The website of Alex Kinch, live from London
Archive for July, 2007
Digicel launch legal action against Cable & Wireless
Jul 19th
Caribbean mobile monopoly breaker Digicel has long complained about incumbent Cable & Wireless and their alleged anti-competitive behaviour – but today things took a further twist.
According to The Register, Digicel has launched action against C&W in the UK’s High Court, with the former accusing the latter of refusal to interconnect, as well as charging unreasonable termination fees where interconnection had been finally agreed. They claim C&W’s behaviour has delayed their expansion in the Caribbean markets, and cost the company hundreds of millions of pounds.
Cable & Wireless have denied the claims, dismissing them as a “spoiling tactic” that has no foundation. The case is not expected to reach a full hearing until 2008.
Truphone unveil new ‘funky ringtone’
Jul 19th
Mobile VOIP provider Truphone have unveiled a neat way to tell how whether your call is going via Truphone or your existing mobile operator.
One thing that makes Truphone different (and better, we humbly suggest) is that your phone works as always. No separate application – dial as usual and save pots of cash.
And how do you know your call is going via Truphone? Easy – thanks to our spankingly-innovative ‘Truphone Ring’.
Want to know what it sounds like? Here’s the video:
Indonesia gets text sex ed service
Jul 19th
Link: Dr Love brings good sex to Indonesia
Young Indonesians will no longer be misinformed about sex, as Fiesta Condoms launches a sex education text service in the country.
“We learned that nearly 50 percent of young Indonesians were learning about sex from watching pornographic movies,” Fiesta Condoms representative Christopher Purdy said.
“We believed that there was an important need for information — especially considering the high number of unwanted pregnancies among young people here… young Indonesians have so many questions about sex but do not know where to go for answers. This hotline will answer any question you have without judging you,” he added.
If, after that interesting statistic on the habits of Indonesian teens and their viewing habits, you think the article couldn’t get any more amusing, just check out the text number:
The hotline service allows teenagers and anyone with access to a mobile phone from all over Indonesia to send their queries to a panel of Indonesian doctors by text messaging to +65 94 DRLOVE (+65 943 75683) anonymously, allowing plenty of privacy and freedom to enquire about a topic that is largely a social taboo.
Wicked. And what does “Dr. Love”, aka Dr. Wei Siang Yu – founder of Love Airways (no really), a partner in the programme – have to say about it all?
“Sex education should be for the people and by the people. It should be (available) anytime and anywhere and if doctors can support public health and use current multimedia technology, many social problems can be solved,” the lively doctor said, referring to issues like HIV and sexually transmitted disease infections, unwanted pregnancies and fertility issues.
I’m not sure if I want advice “by the people” given the previous statistic on where they learn their information from.. not too sure about getting help from a “lively doctor” either.
Anyway, in all seriousness, it looks like a good solution to help with some of the issues of concern amongst young adults in the country.
Plus SMS face cash crisis.. again
Jul 19th
Link: National Business Review (NBR) – Business, News, Arts, Media, Share Market & More
More rumblings from New Zealand, with another twist in the saga of Plus SMS…
Text message company Plus SMS is facing a cash crisis following its sacking of a senior manager for gross misconduct and alleged fraud.
Last month the company reported a loss of $11.9 million for the year to March and this week it slashed its revenue forecasts for the coming year by 44% due to issues associated with senior manager Nicolas Barrera Rios.
Plus SMS said this week it had terminated the employment contract of Mr Barrera Rios and had initiated legal action to recover potential damages for lost earnings.
Ofcom call for ‘instant’ number porting
Jul 19th
Link: Moving mobile numbers should be instant | The Register
Ofcom has issued a second document on number portability, recommending that customers be able to instantly move their fixed and mobile numbers between networks.
Number portability, the ability to take your phone number with you when you change networks, increases churn – and thus competition – wherever it’s been introduced. But while the UK was one of the first places to introduce the capability, it now lags behind many countries in the speed and complexity of the process.
They’re also calling for a central database of ported numbers to speed up the process, and the industry to improve procedures to minimize the risk of so called ‘slamming’ – in which a customer is moved from one network to another without his or her knowledge or permission.
