Published by Babar Bhatti and Arsalan Mir on February 2, 2010
under Social Networks, blogging
We created our facebook fanpage recently to update our readers on their facebook feeds and in the span of two months we have reached over more than 400 fans. Thank you all, we value your support and interest.
We would like you all to interact with us and other fans on our page and share your opinions, concerns or whatever is on your mind. Now you can also post discussions, pictures and videos relating to the state of telecom industry in Pakistan and share it with others.
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Before I discuss the unexplored potentials in mobile financial services (MFS) as mentioned in my last post on the same topic, let us analyze the services currently offered – mobile bill payments and mobile money transfer (domestic) by easypaisa. In this post we shall take a look at how are they different from similar traditional services, how are they seen in other developing countries and their growth and reach.
While browsing the easypaisa facebook fanpage, I got a chance to see watch a TVC, by far the best one I have seen so far. It is a Telenor commercial about an eassy on “The Future” written a by school going girl in early days of telephone.
Just a decade ago, traditional media such as print, radio and tv dominated the marketing budgets. Today its a completely different world: two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit a social network or blogging site and the sector now accounts for almost 10% of all internet time, according to a recently released report by Nielesen Media. With the rise of online media (Internet) and in particular the user generated social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook) there has been a clear shift in the way marketing messages are created and consumed. Smart companies now pay equal attention to social media as they do to other methods of communications and marketing. In case of telcos in Pakistan we have recently seen Telenor embracing social media to engage its customers and to create buzz through bloggers. This post is a review of Telenor Pakistan’s efforts to promote its brand using social media.
Djuice, the youth oriented brand of Telenor is using Facebook to connect with its customers. See an example below where Djuice answer questions about how to block unwanted / annoying sms messages. Makes a lot of sense as Facebook is where most of Djuice users are likely to hang out.
One thing is very clear, the mobile data usage can never match the voice usage. But I believe it still has a lot of room to grow. The operators with their attention on the voice users should also focus on the data services. We still lack in making the data services known to common masses. Operators can play a pivotal role here in awareness of the mobile data services.
When mobile phones came consumers were already aware of telephonic voice services and voice going mobile was appreciated by all and thus mobile gained popularity. But when SMS entered the market it wasn’t much appreciated because consumer were not really aware of its potential. In fact SMS was rarely used and was costly. But then some steps like making it free for limited time, reducing the cost, bringing in unlimited usage packages (bundles) made SMS an invincible necessity.
Now we have the GPRS/EDGE based data services which are not known by a majority of mobile users. The operators need to run a campaign first to educate the consumers of the potential use of data services and then make these services accessible for all.
A few ways I think this can be done:
Facebook Mobile. We have a huge base of Facebook users in Pakistan. Many of these users would use it from the mobile if it was easy and cheap.
Email. Blackberrry aside, using email from other phones is not widespread yet. Awareness of Mobile Email clients needed.
Mobile Weband Content. This is one of the big things which iPhone accomplished but still needs to widespread.
Location Based Services. Maps, directions, local information, coupons based on your location.
All the latest mobile set support the mobile data services, awareness will make the little shift in the mind-sets needed to boost these data services which will make room for 3G services.
soon on the potential of EDGE/GPRS services i feel that we still need to make the most out of it and make it as popular as SMS… the recent poll at telecompk.net is the first step to get an idea what percentage usually uses these services
23:39Imtiazsoon on the potential of EDGE/GPRS services i feel that we still need to make the most out of it and make it as popular as SMS… the recent poll at telecompk.net is the first step to get an idea what percentage usually uses these services
23:39Imtiaz
This August everyone is doing the best in their capacity to mark celebrations for the 62nd Independance Day. The ‘Go Green’ campaign is doing a great job, turning the Social Networks (Twitter/Facebook) Green. Not just this but the Nation’s Tweeples aim to get #Pakistan in to Twitter Trending Topics on 14th August.
