Isis Delays Launch, Again

Isis, the mobile payments venture owned by AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile USA, is delaying the launch of its mobile payments service for the second time this year, an Isis executive says. No reason was given for the delay. 

Some might speculate that Apple's decision not to support near field communications in the iPhone 5 is a factor for Isis. 

But Apple's "go slow" approach to mobile payments is not unusual. Apple wasn't the first firm to make a PC, wasn't the first to make an MP3 player or the first tablet or a smart phone. It still isn't immediately clear how mobile payments creates a huge new device market for Apple, and that tends to be the way Apple approaches new markets. 

Delays aren't unusual for large proposed mobile payment services. Telcos in the Netherlands have delayed their mobile payments launch as well. There also have been delays in  Australia, the United Kingdom and Singapore. 

There are plenty of other reasons for delay. Mobile payment is a complex ecosystem with uncertain value for many key participants in the ecosystem and lots of confusion about which consortia might emerge as clear winners. That Apple iPhones don't yet support NFC is but one of the problems. 

"Closed loop" systems that might work only at Home Depot or Starbucks, and do not require use of NFC or other relatively rare features, are logistically easier to launch, precisely because the universe of merchants, terminals, apps, payment processors, devices and users is contained. 

Where are Untapped Opportunities in E-Commerce?

James Slavet, of Greylock Partners, thinks there remain a few areas of the e-commerce space that remain undeveloped, including marketplaces, online to offline commerce (meaning transactions that take place in the physical world), and services that are “mobile-first” ways to find and book things like hotels, taxis, or send gifts and cards.

Of those three general areas of interest, mobile is directly involved with two of three, which explains the growing interest in mobile commerce, as distinct from simple mobile payment. 

Perhaps because there now seem to be many viable contestants in the mobile wallet and mobile payment areas, entrepreneurs seem to be shifting more in the direction of ways such mobile-first operations can change retail operating practices, the back office and supply chain, for example, or bridge the differences between offline and online commerce.

Amazon's new warehouse strategy, for example, which sites many more warehouses in many urban areas, could shift distribution in a powerful way, allowing one-day delivery in many cases, and even same-day in some instances. That would dramatically improve Amazon's competitive position, compared to place-based local retailers. Mobile can play a part, but more as the ordering front end. 

"Payment" and "wallet" are less strategic, in that view. 

Where are Untapped Opportunities in E-Commerce?

James Slavet, of Greylock Partners, thinks there remain a few areas of the e-commerce space that remain undeveloped, including marketplaces, online to offline commerce (meaning transactions that take place in the physical world), and services that are “mobile-first” ways to find and book things like hotels, taxis, or send gifts and cards.

Of those three general areas of interest, mobile is directly involved with two of three, which explains the growing interest in mobile commerce, as distinct from simple mobile payment. 

Perhaps because there now seem to be many viable contestants in the mobile wallet and mobile payment areas, entrepreneurs seem to be shifting more in the direction of ways such mobile-first operations can change retail operating practices, the back office and supply chain, for example, or bridge the differences between offline and online commerce.

Amazon's new warehouse strategy, for example, which sites many more warehouses in many urban areas, could shift distribution in a powerful way, allowing one-day delivery in many cases, and even same-day in some instances. That would dramatically improve Amazon's competitive position, compared to place-based local retailers. Mobile can play a part, but more as the ordering front end. 

"Payment" and "wallet" are less strategic, in that view. 

44% of Surveyed U.K. iPhone users want the new Apple iPhone 5

Apple iPhone owners tend to prefer sticking with the iPhone for their next device, virtually all studies show. So it is no surprise that 44 percent of U.K. iPhone users want the new Apple iPhone 5.

About 20 percent of all smart phone users in the survey said they wanted to upgrade to the new iPhone without needing any further information about the product.


At the same time, Samsung Galaxy users are just about as loyal as iPhone afficianados are, with only five percent saying they want to switch to the iPhone 5.

According to the research, the most popular feature on the iPhone 5 is likely to be its larger screen, described as the most appealing by 19 percent of respondents. The higher speed Internet access, making use of the new 4G mobile service which is being introduced to the UK, was cited by 17 percent of respondents as most appealing feature. But 39 percent also said none of the new features appealed to them.

Perhaps not so helpful for Apple were the 27 percent of the respondents who said the iPhone 5 had been over-hyped without anything exciting or innovative.