BBC axe all phone and interactive competitions
Jul 18th
Link: BBC NEWS | Entertainment | BBC to suspend phone competitions
Hot on the heels of the scathing report by Ofcom into broadcasters’ usage of premium SMS and telephone services – but apparently unrelated - the BBC has announced plans to suspended all phone-related, interactive and online competitions with virtually immediate effect.
All phone-related competitions on BBC TV and radio will cease from 0000 BST on Thursday, while interactive and online competitions will be taken down as soon as possible.
The BBC Trust said it was “deeply concerned that significant failures of control and compliance within the BBC have compromised the BBC’s values of accuracy and honesty”.
“Systemic failure of compliance” for TV prem services
Jul 18th
Link: Ayre inquiry reveals systemic failure by broadcasters | Ofcom
UK communications regulator Ofcom have today published the outcome of their inquiry into use of premium rate services by broadcasters – and they’re not pulling any punches.
The inquiry found that:
Compliance failures were systemic;
Revenue generation was a major driver in the growth of PRS;
Some broadcasters appeared to be in denial about their responsibilities to ensure programmes delivered on the transactions they offered to viewers;
There was an apparent lack of transparency through the supply chain – between telecoms operators, producers and broadcasters – resulting in a lack of clarity about responsibilities; and
Broadcasters are concerned that there is a lack of clarity between the regulators, Ofcom and ICSTIS.
There’s a great quote from Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards: “Phoning a TV show isn’t like ordering pizza. When you put the phone down nothing arrives: you just have to trust that your call was counted. If broadcasters want audiences to go on spending millions calling in, they need to show they take consumer protection as seriously as programme content.”
The inquiry is online here - worth a read if you’re in the business of providing premium SMS or voice services.
U Cincinnati Links Blackboard to Text Messaging
Jul 18th
Link: U Cincinnati Links Blackboard to Text Messaging
According to Michael Lieberman, dean of instructional and research computing, clearTXT has been made available through Blackboard to all courses at the University of Cincinnati. Professors can log into the system and quickly send a text message to students when a grade is posted, a new assignment is made, or to remind students about an upcoming quiz.
After all the recent stories about using text messaging for emergency alerts at universities, it’s nice to see a story covering a more day-to-day use of SMS.
How did you break or lose your mobile?
Jul 18th
Following on from yesterdays story revealing some of the silliest reasons for claiming on mobile phone insurance, Steve asked for a thread on “mad mobile loss/theft/etc stories”. So here we go. Shall we let him kick off proceedings?
Personally my favourite excuse for buying a new phone was that as I leant over the toilet a few years back my phone slipped from my jacket pocket and went straight down the pan!! mad but true!
Nice one Steve!
I’ve got a few to share.. I forgot that I’d left a UK Nokia in the safe at a hotel in New York a few years back, and on the off chance I popped in a few months later – and got it back. I’ve also left a phone on a train, then came back a few hours later to lost property and it’s been handed in.. and my favourite? I dropped a brand new handset in a hot steaming cup of tea in a Wimpy. I was proudly showing it off to someone, who passed it back across the table and it slipped as he was handing it to me. I’m not sure what’s most embarrasing – the incident or admitting to being in a Wimpy outlet.
Share your stories please – the best one will get a small mystery prize. If you’ve got pictures to go with your tales of woe, drop them on a mail to alex@smstextnews.com.
Let the fun commence 
Fujitsu’s new slim waterproof mobile
Jul 17th
Link: Fujitsu fetes world’s slimmest waterproof mobile | Reg Hardware
Hello? The story is over here. Not there —->
Anyway, Reg Hardware has got the lowdown on the launch of Fujitsu’s new F704i mobile – which apparently is the world’s slimmest cutest.. waterproof handset.
As well as being able to survive 30 minutes of immersion in 1m of water, the phone also has 3G capabilities, a 1.3 megapixel camera with ‘anti-shake’ (perfect for taking photos whilst on one of those navy seals style underwater personal subs – or something like that), and of course, it comes in a rather stylish bright pink finish.
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