This post takes a look at how are the major Telcos contributing to the Independence Day Celebrations.
PTCL,the national land-line operator is giving away cash prizes on new land-line connections this August.
At the broadband front PTCL has come up with another Independence Day offer, giving away laptops on new broadband connections.
For Pakistanis abroad, LocalPhone is offering 50% off their regular rate: To mark 62 years of Pakistani independence you’ll be able to call any landline or mobile in Pakistan for just 3.95¢ per minute from 18:00 GMT on Thursday 13th until 18:00 GMT on Friday 14th August (midnight to midnight in Pakistan).
Mobilink has not come up with any offer/promotion but celebrating in its own way, their website have got an Independence Avator. Patriotic song from their last year’s Independence campaing ‘Aye Watan’ plays in the background and the cursor gets green with crescent and stars.
Ufoneno offer/promotions to celebrate Independence. Should we expect an Independence TV Commercial from them :).
Telenor, although arranged bloggers meet-up in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to launch the Persona Weblounge, but nothing particular for Independence Celebrations.
They could have scored by launching the Persona Weblounge on 14th August.
Warid, once again nothing special for August Celebrations.
Wateen, well at one end they slashed on their rates but at the other downsized - reportedly fired around 500 employees. No time for celebrations here.
Zong, the china mobile company could have come up with something on pak-china friendship but ‘SAB KEH DOU’ squad have nothing to say this August.
UPDATE:
Telenor has started on its Independence Campaign on the evening of 13th. The focal points of the activity will be Lahore. You can be a part of ‘Telenor Float’ which will travel on the roads of Lahore. Karachi would be having Telenor’s Azadi Carvan on Tariq road. Hyderabad Gym khana would be having a Family Concert by Telenor. In Rawalpindi touch-up points will be palced in different parts of the city.
Waridhas come up with a not so popular offer (not highlighted properly on thier website) is an Azadi Package for Rs. 2999. Offer includes a Trend mobile phone along with an exclusive 0321 Code Warid post paid Sim with 75 free minutes every month and Rs 500 security waiver.
Wateen, Independence gift comes on 14th August, waiving 60 percent on Subscription charges.
Social media and digital technologies are making way into our living rooms. US telecom company Verizon has introduced a new service on its fiber-based TV service where users can access Twitter and Facebook on their TV. Of course mobile has been a leading channel for social networking and now TV is trying to position itself as another important channel.
One can argue that the demographics which is into social media (youth, professionals and early technology adopters) are not the same who spend much time on TV. On the other hands it could be useful for stay at home women. Only time will tell if this integration is useful and whether it becomes popular or not. Who knows, PTCL may launch this too!
All Facebook users who also carry a BlackBerry must rejoice and should try out version 1.6.0.17 that is out now and is available to download. Simply go to the existing Facebook application and select to upgrade. If you don’t have the app on your BlackBerry phone already, you can download it from here. I have been using the Facebook app on my BlackBerry for a while now but it always lacked many features and the wap site m.facebook.com was always better. I’ve also been trying some third party tools like shozu and snaptu for Facebook access but none of them have been as simple, comprehensive and convenient as the wap site. This time, the development team has done the job very well and has given a feature boost to the application and now I don’t use the wap site anymore.
The new features include:
A new and improved home screen that shows status updates.
You can comment on these statuses
A new “View Highlights” screen that shows photos posted by users, status updates, wall posts, photo comments, relationship status changes, phone number changes and a bundle of other updates.
Capability of commenting from the above mentioned “View Highlights” screen.
An improved Notification page
Photo gallery — View Highlights
An improved Friend’s list that allows, not only to poke and message friends, but lets you call them, view their profile.
The user profile screen that lets you view updates from a friend and yes, my favorite, browse and view the albums and photos
An amazing album and photo gallery? Watching photos from Facebook friends’ albums is a charm on this app. Did I mention that already?
Photo gallery allows you to browse and scroll through the photos, zoom into the photos and set photos as the BB home screen.
