Wireless

iphonecanada

10 Jul 2008

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Rogers Climbdown – Egg on Face Purely from Rogers Shooting Themselves in the Foot

Yesterday’s climbdown by Rogers on 3G iPhone (in fact, quicly extended to all smart phones) data pricing was nothing short of spectacular. Since the weekend, I’ve watched as many of my colleagues in the Blogosphere have pushed a campaign of long term customer lobbying over the goal line. Clearly, in addition to influential bloggers, Apple is the industry titan that has been able to unclog an uncompetitive wireless market in Canada unlike any other company (or government) so far.

The story has been well covered, with a good selection of the chronology, below:

However, apart from the obvious power that an internet-engaged base of consumers now has over even the largest companies and apart from a major victory for grassroots campaigning, there is an even bigger lesson to be learned from this.

Early Adopters of iPhone 3GIn a blog post back in April “Early Adopters versus Business Models: Shooting Yourself in the Foot?”, I stressed that companies who fail to engage early adopters and keep them happy risk both sabotaging an emerging market, but also creating long term ill will that is almost impossible to reverse. My personal hypothesis is that that the ratio of the cost to reverse grassroots consumer dissatisfaction (bad will) to delivering a message when the company brand is seen as consumer friendly (good will), may well be as high as 1000 to 1.

While we must await the long term customer fallout from this major misstep and climbdown by Rogers, I suspect that Rogers has suffered a significant long term liability on its balance sheet.

Again, it is clear the companies ignore early adopters at their peril.

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iphone460

21 May 2008

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Indigestion from “Half Baked” Mobile Web Browsing

Blackberry Pearl - Convergence of Network and InformationBlackberry Pearl – Convergence of Network and Information

Yesterday, Chris Sacca (ex Googler extraordinaire, investor in the likes of Twitter and recent Tech Leadership Conference Keynote speaker) shot a provocative salvo across the bow of the Twittosphere. Many times Twitter is a true belwether, capturing the pulse of market dynamics. And, although saying this might not go down well in Waterloo, it struck a chord with me. Here’s Chris’s shot of wisdom:

Chris Sacca“Surfing the web on a Blackberry is like trying to prepare dinner for four with an Easy-Bake” Oven.

In the mobile universe, aren’t we forever doomed to suffer a hopelessly limited and painful browsing experience? And, why is mobile browsing that important anyway?Whizzy gizmos like the accelerometer aside, the key breakthrough of last year’s Apple iPhone launch was to deliver mobile browsing that is every bit as rich as the equivalent desktop experience. The entire universe of websites accessible to the desktop user simply works in the iPhone browser. This is equally true on 2G EDGE networks, and doesn’t depend on the forthcoming release the iPhone 2 with its higher speed 3G HSDPA capabilities.In short, Apple has moved the bar a quantum leap higher for the entire mobile market. Constrast that with the Blackberry (Pearl or Curve) which so frustrates Chris Sacca. Many sites that work on my notebook give errors, render poorly on the Blackberry screen or use features which simply aren’t supported. On top of that, the browsing and rendering is unbelievably s-l-o-w. Nokia on the Symbian S60 phones, like the N95, is way ahead of Blackberry, but still needs to retool to catch Apple’s strong lead.But, most of all, this is so important because mobile browsing is becoming the only application mechanism that matters for mobile. The myriad hassles of operator locking and closed platforms has effectively rendered the market for downloaded mobile applications stillborn. 2008 is the year in which it has become crystal clear to all of us in the mobile space, that the application platform of choice is, in fact, the browser.The test of Blackberry’s ability to reassert some market leadership will be the new Blackberry Bold which is expected later in 2008. Most people in the know are keenly awaiting to see if it’s browsing experience can rise the the iPhone challenge, or will it merely close some of the gap with Nokia which is itself still an also ran? For me, this may well be the most important strategic market inflection point for Blackberrry over the next year or so. Thus, it would be great if someone in the RIM-plex would care to comment?

