantai 10. heinäkuuta 2010
perjantai 9. heinäkuuta 2010
Business models of Facebook
I have recently been observing where the posts of my friends on Facebook are coming from. This is proving rather interesting.
Some friends are posting "via Mobile web" others "via Mafia Wars Game" and some "via Facebook for iPhone". This leads me to wonder is Facebook earning money form e.g. iPhone or other suppliers. Facebook could e.g. try a business model of x cents per mobile phone. The x cents would be embedded in the sales price of the phone and the buyer would not be aware of having paid to Facebook. I have a Nokia phone and when pasting on Facebook my friends see "via Mobile web", which looks kind of dull compared with "Facebook via iPhone", which is nicely cobranded.
I also noted that Facebook is openly advertising its mobile applications with a "Try Facebook Mobile" icon, that is easy to click and proceed to become a mobile Facebook user.
Some friends are posting "via Mobile web" others "via Mafia Wars Game" and some "via Facebook for iPhone". This leads me to wonder is Facebook earning money form e.g. iPhone or other suppliers. Facebook could e.g. try a business model of x cents per mobile phone. The x cents would be embedded in the sales price of the phone and the buyer would not be aware of having paid to Facebook. I have a Nokia phone and when pasting on Facebook my friends see "via Mobile web", which looks kind of dull compared with "Facebook via iPhone", which is nicely cobranded.
I also noted that Facebook is openly advertising its mobile applications with a "Try Facebook Mobile" icon, that is easy to click and proceed to become a mobile Facebook user.
keskiviikko 7. heinäkuuta 2010
Practical experience with e-social security and e-payments
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland Kela ( http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/english.nsf) has a relatively nice e-service web site. You sign in using the services of your local bank i.e. the bank acts as your authenticator.
This of course has some moral issues. Your bank basically knows that you have been using their service for authentication and you don´t really want your bank to know how sick or poor you might happen to be. In the long run this will have to change, but for the present I trust my bank and I am not too concerned. However markets need competition and I am some what concerned that there are no independent authentication services and regulators should be concerned: are the allowing for an authentication monopoly to emerge? Are they allowing that authentication is a business only allowed for local banks?
However, I was more concerned with the fact that I could not access the e-service account of my under 18 son. He would need to go to his bank to get his authentication codes. The same would also apply if he were a baby. I think Kela will need to change this - parents will need to have access to the e-accounts of their children.
I was more concerned with the fact that I could access my son´s information just by making a telephone call. All I needed to give was his social security number and say that I am his dad. Access to social security numbers is relatively easy and hence missuse of the telephone service is very easy and possible. I would predict that Kela will some day have to adopt better authentication on its telephone service and hence it will be the higher level of security (authentication) that will "force" first Kela and then its customers to adopt e-services.
On a second note on e-services: I was arranging my holiday plans and reserving a hotel on the internet. I use the http://www.hotels.com/ service and regard it as rather nice. This time I studied the payment service more closely. I was rather surprised to note the low level of security related to payment with e.g. a Visa card. All you basically need is the card number and then the payment code on tha back side. Every time I hand over my card to somebody e.g. in a restaraunt abroad I give this person access to my codes. This makes e-payments very unsecure and I predict something will need to be done to make e-payments with e.g. Visa cards more secure.
On a third note on e-services. There was a very good article/column in Helsingin Sanomat 8.7 p 20 by Timo Iivarinen from the Bank of Finland on network payment methods. He is saying that the local banks and the local ecosystem are doing nothing to develop new payment methods and hence new methods will come from the outside. He is basically wellcoming competition from abroad. Finland has now been declared - by a memeber of the bank of Finland - an underdeveloped e-payment market! So, welcome all you pioneers of e-payments!
This of course has some moral issues. Your bank basically knows that you have been using their service for authentication and you don´t really want your bank to know how sick or poor you might happen to be. In the long run this will have to change, but for the present I trust my bank and I am not too concerned. However markets need competition and I am some what concerned that there are no independent authentication services and regulators should be concerned: are the allowing for an authentication monopoly to emerge? Are they allowing that authentication is a business only allowed for local banks?
However, I was more concerned with the fact that I could not access the e-service account of my under 18 son. He would need to go to his bank to get his authentication codes. The same would also apply if he were a baby. I think Kela will need to change this - parents will need to have access to the e-accounts of their children.
I was more concerned with the fact that I could access my son´s information just by making a telephone call. All I needed to give was his social security number and say that I am his dad. Access to social security numbers is relatively easy and hence missuse of the telephone service is very easy and possible. I would predict that Kela will some day have to adopt better authentication on its telephone service and hence it will be the higher level of security (authentication) that will "force" first Kela and then its customers to adopt e-services.
On a second note on e-services: I was arranging my holiday plans and reserving a hotel on the internet. I use the http://www.hotels.com/ service and regard it as rather nice. This time I studied the payment service more closely. I was rather surprised to note the low level of security related to payment with e.g. a Visa card. All you basically need is the card number and then the payment code on tha back side. Every time I hand over my card to somebody e.g. in a restaraunt abroad I give this person access to my codes. This makes e-payments very unsecure and I predict something will need to be done to make e-payments with e.g. Visa cards more secure.
On a third note on e-services. There was a very good article/column in Helsingin Sanomat 8.7 p 20 by Timo Iivarinen from the Bank of Finland on network payment methods. He is saying that the local banks and the local ecosystem are doing nothing to develop new payment methods and hence new methods will come from the outside. He is basically wellcoming competition from abroad. Finland has now been declared - by a memeber of the bank of Finland - an underdeveloped e-payment market! So, welcome all you pioneers of e-payments!
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