View Profile —– Upload and Tag Photos
All existing features including poke, message, write on wall, invite friends, tag and upload photos etc are also there and are complemented by the new features and they complement the new features too.
The app also allows you to sync your Facebook and Blackberry contacts. You can connect Facebook profiles with existin entries on your Blackberry contacts, you can request phone numbers of Facebook friends and you can also search for people in your Blakcberry contacts on Facebook and add them up.
Following wizard came up on my web-based Facebook when I logged in just after installing the new Facebook app on my Blackberry.
You can watch the usage video posted below to get an idea of the new feature’s working.
Note, I carry a non-wifi Blackberry, so the application looks a bit slow in the video.
Summary
Overall, the application is a hit. I don’t find many drawbacks in the app.
The good:
View albums: Its smooth, shows album name, preview photo and number of photos in it. Nice side-wise scrolling transitions.
View photos: Amazing full screen photo viewing with photo title/info and swapping between photos in an album is a charm. Side wise scrolling thumbnails make it look so good.
View profiles: A new feature with great options like view photos, poke, message and profile activity of the user.
Great contact sync: Allows you to sync your Facebook contacts with Blackberry contacts and vise-versa.
Request phone number: You can request a Facebook user’s phone number and can sync it with the phone so that you can use it for calling. I got to talk to a few very old friends just because of this feature.
The Bad
The earlier Facebook notification system worked great with the Blackberry holster. (Facebook notification rings, you pull out the phone and notification is right on the screen). Things are not that good with this version. Notification system doesn’t work. Doesn’t work at all. But this is a very small glitch and I’m sure things will be fixed in next version.
Facebook experience on Blackberry is still behind Facbook experience on an iPhone.
Like I had mentioned in my previous post, the Nokia Bloggers Meet-up was held on 22nd May at The Sports Bar – Karachi. The event wasn’t just a bloggers meet-up but also a sneak-peak of N97.
N97- The new entrant in the Nokia’s flagship N-series is due to launch in Pakistan in first week of June. This time Nokia came different and thus was this pre-launch meet-up with the bloggers.
Mr. Adeel Hashmi, Communication Manager – Nokia Pakistan, started off the event giving an introduction to the idea of meeting the bloggers for the pre-launch and promised more of such meet-ups. The keynote speakers of the evening were Mr. Khurram Pradhan, Product and Portfolio Manager and Ms. Shabana Shahzad, Program Manager.
Khurram Pradhan gave his presentation on the main theme of N97 – Personal Internet. In his presentation he also focused on what’s driving the transformation of converged devices. He discussed that Nokia has been working on converging mobile phone with internet from last decade to enhance the personal internet experience.
At present out of the 1.3 billion internet users 520 million use it on mobile device and research has indicated this figure will go up to 1.5 billion by the year 2012. Nokia being consumer centric is on the move to make the mobile broadband dream a reality.
Not only this Nokia also plans to attract the market where we have 93 million users using the social network services like facebook, my space and twitter on their mobile devices, 82 million downloading maps on their devices, 22.3 million access the internet on devices daily for news and information and where we also have 184 million blogs among which 77% are actively read and commented. In efforts of enriching the networking experience, the N97 comes with third party widgets, which are standalone programs on your mobile home screen.
Nokia’s customer care is a two dimensional strategy, one, devices for connecting people and second devices for connecting places which it achieves along with Ovi Maps.
Foreseeing the future in application development Nokia has acquired all of the rights to the Symbian operating system (OS) and open sourced it under the Eclipse license.
Khurram’s part ended with a Q and A session and then came the most interesting and most awaited SNEAK PEAK at the N97. Ms. Shabana Shahzad conducted it. Bloggers were also given the feel-it experience of N97.