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twitterverse_cs-1024x768-1

4 May 2008

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Tweets from #TLC Twitterverse

Mark Evans - Panel ModeratorChris Sacca

Ever since I attended AlwaysOn OnMedia NYC conference in January 2007, where I witnessed the unfolding of a parallel conference on large side-mounted LCD panels, I’ve been intrigued by the power of social media to enhance the traditional conference experience. That conference pioneered a new delivery approach, which attempts to exploit peer-to-peer discussions and even involve those outside the conference in the event itself. I’m convinced that, in the context of conferences at least, much of the power of the social media lies in creating a whole new back channel of discussion. In that way, conference attendees can network, take notes and make the conference as personal to their needs as they desire.

The same thing was happening at the recent Communitech Tech Leadership Conference (TLC) in Waterloo on May 1st. In fact, when I made the suggestion to Iain Klugman (Communitech President) to consider installing those monitors for the next event, he was most enthusiastic. Nonetheless, while reflecting on the important, high level lessons from this conference, (which I plan to cover in a later blog posting), I did a quick mash-up of the main Twitter posts from TLC. I dug around and herein include a representative sampling, with apologies to anyone missed or anyone not wanting to be so immortalized, which paints an interesting picture of this back channel, including:

  • most Twitters were from attendees, but surprisingly people outside the conference, both local and some as far away as the UK, got into the conversation.
  • some speakers (e.g. sacca and markevans) were in also involved in the dialogue – is the back-channel “on message” with carefully prepared presentations?
  • on that point, follow the link in markevans Twitter for some commentary on perceived “tension” between the “old school” and new style of funding models
  • sometimes the comments reinforced the points, sometimes they challenged them. Is it true that perhaps, in contrast to the famous Mark Zuckerberg/Sarah Lacy SXSW encounter, people in Waterloo are too polite to mock the speakers?
  • my Twieets were an attempt to use Twitter for digital note taking. By capturing some key thoughts and ideas, a later Tweetscan could retrieve them easily
  • and, lastly, is Waterloo as Web 2.0 and social media savvy as we like to think? With around 6 Twitters out of 500 attendees, it’s a question worth asking.

I would suggest that the social media “web” as seen in Twitter, may well be as transformational to the conference as the advent of the web (Web 1.0) was to print media. And, of course, Twitter is really just Social 1.0.

So, enjoy this reverse-chronological peek into the back-channel dialogue from TLC on May 1st.

  • jimmurphy:Jeff Taylor (founder of Monster.com) rocked the closing keynote #TLC 2008-05-01 16:21:31

  • lborsato:Now he has people taking their shoes off. I’m very concerned what is next.2008-05-01 16:09:50

