Android Support of RCS Gets Google Boost

Some of us might argue the biggest boost to next generation carrier messaging (Rich Communications Services) could well come from a commitment to support RCS by Google, across its Android platform.

Google says Jibe Mobile is joining Google to help us bring RCS to a global audience. Jibe is a leading provider of RCS services and they’ll continue helping carriers easily deploy RCS to their users.

Deploying RCS to create an even better messaging experience on Android will take time and collaboration throughout the wireless industry, says Mike Dodd, Android RCS

software engineer. “We’re excited to team up with mobile operators, device makers and the rest of the Android ecosystem to support RCS standards and help accelerate their deployment in a more consistent way.”

Carrier OTT VoIP Has Been a Modest Success, At Best

By 2020, mobile voice services sold as part of fourth generation Long Term Evolution services will generate about $100 billion in revenue, according to Juniper Research estimates. By that time, over the top voice services on 4G networks will generate about $10 billion, up from about $2 billion at present.

Most of that revenue--about $4.4 billion--will be earned in China and northeast Asia.

If those projections prove correct, we can reasonably conclude that mobile operator efforts to enter the OTT voice arena have been modest successes at best. By about 2018, mobile revenue globally will be about $816 billion, according to Spirent.

Carrier voice still will represent about 48 percent of total revenue at that point, or about $392 billion. OTT VoIP revenues globally might be about $25 billion by 2018, according to Spirent.

The larger trend is simply the diminution of voice revenues, down 30 percent to 50 percent in Western European markets since about 2010, for example. In fact, Juniper Research says, voice revenues peaked in 2005 in Japan, and by 2008 in most developed countries.

In many cases mobile carrier call volumes actually have grown, however, as traffic shifts off the fixed network to mobile and as competitive pressures force mobile operators to provide bigger voice usage allowances.

Most mobile VoIP services now are offered as a free or low cost service, only a small minority of OTT players had generated a significant revenues from the service.

The more successful service providers have indirect revenue models.

The point is that, so far, few service or app providers have been largely unable to create a significant  mobile VoIP revenue stream, and most of the successes rely on indirect monetization.

Verizon Launches Hum for Connected Vehicles

Verizon Telematics has launched hum, an aftermarket vehicle technology and subscription service providing roadside assistance, diagnostic features, parking tools and other features of connected cars.

Subscribers install hum using an onboard diagnostic (OBD) reader that is plugged into the vehicle’s OBD port, and a Bluetooth-enabled device that is clipped to the visor.

The monthly subscription also includes a smartphone app allowing subscribers to monitor their vehicle health, contact help, and manage maintenance needs, even when they are not behind the wheel.

Hum helps users dispatch advanced roadside assistance, alerts emergency personnel of a car’s location if a crash is detected, and assists authorities in locating a vehicle that has been reported stolen.

Two year subscription plans start at $14.99 per month plus taxes, fees and equipment for the first vehicle (including the hardware, valued at $120) with the option to add other vehicles for less.

New Front in Net Neutrality Wars?

Whatever the eventual implications widespread ad blocking might have on Internet app and content variety and openness, it is within the realm of possibility that new forms of net neutrality debates will emerge, with the focus on device suppliers rather than app providers or access providers, which up to this point have taken the brunt of criticism.

The reason is simply that Apple’s move to enable ad blocking by developers on iOS 9 devices creates the potential for gatekeeping on Apple’s part. That is not to say Apple would take such steps; only to note that it could.

The potential form of control would be an Apple-sponsored “fast running” version of iOS, with integrated ad blocking, or a standard version that allows apps to block ads if they choose to do so, or allows consumers to add their own ad blockers, but does not come automatically designed to run faster because ad blocking is more efficiently integrated into the operating system.

In a hypothetical case, Apple’s “fast browser” option would eliminate all ads, by default. The “slower” version would allow all ads by default, while allowing each app or each user the ability to add such features.

Of course, the “fast” version might use a subscription model, generating direct revenue for Apple.

As many have noted, that would lead to many apps and sites becoming less sustainable, or not sustainable at all. But such fast and slow operating systems might lead to yet another wave of debate and action around network neutrality.

If fast lanes or favored apps are violations, why not fast or slow browser operation?

