Skype, Motorola and VoIP - The Operator's Dilemma. 
On Monday Motorola announced a strategic alliance with Skype, the Voice over IP service.
For those that don't know, VoIP lets you make pretty good calls over
the net. And because it's going over the net, it's free providing you
have a connection and a device capable of interfacing like this.
Historically, this is generally a computer, with a mike and speakers if
you want to talk to and hear the other person.
Skype is free to download and
free to use, meaning you can make free phone calls all over the world.
And 71 million people have downloaded it, so far.
To date, that's mainly meant that landline operators are loosing
revenue and this is going to escalate horrendously in the coming years
- especially when cordless VoIP handsets (like "real" phones) come on
the market. This is expected to happen this year.
The double whammy for landline operators is that more and more people are choosing to "cut the cord" or decide just to own a mobile from now on.
But the Motorola announcement means that soon we'll be able to make
Skype calls on our mobiles. Actually, it's not just Motorola that's the
issue here - all the handset companies are looking at bundling VoIP
capabilities.
This means that we can bypass the mobile network operator's voice
tariff altogether from our mobile phone. And if we're at home or in
range of a hotspot, we can bypass the operator altogether and still
make calls.
The one redeeming piece of news is that switching from one network
to another as we're truly roaming is not reality yet - although it's
only a matter of time. So the idea of walking down a street and the
handset seamlessly selecting the cheapest network is not possible. But
if you're sitting in a hot spot and don't need to move out of the zone
while you call, that will work fine. Now.
So what would you do if you're an operator? Voice is still
overwhelmingly the "killer app" of mobile, accounting for the lion's
share of revenues. Supposing a significant part of that will be lost to
VoIP? Which, realistically, is highly likely.
There are really only two routes available.
Firstly, you can try to stop VoIP happening. You can refuse to sell
handsets that have the features that enable this. You can try to stop
users making VoIP calls with whatever weapons you happen to have in
your armoury, fair or foul.
As an example, Verizon tried this sort of approach recently in
relation to local file sharing, by disabling Bluetooth on their
handsets. Much hue and cry followed and a class action has been filed
to try to force Verizon to back down.
Top tip: If your customers start suing you, you're usually wrong.
Even if Verizon win the case, they'll loose their customers, so it a
Pyhrric victory, at best.
The point, I think, is that trying to prevent progress is not a
useful or successful management technique - it just doesn't work.
Fighting market trends is only going to have any positive results in
the very short term. But before too long, you'll be swamped and forced
into an ungainly retreat.
We're seeing this happen in the music industry daily, as desperate
record company bosses try to stop the free file sharing networks. This
is in spite of being majorly responsible to their set up and growth by
refusing to sanction legal operations until it was far too late.
And despite any actual evidence that file sharing harms revenues.
The only other approach is to shrug (Gallically, if you manage it -
the French do shrugging so well) and although it feels
counter-intuitive, embrace these changes. You have to run as fast as
you can towards the approaching danger. Seek out handsets which are
VoIP compatible and market the new service aggressively to your users.
While cannibalism will obviously occur and threaten your revenues,
it's better that you do this and still maintain your relationship with
your customer. There will be other services that you can sell them and
you may survive as a company and still even be profitable. You may even
figure out a way of making more money from them.
If you don't do this, it's a sure fact that someone else will, maybe
one of those nasty little MVNO's with nothing to loose and unimaginable
riches to gain. And that's when giants are in real danger of toppling
slowly over, never to get back up.
I'd be quite surprised if any of the biggies have the guts to take
this approach. Human nature is to go into denial at times like this.
But it's happening and bold decisions are needed.
Anyone agree? Disagree? Please leave a comment - it makes me go all weak and shivery when you do that. [The Mobile Technology Weblog]
2:56:24 PM 
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Wow, when you put it next to a RAZR, you can really start to get how tiny the Motorola V8 SLVR really is. Want that.
Megazooka!
The name sings. A little over a foot tall and wide, Megazooka(!) shoots
a strong vortex of air over twenty feet across a room. Using no
batteries or electricity and coming equipped with a sight on top, you
are now on your way to be a proper Fantastic Four villain. And the best
part? It never runs out of ammo, unless you're playing in a vacuum. I
can already think of a thousand uses for the Megazooka(!) around the
house. Since the Megazooka(!) has a locking trigger, unlike its little
brother Airzooka, I'll be able to sneak up on any pet I choose.