  • lborsato:Jeff Taylor is engaging the audience in some old school evangelism.2008-05-01 15:44:53
  • jimmurphy:Never more than 100 feet from food on Google campus says @sacca. #TLC2008-05-01 14:02:53
  • cubicgarden: “the end of control….” I like it, but chris anderson says it should all be free? 2008-05-01 14:01:43
  • jimmurphy:@Google 20% free time frees resources for different groups. Avoids VP-to-VP fiefdom bargaining for resources and makes things happen. #TLC 2008-05-01 14:00:56
  • jimmurphy: Good Google Culture Dump from @sacca at #TLC2008-05-01 13:57:33
  • jimmurphy: @sacca Showing the Omid Kordistani email that reduced poor perfroming ads to value attention of users. Put 60% of revenue at risk. #TLC2008-05-01 13:35:53
  • jimmurphy:@sacca Working with the republican FCC was possible. Saw eye-to-eye on wireless competitiveness #TLC2008-05-01 13:22:57
  • randallh: How to get out of “the dark ages of the mobile environment” 2008-05-01 13:22:43
  • randallh: Chris Sacca, crusader to open up mobile platforms 2008-05-01 13:20:15
  • garywill: @sacca talking Irv Weinstein and Uncle Bobby … two of the region’s icons 2008-05-01 13:16:10
  • garywill: Finished lunch … tasted like chicken … almost 2008-05-01 13:08:19
  • sacca: I had a really good time in Waterloo and am psyched my dad came to drive me back over the border to Lockport. 12:32 PM May 01, 2008
  • garywill: Rick Segal has left the building 2008-05-01 12:13:27
  • stevepulver: great debate on stage at the TechLeadership conference 12:05 PM May 01, 2008 from fring
  • lborsato: Chris Anderson says that he builds companies that are distributed because that’s where the best people are.2008-05-01 12:03:02
  • garywill: Old guys don’t have Twitter … according to Rick 2008-05-01 12:02:50
  • lborsato: Somebody else is Twittering here after all.2008-05-01 12:01:12
  • randallh: More people 55+ than 18-34 on the internet #TLC 2008-05-01 11:58:44
  • garywill: @sacca says the number of Twitter users has doubled in 45 days 2008-05-01 11:48:15
  • melledotca: Kinda wish I was @ TLC. Ahh well, the tweets help.2008-05-01 11:43:33
  • garywill: @sacca says Twitter has no marketing budget 2008-05-01 11:43:16
  • garywill: Rick Segal countering with examples of money being needed 2008-05-01
  • randallh: Chris Anderson saying he wouldn’t know how to be a VC when you can start a company without maxing pith a credit card 2008-05-01 11:39:36
  • lborsato:@garywill How many more people do you think are twittering in the audience? 2008-05-01 11:37:30
  • randallh: Chris Sacca: “traditional VC funds haven’t fathomed how cheap it is now to build a software company” 2008-05-01 11:34:25
  • lborsato:Chris Sacca, one of Twitter’s investors, is talking about what is happening on the web right now. He’s from Lockport, NY. 2008-05-01 11:32:12
  • stevepulver: is watching Chris Sacca from twitter speak in Waterloo 2008-05-01 11:31:53
  • randallh: Wow, only about 6 people of 500 at #TLC are on Twitter 2008-05-01 11:30:34
  • randallh: Jeff Taylor of Eons: “consumer brands on the east coast are fleeting” #TLC 2008-05-01 11:29:26
  • randall: watching Mark Evans panel with Chris*2, Rick and Jeff Taylor #TLC 2008-05-01 11:24:21
  • garywill:Mark Evans starting a panel discussion at TLC 2008-05-01 11:22:00
  • JeremyAuger:Just saw Chris Anderson, editor of WIRED, and author of The Long Tail present on his ideas, and the economics of ‘Free’. 2008-05-01 11:07:08
  • sacca: Love how many Twitters from the audience I got while on stage. Should I take Q&A that way during keynote? 10:08 AM May 01, 2008
  • randallh : “the curse of free – it’s a lot easier for small, new companies than incumbants” #TLC 2008-05-01 09:42:58

  • randallh: “free is going to be the price of some version of any product” #TLC 2008-05-01 09:41:03

  • randallh: Chris Anderson: in economics, “FREE is a weirdly under studied price” #TLC 2008-05-01 09:18:28

  • randallh: The origins of Socialism & Communism in the Pareto curve-fascinating #TLC2008-05-01 09:11:53

  • lborsato: Chris Anderson says that everyone is in a quest for the average consurmer – but there is no average consumer.2008-05-01 09:09:50

  • randallh: No wonder Chris Anderson is so good – he started out at The Economist #TLC 2008-05-01 09:01:46

  • randallh: Waterloo tech industry over 500 companies and revenues grew to $13 #TLC BN2008-05-01 08:52:15

  • randallh: Enroute to #TLC by Communitech 2008-05-01 07:39:28

  • jimmurphy: On my way to #TLC. Looking forward to meting Chris Anderson, Chris Sacca, Jeff Taylor and seeing Rick Segal again. http://is.gd/aRZ 2008-05-01 07:08:2

  • randallh: Finishing up a great tech CEO roundtable at Charbries 2008-04-30 23:27:00

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linn-sondek-lp12

28 Apr 2008

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Is There More to Early Adopters than the Next Big Thing?