Huge Chunks of the Internet Could Disappear, Eventually, Because of Ad Blocking

The Internet is a loosely-coupled ecosystem, it often is helpful to remember. Unlike a vertically-integrated business or industry, unless all key elements are aligned, the value chain does not work very well.

That technical architecture also is a business architecture, underpinning and limiting the possible major business models. So when a key element of the value chain shifts, there is impact across the ecosystem.

We seem to have arrived at point where the existing value chain is under stress from any number of forces and trends. Observers do not agree, but strong forms of network neutrality (including the notion that all bits must always be treated alike) and now ad blocking are emerging as issues.

To be sure, even strong forms of net neutrality do not fundamentally change today’s value chain and business models. But they could be quite important forces over the long term, ironically as ad blocking increases.

The fundamental issue is that advertising and quality of service are two methods by which lower cost or “no incremental charge” services and apps have been provided to end users and customers (both retail end user customers and business-to-business customers).

If existing revenue models get stressed, as ad blocking eventually will do, either new models will be discovered or much content, and many services, will disappear, as will many present and potential suppliers of content and services.

Most people nowadays probably understand that if an app or service is “free,” then the users (or, more precisely, their personal data) are the product.

Part of that cost comes from surreptitious tracking of your browsing habits by outfits that sell that information to advertisers.

The other cost comes from ads that are placed on webpages. The rise of ad blocking flows from that latter fact. One test showed an ad blocker improved page load time from 18 seconds to less than 4.5 seconds, when using a number of ad blockers.


As helpful as advertising is to defray the cost of free or low-cost apps and services, there now is growing end user experience impact.

Webpages load slowly. Videos pop up unannounced and – worse still – start to play without your consent, consuming bandwidth on accounts that typically have usage caps of some sort. That arguably is a bigger problem for mobile users than fixed users, but that is the issue: more use of the Internet comes on mobile devices.

Ooyala’s Q2 2015 Global Video Index showed that nearly half of all video plays and ad impressions for publishers occurred on mobile devices.

Ooyala said 44 percent of all video views in the quarter were on mobile devices, an increase of 844 percent since the second quarter of 2012, and a compound annual growth rate that exceeds 110 percent.

Ooyala also found that 49 percent of all ad impressions for publishers were on mobile devices during the quarter, a jump of some 11 percent from the previous quarter.

So it’s not surprising that use of ad-blocking software is growing. That might not be a good thing, beyond the benefits end users derive from the practice. If revenue models are premised on advertising, then the death of advertising is going to have severe repercussions on the rest of the ecosystem.

Improved user experience is one thing. It is hard to argue that is a bad thing. But business model collapse is probably not a great thing. Huge chunks of the ecosystem could disappear.

Jana Builds Sponsored Data Business

Let us be clear: Facebook does not participate in sponsored data or zero rating programs. Its Free Basics program does not involve any financial transfers from Facebook or its apps to Internet services providers, nor do ISPs pay anything to Facebook.

source: Jana

On the other hand, others might wish to do so. Jana, for example, has done so successfully, in multiple markets, offering airtime in exchange for taking some action desired by sponsors, such as trying an app.

Clients like LINE  pay Jana to get their apps in front of users who spend more than ten minutes a day on WhatsApp, for example.

The idea is not new. Entrepreneurs have tried to launch various ad-supported services for decades. Jana might be succeeding because of its ability to use billing systems more affordably than ever before, and because it can mine data better, at low cost.

Think of the issue with micropayments. Generally speaking, it has been difficult to sell products at cents when billing costs represent dollars of cost.

The same problem holds for rewards of usage that are relatively limited, when the cost of authorizing and then fulfilling a specific transaction is not very low.

Internet.org Rebrands "No Data Plan" Service as Free Basics

Internet.org has been rebranded as Free Basics, a mobile app and website which provides no-charge access to some 60 apps without the need for buying a mobile data plan. The new name obviously better describes what the service entails.

The organization also is helping third parties create new Wi-Fi services in rural areas of India. Called Express Wi-Fi, that initiative provides support for entrepreneurs who want to sell Wi-Fi access.

The initiative aims to enable Wi-Fi  at lower retail prices than has been possible before. Part of the effort might well entail stripping out bandwidth-intensive elements such as advertising and video.

Facebook has already set up such hotspots in partnership with Internet service providers in parts of Uttarakhand and Bangalore.