Some of the N97 features are:
- Easy and fast connections to internet services
- Easy text input with QWERTY keyboard and touch screen
- 3.5 inch sliding tilt display
- Live personalized home screen with widgets
- Up-to-date information via RSS feed
- Fully compatible with Oviservices
- Browse real web pages
- Take pictures and videos and share them immediately
- Watch high-quality video on the large 3.5 inch 16:9 widescreen
- Video playback at 30 fps, for a wide array of formats
- Play videos, music and pictures on TV using TV-out
- Access internet video feeds through Nokia Video Center
- Enjoy great audio through standard 3.5 mm jack headphones, built-in stereo speakers or Bluetooth technology
- Digital music player with support for play list editing, equalizer and categorized access to your music collection
- Search, browse and purchase songs online in Nokia Music Store (for availability, please visit www.music.nokia.com)
- Nokia Maps with integrated compass and A-GPS receiver
- Multimedia city guides and navigation services. Drive: voice guided car navigation, or Walk: pedestrian-optimized turn-by-turn guidance. (Navigation may need to be purchased separately.)
- World-class game titles with N-Gage
- Make you home-screen private any time you want
N97 Tech Profile:
System: WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA), EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
User Interface: S60 5th Edition
Dimensions: 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm*mm (L x W x H) *18.25 mm at camera area
Weight: Approx. 150 g
Display: 3.5 inch TFT with up to 16 million colorsnHD16:9 widescreen (640×360 pixels)
Battery: Nokia Battery BP-4L, 1500 mAh
Memory: Up to 48GB (32 GB on-board memory, plus 16GB expansion via micro SD memory card slot)
Video playback: MPEG-4 / SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,up to 30 fps, up to VGA resolution Real Video up to QCIF @ 30 fps Windows Media (WMV9) up to CIF @ 30 fps Flash Lite 3.0 / Flash Video in internet browser
Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
Lens: Carl Zeiss Tessar™
Image capture: Up to 5 mega pixels (2584 x 1938) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
Aperture: F2.8
Focal length: 5.4 mm
Flash: Dual LED camera flash and video light
Talk time: Up to 320 min (3G), 400 min (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 400 hrs (3G), 430 hrs (GSM)
Video playback: Up to 4,5 hours (offline mode)
Music playback: Up to 37 hours (offline mode)
The device shall be availabe here in second week of june at an expected retail price of Rs. 60,000.
The wireless panorama is changing at a high-speed. Starting with the 1st Generation of communication networks (1G) in the early 80s and many evolutions we now have 4th Generation to talk about. In the last 3 years we have seen the deployments of 3G networks and most recently the work on 4G is on the peak.
From 1G to 4G we have seen changes in the modulation schemes, duplexing methods, multiple access technologies, data rate, speech coding, antenna systems and other aspects which have played a role to make communication efficient over the period of time.
But the question remains, do we need them? So much of an advancement of technology, has it really given us benefit in terms of both services and economics (cost) ?
Let’s take a look at each generation.
1st Generation (1G) had the famous AMPS standard. It offered basic voice services with cost being high initially but went down with time.
2nd Generation (2G) is well known for the GSM technology. It started off with offering digital voice services and then we had the short message service (SMS). The 2G changed the lives of many, it became impossible to live without a cell phone. Initially these services came with costs not in the range of average consumer but still gained popularity and the cost went down with time. Earlier a call received was charged, but today we have SMS packages, Friends and Family offer, One Free number offer and many more.
Then came the evolutions of 2G, we saw high speed data links on GPRS or EDGE. This laid the foundation of mobile internet. Once again the initial costs were high and it offered limited services. This evolution raised many questions on its actual need. Why need mobile internet with limited services when we have broadband or dial-ups at offices and homes? Although, these services are not as popular as SMS, but with time they have captured a small proportion of the population. Businesses today rely heavily on GPRS/EDGE to get online to check emails and act upon them immediately. Social networks are fast expanding on GPRS/EDGE, examples include facebook and twitter. With all this happening the cost again has gone down.
I would leave this post here for discussions and continue it later.
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