In saying:

“believe me, you have to get up early if you want to get out of bed”

it’s not entirely clear that Groucho Marx was referring the much-vaunted early adopter of a previous post. Therein, I illuminated how important early adopters are and the hazards of miscuing when serving them in newly minted markets. Because of this, I thought I’d share a few personal experiences of what motivates me to adopt early. Of course, I’m a technophile, yet I’m hardly indiscriminate in my acquisition of new technologies.

How do I decide where to focus my energies? Let’s start by looking at a few of the new technologies I didn’t adopt and why not, and discern some lessons from that.

 

Linn Sondek - The Ultimate Audiophile's Turntable“The Ultimate Audiophile’s Turntable”
British Audiophile Bible in the 1970's and 1980'sBritish Audiophile Bible in the 1970’s and 1980’s

Compact Disc

As an audiophile in the 1970’s, I spent lots of time researching and purchasing hi-fi audio systems with a primarily primarily British lineage, including: high end turntable (Linn Sondek or Rega), cartridge (Supex), pre-pre-amp, pre-amp (Meridian, Naim or Tangent), amplifier, speakers (Harbeth), etc. I read the quirky “Hi Fi Answers”, patronized audiophile shrines like Ring Audio and CC Audio and even had equipment (from Tangent) for which total production volume was about 100.

The 1982 introduction of the Compact Disc (CD) was a major market disruption. Unfortunately, although the CD overcame the clicks and pops inherent in the analogue vinyl LP , the format had a disappointingly low sample rate limited by the state of technology at the time. As a good friend and audiophile engineer, who worked on the Synclavier synthesizer, said: “you can’t simulate a sine wave with a square wave”. Well, doubly so at too low a sample rate. Forced to create a standard that was at best a compromise, high end audio has suffered ever since. And, we won’t even mention that audiophile travesty known as MP3‘s.

I can remember being at the Spring CES in 1984 and hearing a CD demoed against a Linn Sondekand Meridian bi-amped system. After the blindfolds were removed, it was clear that i had been the LP which produced bright and vibrant sounds, while the CD sounded comparatively lifeless. As a result, I probably delayed my conversion from LPs to CDs for about 5 years, if only because the CD was good enough for the average audio listener. It’s interesting that the lowly vinyl LP continues in the turntable art and mashup set today, while I continue to remain unexcited by the sound quality of the CD, a standard launched more than 26 years ago. Of course, 99% of the market, apart from the long tail like me, think the CD was a vast improvement over the compact cassette and a low end turntable.

Blackberry Pearl - Convergence of Network and InformationBlackberry Pearl – Convergence of Network and Information
First Mass Market PDA 1996First Mass Market PDA 1996

Personal Digital Asistant

Way back in 1996 when some of my early adopter buddies hoisted their trendy stylus to enter text in a new language called Graffiti, the Palm Pilot was all the rage. Nonetheless I stuck stubbornly to my paper and leather Economist personal diary. My paper-based calendar and address book was simply good enough for me on a pragmatic level and it was also portable, fitting nicely into my jacket pocket.

What I seemed to know intuitively, way back then, was that the technology disuprtion that would change my thinking was the addition of the (mobile) internet connectivity into the mix. So, for me, the late 1999 birth of the original Blackberry 950 was a quite different story than the first PDAs. Essentially a two-way pager, which primitively fused email connectivity with the calendar and address book of the PDA, the early Blackberry was much less sleek than the device I now carry (pictured on the right).

By solving a new problem, doing email and keeping almost all my information at my fingertips, it became an indispensable arrow in the quiver of a nascent mobile nomad.