Is "Ancillary Jurisdiction" Exercised by FCC Legal?

The Federal Communications Commission network neutrality rules were promulgated using a concept known as "ancillary jurisdiction," essentially the notion that the Commission has authority to institute such rules because it is "ancillary" to other authority it has expressly been given by Congress.

But many would argue that the FCC exceeds its authority. Congress has never explicitly given the FCC the authority to enforce network neutrality, but the FCC contends that the power to mandate Internet openness is implicit in other powers Congress has granted to the agency.

This ancillary jurisdiction argument therefore is destined to remain controversial until the lawfulness of the authority has been settled.

Is Private Cloud a Business Opportunity for Public Cloud Providers?

There are five common misconceptions about “private cloud,” which sometimes is seen as server virtualization at existing enterprise computing facilities, or simply the adoption of infrastructure as a service, according to Gartner analysts. The implications are important for some service providers supplying enterprise cloud services.

To be sure, virtualization and cloud computing are driving private cloud computing, says Tom Bittman, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. But virtualization and virtualization management are not, by themselves, private cloud computing.

Virtualization makes it easier to dynamically and granularly pool and reallocate infrastructure resources, Gartner says. The point is that some form of virtualization is used to create a cloud computing service.

Private cloud computing is a form of cloud computing that is used by only one organization, or that ensures that an organization is completely isolated from others. Sometimes that leads to the notion that private cloud computing is another way of conducting computing operations

Private cloud computing is defined by privacy, not location, ownership or management responsibility, says Gartner. That’s an important distinction for providers of cloud computing services, as it does not mean private cloud “only” is operated from an enterprise’s own facilities. Private cloud computing can be hosted from a third-party cloud computing center, in other words.

Though the majority of private clouds likely will be on-premises (based on the evolution of existing virtualization investments), Gartner says, a growing percentage of private clouds will be outsourced and supported off-premises. That means private cloud is as much a business opportunity as public cloud.

Private cloud includes both infrastructure as a service and platform as a service, especially for enterprises that want to foster faster software development, or routinely work with lots of third-party app developers.

Over time, some private clouds will be moved completely to the public cloud. The majority of private cloud services will evolve to enable hybrid cloud computing, blending public cloud services and third-party resources.

The bottom line is that private cloud computing often will represent a sales opportunity for cloud service providers and some hosting operations.

Mobile and Cable Companies Try to Profit from Over the Top Apps

Mobile operator 3 Hong Kong will offer its subscribers a WhatsApp Roaming Pass for $8 ($1 USD) a month that gives them unlimited access to WhatsApp services without counting it against their data caps, or a $48 ($6.19 USD) daily pass offering unlimited WhatsApp use and 5MB of service in 78 destinations around the world.

You might wonder why a mobile service provider would promote a service that competes directly with its own messaging service. The answer is that so many people are doing so that 3 might as well try and extract some revenue from the service in an indirect way, namely by allowing usage of WhatsApp without counting the usage against a customer's data cap.

Time Warner Cable, for its part, is currently sending a mailer to internet-only customers, suggesting that they should upgrade their broadband speeds for a better Netflix experience and offering to throw in a whole year of free TV as a bonus.

That's one example of a service provider trying to generate revenue indirectly from an over the top application. 

PreCash Thinks Instant Check Deposit, Instant Bill Payment More Significant for Unbanked than "Mobile Wallet"

What's more important to a consumer without a bank account: a mobile wallet that stores loyalty credentials, or check deposit? Answer: check deposit.

"Current mobile check solutions can take up to six days before somebody gets their money," says Steve Taylor, PreCash CEO. "That does not work for someone living from paycheck to paycheck. They need their money immediately."

FlipMoney will offer instant mobile check deposit and instant bill payment, features that Taylor says matter a lot more to the underbanked than to the banked. 

With FlipMoney, for the first time, people without a bank account or credit card can do instant remote check deposits and perform free expedited bill payments with their smart phone. 

FlipMoney combines instant remote check deposit and free expedited bill payments in a single mobile wallet that works with a prepaid card.

Flip is currently being field tested. Large scale deployment will begin this fall, the company says. 

For instant check deposits, PreCash plans to charge $1 plus one percent of the deposit amount for a payroll or government check and $1 plus three percent of the amount for personal checks. 

There is also a standard-speed option for a flat $3 fee per item. PreCash does not plan to charge for expedited bill-payment.  

