Comments on: What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/ Tracking the Internet Evolution Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:18:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=MU By: The Law of Mobility » Blog Archive » Business Models: January 2008 http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858538 The Law of Mobility » Blog Archive » Business Models: January 2008 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:51:17 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858538 <p>[...] What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? [...]</p> [...] What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? [...]

]]> By: What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858435 What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:24:48 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858435 <p>[...] post by Guest Column Post a [...]</p> [...] post by Guest Column Post a [...]

]]> By: Always On Real-Time Access » GigaOM Column: What can wireless operators learn from politics? http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858332 Always On Real-Time Access » GigaOM Column: What can wireless operators learn from politics? Sat, 26 Jan 2008 00:54:02 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858332 <p>[...] piece “What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics?” appears on GigaOM today. I am a numbers guy. The current primary tussle in the US inspired the [...]</p> [...] piece “What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics?” appears on GigaOM today. I am a numbers guy. The current primary tussle in the US inspired the [...]

]]> By: Chetan Sharma http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858314 Chetan Sharma Fri, 25 Jan 2008 22:03:53 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858314 <p>Guys,</p> <p>Thanks for your comments.</p> <p>Marie, great thoughts on APPU.</p> <p>Regards, Chetan</p> Guys,

Thanks for your comments.

Marie, great thoughts on APPU.

Regards,
Chetan

]]> By: Marie Bjerede http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858300 Marie Bjerede Fri, 25 Jan 2008 19:52:21 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858300 <p>I applaud APPU!</p> <p>As a member of the micro-segment "soccer mom", I am patiently awaiting the operator who will target & market to me with the full-on mobile experience in a phone as Chrysler did with the mini-van. As I carpool the kids to dance, karate, and sports in a moving living-room with swivel seats, a table for cards or homework, two TV's and a separate radio audio-feed for mom (did I mention the luxurious plethora of storage spaces and cup-holders??), I like to noodle on ARPU from a systems engineering perspective.</p> <p>So, assuming that we are optimizing for profit, let's consider the simple model of Profit = (ARPU - ACostPU)*Num_Users. We have some variables to play with here: 1) Maximizing the rate of increase of Num_Users. That is getting more people to join and fewer people to leave. A targeted soccer mom phone would sure get my business. And keep it! 2) Increase revenue: Please bundle my (again targeted) applications and services so they work together to give me just the experience I need. I would pay for that! 3) Decrease cost: First make it easy & automated for me to do business with you - that way I won't have to take up your time unless its absolutely necessary! Second, think about the physical resources I am using every time I make a call: The radios in your base station, the over the air bandwidth, not to mention your T1 backhaul! Those are constrained resources. I'd be happy to have you use those as efficiently as possible by only sending my time-critical data over the air and pushing the rest across other networks when I have access to them. So that's a cool metric, I think, to maximize: the average value per bit transmitted over the air.</p> I applaud APPU!

As a member of the micro-segment “soccer mom”, I am patiently awaiting the operator who will target & market to me with the full-on mobile experience in a phone as Chrysler did with the mini-van. As I carpool the kids to dance, karate, and sports in a moving living-room with swivel seats, a table for cards or homework, two TV’s and a separate radio audio-feed for mom (did I mention the luxurious plethora of storage spaces and cup-holders??), I like to noodle on ARPU from a systems engineering perspective.

So, assuming that we are optimizing for profit, let’s consider the simple model of Profit = (ARPU - ACostPU)*Num_Users. We have some variables to play with here:
1) Maximizing the rate of increase of Num_Users. That is getting more people to join and fewer people to leave. A targeted soccer mom phone would sure get my business. And keep it!
2) Increase revenue: Please bundle my (again targeted) applications and services so they work together to give me just the experience I need. I would pay for that!
3) Decrease cost: First make it easy & automated for me to do business with you - that way I won’t have to take up your time unless its absolutely necessary! Second, think about the physical resources I am using every time I make a call: The radios in your base station, the over the air bandwidth, not to mention your T1 backhaul! Those are constrained resources. I’d be happy to have you use those as efficiently as possible by only sending my time-critical data over the air and pushing the rest across other networks when I have access to them. So that’s a cool metric, I think, to maximize: the average value per bit transmitted over the air.

]]> By: free market research company http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858214 free market research company Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:50:59 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858214 <p>only one thing - over promise and under performing!</p> only one thing - over promise and under performing!

]]> By: » Comment on What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? by … http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858175 » Comment on What Can Wireless Operators Learn From Politics? by … Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:10:02 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858175 <p>[...] Alistair Scrutton wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]</p> [...] Alistair Scrutton wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt [...]

]]> By: Aman Sehgal http://gigaom.com/2008/01/25/what-can-wireless-operators-learn-from-politics/#comment-858161 Aman Sehgal Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:43:19 +0000 http://gigaom.com/?p=11251#comment-858161 <p>Its true that mobile operators can learn from politics by developing their business models on the strategy followed by a candidate fighting an election on micro segmentation, messaging and engagement but it is not that much easy to implement. A lot of study and effort has to be put on 1st segmenting the market on the basis of demographics, lifestyle, work.... and then how to implement those changes in the system (Network) as cost of implementing or installing a GSM/GPRS network is very high. Take an example of a rural area(demographics) where people's requirement is just to make/receive a phone call and send/receive sms and have very less amount of money to spent; do you really believe that any operator will go and install a network in that area? The profitability of the operator will be very less with the current type of network infrastructure. To cater to the needs of these people someone has to come up with a different approach that has to serve the basic needs of these people and at the same time it has to be profitable for mobile operators. Only then this sort of micro segmentation will be helpful (for rural market).</p> <p>For urban areas/towns this sort of micro segmentation will definitely be successful as here people have enough money to spend and have different needs that operators can hopefully fulfill and finally can earn profits by targeting their more refined from of customers.</p> Its true that mobile operators can learn from politics by developing their business models on the strategy followed by a candidate fighting an election on micro segmentation, messaging and engagement but it is not that much easy to implement.
A lot of study and effort has to be put on 1st segmenting the market on the basis of demographics, lifestyle, work…. and then how to implement those changes in the system (Network) as cost of implementing or installing a GSM/GPRS network is very high.
Take an example of a rural area(demographics) where people’s requirement is just to make/receive a phone call and send/receive sms and have very less amount of money to spent; do you really believe that any operator will go and install a network in that area? The profitability of the operator will be very less with the current type of network infrastructure. To cater to the needs of these people someone has to come up with a different approach that has to serve the basic needs of these people and at the same time it has to be profitable for mobile operators. Only then this sort of micro segmentation will be helpful (for rural market).

For urban areas/towns this sort of micro segmentation will definitely be successful as here people have enough money to spend and have different needs that operators can hopefully fulfill and finally can earn profits by targeting their more refined from of customers.

]]>