 

The Next Wave

Apple iPhone - Next Generation Browsing ExperienceApple iPhone – Next Generation Browsing Experience
Asus eee - MID ComputerAsus eee – MID Computer

Building on the lessons of the Blackberry, for me, the next wave of applications will clearly be in the web-enabled, mobile applications category. As an inadvertent mobile nomad, the value in being an early adopter may well be more apparent to me, and allow me to put up with more glitches than the next person. Of course, at least in North America, the entire mobile data infrastructure is still one big “beta test” when scrutinized for coverage, reliability and cost factors.

The big gap I see for the coming few years will be to both transition existing applications off my desktop and/or notebook computer and also to build new applications that benefit from the fusion of internet and mobile standards with things like GPS, Bluetooth, camera, secure payments, etc. Ironically, as we see convergence of more and more features in a single mobile device, we will also witness a new specialization as well. For example, a high-end GPS navigation device or a Mobile Internet Device (MID) may well have roles that the basic smartphone will never fulfill.

Recently, I’ve been testing a very simple MID computer called the Asus EeePC. With 7″ screen, full (but small keyboard), 8 GB solid state flash disc, 2 GB RAM and the ability to add 32GB of SDHC or USB disc, and running Ubuntu it does almost everything a legacy Windows notebook does. However, this is small, light, solid state so it can be used in more places and more flexibly. Not without some rough edges, the device shows promise and at least will help me evaluate a more mobile web-enabled application set of the future.

Lessons

Here are some lessons I’ve learned that have applicability both to those who like to live on the “bleeding edge” and to companies trying to serve the early adopter market:

  • most early adopters are quite selective in the technologies they will invest time in as pioneering users. Most either explicitly or intuitively identify gaps in their personal or business application environment.
  • in fact, perhaps each adapts a particular form of the “Ten X Rule” – ie. a new technology has to be at least 10 times better than what exists in the marketplace, simply to justify the switching costs. Some people may remember the Digital Audio Tape which, among other failings, didn’t need the 10X Rule compared to existing technologies.
  • early adopters in one product category may well be early majority or mainstream users of other technologies.
  • Next generation products, while better in many aspects, may well be a step backward in other ways.

Being a technology pioneer is both fun and time confusing. With appropriate focus, it does have its rewards. Please feel free to share your early adopter war stories and, to comment on the trends identified here.

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latte-matter-of-taste

19 Apr 2008

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“The Third Place”: A Better Place?

 

Remember 1200 baud ModemsRemember 1200 baud ModemsLatte from A Matter of Taste CafeLatte from A Matter of Taste Cafe

The Office Goes Home

Over a short span of years, I’ve witnessed work migrate from a highly structured office setting, to home offices via telecommuting and now into the “Third Place”, a term coined by Ray Oldenberg in his 1989 book The Great Good Place.

Back in the early 1980’s, I was a pioneer of telecommuting, between Waterloo and Chicago via a state of the art 1200 baud modem, pictured above, no less. There was intense interest in this at the time, because as an extremely early adopter (too early some might say) of the telecommuting paradigm, I felt a bit like a guinea pig. In retrospect this workstyle enabled extreme concentration and productivity. At the same time, the primitiveness of the communications technologies, from network speed to the software then available, necessitated a lot of travel for in-person meetings. And, tellingly, the home office can ultimately be a lonely workplace, leading to a decrease in social interaction and overall motivation.

In that early revolution over the last 25 years, telecommuting saw work slowly migrate, or more typically intermingle, between the second place (the office) and the first place (your home). Telecommuting has changed traffic patterns, social life and, on the whole, provided an improved work experience by increasing knowledge worker flexibility.

Enter the “Third Place”

As an early adopter, not to mention beta tester, of many cutting edge mobile technologies and as a long time road warrior working on a number of geographically dispersed projects, I’ve often explored a work style that the Economist has labelled “mobile nomadism”, in their richly insightful 12 April 2008 special section on “The New Nomadism”. Always a great read, the particular Economist feature stands out, especially for those interested in mobility for social, technological, political, artistic or economics reasons. Last week, Alec Saunders ran a great SquawkBox conference call on iotum, with the podcast available on his blog here.

