Twitter! Help!

This is taken from Facebook.

Ronald Liong has devolved from blogging to twittering. That's why his blog is stagnant. I blame Stephen Fry & John Mayer.

Well, I'm sorry if I made anyone think I stopped blogging. I will not. I love blogging, and I'll continue to blog. So there!

Rest assured, people!

Anyway, back to proper topic discussion...

I want to talk tech today. Specifically, the cellphone market.

For the longest time, people had lots of options when it comes to cellphones - they buy a cellphone, say a Nokia 8310, maybe with a contract with a telco, or they could go on prepaid/pay-as-you-go SIM cards. They pop in the SIM, and voila. Communication wherever you go with adequate reception.

But this is not 1999.

Today, we have smartphones, we have mobile web browsers on our Androids, our Blackberry, our iPhones, our Palms, and they have apps, some of which let you IM. You can get email, you can play multiplayer games, you can check stock prices, weather, send MMS, voice chat, video call, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

It's a perfect world, right?

No.

It isn't.

Amidst all this "wow" factor, one thing fails to amuse me. 

Well, when I say one thing, what I really mean is "a list of things".

First: The signal issue.

I was having an IM conversation with Ryan this morning - on my iPhone, on way to school. That is, until the bus passed a road leading to the city train station. Yes, a road that is used by many to go from the train station to the beach - the most important road for visitors - does not have signal. This, people, is the cruddy network I love to hate - O2. Supposedly the largest network in the UK. Why is it that these companies have so many subscribers feeding them with so much money, yet they can't fix simple signal problems?

Second: The evil middlemen.

Telcos like to lock in their customers. From 24-month contracts, to locked phones, they've been finding ways to retain customers, whilst supporting "number portability" to make it easier for customers to come in. In countries like Singapore, where the competition laws are stricter, customer-locking is (thankfully) considered illegal, with the exception of the 24-months contract idea. However, elsewhere, you find iPhones that are useless once the contract ends or when you leave the country. Yet, the owners of these phones pay through the nose to be able to use the phone. This is not the worst, though. Some telcos lock down features in the phone. O2 prevents tethering on my iPhone, even though I can probably do it from a Windows Mobile smartphone. Verizon in the US locks the bluetooth in many phones. Frustrating, isn't it? You spent $1000 (long term cost) on a phone with a bluetooth chip which you know is there, but has been locked down, and then after your contract is up, you cancel your line, and you end up with a paperweight, because your phone is locked to the carrier you signed up with initially. And it's not as if their service was fantastic.

Third: The lack of innovation.

We have 3G. We have HSPA. Basically, we're supposed to have internet in the air right now. Broadband internet, not dial-up speeds. However, it seems that the telco companies do not want you to use this network. AT&T has shown us why, with their crappy data network in San Francisco - Silicon Valley, iPhone town, etc. But why is it that these companies - companies which are able to gain lots in revenue, do not want to rush into finding ways to solve the problems of this demand for wireless data connections? You want 4G connection to your laptop, don't you? You want to walk around with your Nokia N- or E-series phone and read the news, don't you? You want instant access to information, don't you? What if I tell you you can? And what if I tell you that it's possible, but that's a caveat?

Telcos hate to innovate. They hate change. They want to control things. That's why we see O2 blocking the BBC iPlayer. That's why we see AT&T blocking Skype. Yet, we see the underdogs trying to take advantage of all this. 3 (Hutchinson) in the UK is selling phones with Skype capabilities, and letting people use them on their network without having to pay a cent. Yes. Free Skype on 3. Never pay for a single phone call again! That's one example of telcos thinking outside the box. Giving customers choice. They might lose money on people using Skype, but on the flip-side, how many people really use Skype? They gain customers who would have otherwise gone onto an iPhone, had O2 allowed Skype.

Closing words...

Personally, I think there needs to be more government intervention over Telco networks. Ban subscriber retention tactics such as locking of phones or features; push them towards upgrading their networks and coverage; make mobile broadband available for all; ban phone exclusivity (but allow subsidising of phones). Protect the consumers, but also, spur the growth of the telecommunications industry in the country!

The mobile phone networks have a different purpose nowadays. They're not just for making phone calls or sending an SMS. They're the gateway to the information superhighway 2.0. They're the tools for twittering and emailing. They allow news to be sent to you in an instant, while allowing you to IM with a friend thousands of miles away. They let you video call somebody across town, while they let you navigate your way through a town. The phone is not just a phone anymore. It shouldn't be. Because we're in a new century.