Friday, February 23, 2007

Follow Up from 3GSM

I am at present stuck up a mountain with the family watching them ski and thinking about last week in Barcelona.

The Voice thing is getting to me! All of the noise has been on te whole about mobile data solutions, these require the networks to focus on something they are not very good at, educating users.

Whilst here I am looking at people using the phone as just that; a few are sending texts none are surfing or watching TV! All of them are paying a lot of money to make phone calls and the providers are happy.

So why don't the networks focus on the fact that 80% of the income is from the simple function of Voice?

Rather than develop HSDPA why cannot they give me the Stereo functionality my handset has to play MP3s? Or how about they develop noise surpression techniques so that whilst on the call the quality is lifted, just as they have for the workers in call centres?

I am going to go an sit in the sun and think a little longer and then make a few calls and see if I might just be able to convince a few people that rather than Convergence they need to diverge or people will just substitute the mobile for the fixed line and so we face financial suiside. This is something I cannot afford at the Girls have told me they love skiing and for the next ten years I am going to be the one having to pay for them to keep doing it!

1 comment:

Mike1727 said...

>Whilst here I am looking at >people using the phone as just >that; a few are sending texts >none are surfing or watching TV!
I'd take issue with that. Lots of people are sending texts, and a very rapidly increasing minority are surfing. TV's not exactly settin the industry alight, but that's partially down to a lack of handsets and limited content.

>All of them are paying a lot of >money to make phone calls and the >providers are happy.
Voice is a commodity product, cost per minute is under steady downward pressure and bundle sizes are steadily increasing. None of these make operators particulaly happy.

>So why don't the networks focus >on the fact that 80% of the >income is from the simple >function of Voice?
They do, for the reasons above.

>Rather than develop HSDPA why >cannot they give me the Stereo >functionality my handset has to >play MP3s?
Because more people want high speed data connections than want stereo voice calls. (Which would presumably depend on both ends of the connection having stereo compatible equipement- seems a bit unlikely to me)

>Or how about they develop noise >surpression techniques
Codec development is carrying on all the time to improve voice quality, but surveys show customers aren't dissatisfied with voice quality.

>people will just substitute the >mobile for the fixed line and so >we face financial suicide.
Get used to it, this is happening already!