 

The Great Good Place by Ray OldenburgThe Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg

In The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg characterizes the Third Place as:

“the place which is neither home nor work, where you spend comfortable time in easy association with friends and a few strangers.”

He celebrates the magic of the English Coffeehouse tradition and the seductive and widespread Viennese Cafe Culture as social gathering places that have often been scenes of political intrigue and even major business enterprise. Likely few are aware that in 1698, Jonathan’s Coffee-house in London started trading stocks and commodities, and eventually evolved into today’s London Stock Exchange. Ironically, Oldenburg was lamenting the decline of such third places.

Today’s revolution of being always connected, spawned by wiresless technologies, has dramatically reversed that decline. Version one of “on-demand” spaces is, of course, the humble WiFi enabled cafe. Locally in the Waterloo area, many establishments, beyond the ubiquitous Starbucks, have innovated in this genre, including:

  • A Matter of Taste which is an amazing fusion of art, coffee and WiFi hotspot,
  • Exhibit Cafe another melange of art and local, organic food right in the Children’s Museum,
  • Williams Coffee Pubs, a local chain with food and long hours, popular with students doing late night assignments, hackers and even those working on offering memoranda, and
  • C’est Bon Cafe, with its international flair and sinfully good Chocolate Fiesta Fire, and Refuge for village cocooning are great examples in bucolic Elora.

Initially, these cafes served as venues for meetings that were more informal, more conducive to creativity, and powered by wonderful Latte macchiato creations (pictured above). Eventually, I started to do small amounts of work there to increase productivity in the dead time between offsite meetings, including planning and brainstorming, reading briefing documents and eventually emails and, truth be told, writing this blog post. The environment is pleasant, a vibrant mix of people from a wide array of social backgrounds. It is worth noting that I always have the choice how much I wish to tune in or tune out those around me, just as I choose to go there to relax, work or both.

All new technology breakthroughs require adjustment. In this case, the major downside of nomadism is that the mix of real and virtual channels can lead to socially awkward situations. One is the issue of alienation, where people are more attuned to those they are in their virtual universe than those in the real world around them. While I may return to this topic at a later time, I would expect that society will eventually evolve a hybrid, multi-tasking communications style, learning to strike a reasonable balance between isolation and the global reach afforded by such virtual, always-on communications.

Instead I will focus on the opportunities. Beyond the obvious environmental benefits of reduced commuting, I strongly believe that the next generation of third places could serve to enrich our life as we build communities of the future. In Waterloo Region, there are signs that many are thinking about this challenge and building better third places that encompass peoples’ needs from business to the arts to entertainment and fun. In short, the building of vibrant, social spaces will create healthy cities of the future.

One aspect that is immediately apparent in the best of these first generation, third places listed above is the role of the arts in their mix. The simple coffee house is just the beginning. The impact of the arts is much more than art on the walls — it is a certain style and ambience you feel when you enter. Arts is an enormously creative endeavour, and I firmly believe, has a great affinity for the natural creativity inherent in the most innovative, knowledge-based companies of the 21st century. People like Alf Bogusky, Director General of KW Art Gallery have been developing a vision to reshape our urban spaces on a collaborative model based around the notion of third place. Historically, the arts institutions like art galleries, public libraries, theatres and concerts halls have been enclaves, walled off from the rest of the city. Alf and a group of leading thinkers have been mapping out a very different future, which exploits the natural synergies between all these stakeholders. Stay tuned …

In summary, we’ve witnessed a huge transaction through several generations of societal change from fixed offices to telecommuting and now rampant nomadism which is creating new spaces called the third place. I challenge all those who are beta testing the new mobile nomadism and who interact in these new third places, to please comment and share your experiences – we truly are building the city of the future in the context of the global village.

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shoot-in-the-foot

12 Apr 2008

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Early Adopters versus Business Models: Shooting Yourself in the Foot?

In an attempt to de-mystify seeming abstract business theory, from time to time, we will discuss “real world” examples of business models in action.