Apple iPods No Longer Drive Revenue for Apple, But Get Updated, Anyway

The iPod no longer drives key business results for Apple; that role is currently reserved for the iPhone. But Apple has updated the iPod Nano and iPod touch, anyway.

Apple iPods No Longer Drive Revenue for Apple, But Get Updated, Anyway

The iPod no longer drives key business results for Apple; that role is currently reserved for the iPhone. But Apple has updated the iPod Nano and iPod touch, anyway.

Apple has 435 Million iTunes Accounts

Apple says it now has 435 million accounts for iTunes. That also implies that Apple has active credit card information for all or most of those accounts. Think e-commerce.

Apple launches iPhone 5

The new Apple Phone 5 features a 4-inch 1136 x 640 display in a 16:9 aspect ratio, LTE support and a design that’s thinner and lighter than prior models. Apple was able to improve the battery life however; key for LTE devices. No surprise. Full video here.

3 Hong Kong Offers WhatsApp without Impact on User Data Cap

Mobile operator 3 Hong Kong will offer its subscribers a WhatsApp Roaming Pass for $8 ($1 USD) a month that gives them unlimited access to WhatsApp services without counting it against their data caps, or a $48 ($6.19 USD) daily pass offering unlimited WhatsApp use and 5MB of service in 78 destinations around the world.

You might wonder why a mobile service provider would promote a service that competes directly with its own messaging service. The answer is that so many people are doing so that 3 might as well try and extract some revenue from the service in an indirect way, namely by allowing usage of WhatsApp without counting the usage against a customer's data cap.

When "Unlimited" Makes Sense

From a consumer standpoint, there often is little to no actual difference between an"unlimited" and a "big enough" service plan for voice, messaging or Internet access. The reason is simply that most people don't actually use enough of any of those apps to "need" unlimited usage.

On the other hand, there frequently are good reasons for a service provider to offer "unlimited" access to voice, messaging or Internet access. That especially is the case when the carrier's own usage statistics indicate that most people will not use unusual amounts of capacity, whether that is voice, messaging or Internet access.

Under such conditions, provider safely can offer "unlimited" service with no danger of unusual stresses on the network.

In other words, "unlimited" is an excellent marketing platform when a service provider knows it can safely make the offer. And, in most cases, it is a good bet.

The overwhelming majority of customers on AT and T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon networks studied by  NPD Connected Intelligence  don't even use 2 GBytes worth of mobile data per month, which suggests most consumers do not need “unlimited” service plans.

NPD Connected Intelligence tracked users on 1,000 Android smart phones as part of the study.

T-Mobile USA has users who consume more, though. Some 11 percent of T-Mobile USA customers use more than 3 GBytes per month, compared to four percent of AT&T and Sprint customers who consume more than 3 Gbytes a month. About three percent of Verizon customers use more than 3 Gbytes a month

NPD Connected Intelligence analyst Eddie Hold says Apple iPhone usage is pretty similar to that of Android users.

And even when customers had unlimited data plans, most didn't take advantage of it, the study suggests.  "In general, Sprint's usage is the same as the other networks and less than T-Mobile USA," Hold said.

Wi-Fi might now be a major part of the usage pattern, as it is possible users now know how to use offloading techniques to protect their mobile data usage buckets.

On average, smart phones are making eight Wi-Fi connections per day and offloading as much as 35 percent of total data consumption to a Wi-Fi network, while heavy users offload as much as 70 percent , according to Devicescape.

Devicescape surveyed one million smart phone devices as part of its study.

A couple of conclusions might be drawn. At the moment, most users don’t consume all that much data, so the value of an “unlimited” plan is questionable. On the other hand, “unlimited” is a useful marketing platform.

The other potential conclusion is that people might be using more data than is fully captured by their mobile usage in a typical month.

20% of U.S. Mobile Phone Owners Pay More Per Month for Their Phone Service Than Groceries

Some 21 percent of U.S. adults using mobile phones say they pay more for their mobile phone service plan in a typical month than they do for groceries.

When asked which other typical expenses they spend less on their mobile phone service, 33 percent of respondents said water, gas and electric bills, 57 percent said their mobile bill was bigger than their cable TV bill, and 71 percent said their mobile service cost more than their Internet access service.


Nearly half (46 percent) of mobile phone owners surveyed pay $100 or more per month for their mobile phone service. Some13 percent pay $200 or more per month.

The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of CouponCabin.com from September 4th to 6th, 2012 among 2,310 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.