Both theory and practice underscore the importance of keeping early adopters engaged with a new product or service, a key enabler for creating a hit in the mainstream market. Of course, such trend setters love to play and revel in all things new. More importantly, they are also disproportionately connectors and influence makers, who can make or break eventual success in any marketplace. The new science of social networks merely provides proof of our intuitive sense that these people are the number one key to success in new markets.

To provide some historical context, a lack of serious engagement with application developers (a very specialized form of early adopter), penalized early Apple Macintosh market share, a failing which took nearly 20 years to put right! Thus, do people running both startups and major corporations, having learned this lesson, live and breathe attention to early adopter crowd?

Hardly. Below are two glaring examples, sadly (or perhaps tellingly), both involve the same major Canadian wireless carrier. Both involve a very simple lapse in appreciating of long term impact of short term decisions. Can you provide additional examples?

Bluegill TechnologiesElectronic Bill Presentment and Payment: In the late 1990’s, Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP), in which consumer bills that had been printed and mailed via the postal service, are instead processed automatically as a web service, was an exciting emerging market. I can remember the palpable frustration of Ray Simonson when I told him of my early adopter experiences EBPP. Ray, currently CEO of Software Innovation (Coreworx) and my partner at Verdexus , was co-founder and CEO of Bluegill Technologies (now Checkfree Software), which was the run away success and market leader in EBPP.

What was my involvement in this? Around 1998, I jumped at the option of “on-line” billing for my Rogers Wireless service (using a different platform than Bluegill by the way). As a committed early adopter, of course I signed up. Imagine my dismay when, at tax time, I found that the system had stored only the previous 6 months of bills! Because I no longer received paper bills in the mail, and this being early April, I had to scramble to find 9 of the preceding 12 months of billings to complete my return. And, this one year requirement doesn’t even take into account the tax authority’s rule of 7 years of record retention.

Did this early service meet my basic needs? No, it fell short, and spectacularly so. But, even worse, until very recently that negative early experience put a “chill” on my migration away from any form of paper bills, although I did pay online through my bank. Once burned, twice shy.

Wireless Data Pricing: Many people have commented on the issue of high data rates, and even higher charges for data roaming on wireless networks. The problem is endemic in the US and even more spectacularly in Canada, and is arguably a product of a flawed regulatory framework and inadequate competition.

Thomas Purves: Canada Worse than 3rd World Countries When it Comes to Mobile Data AccessThe roots of this problem have been discussed many times, including in this blog and by Alec Saunders. For example, Toronto entrepreneur and futurist, Thomas Purves, in his analytical (if not constructively inflammatory) posting “Canada Worse than 3rd World Countries When it Comes to Mobile Data Access” shows just how egregious data rates really are(see graph). My personal initiation into this problem occurred in 2006 when my normally $300/month Rogers bill came in about $1000 higher than I expected! The cause – the overage was split pretty equally between going over the meagre 25 MB of data (for which I already pay $60/month) and data roaming outside Canada. At the time, both were billed at a charge rate of $0.05/K or an unbelievable $50/MB! And, at least on my Blackberry or Nokia N80 there is absolutely no mechanism to monitor or meter consumption. Therefore, unlike voice with its call timers, there is no effective way to predict and high charges simply show up as unwelcome surprises on the next monthly bill.

Of course, who is going to argue with a company (again Rogers Wireless) exploiting its natural monopoly profits? This problem is more than my personal griping, or that of any individual business. The strategic significance is that if Canada (and to a less extent the US) continues to keep these barriers to adoption of wireless data applications, the innovation and economic benefits will migrate elsewhere. It’s very hard for Canadian mobile startups to compete globally with such a flawed home market. And, for Rogers, my strong belief is that any short term gain will be far outweighed by the loss of signficant data revenues as they become the driver of future wireless business models.

Two very sad stories indeed. I’d love to hear your take on this early adopter issue. Do you have stories of your own? Do you have a different take? Feel free to comment.

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