J(_dot_)Crowcroft(_at_)cs(_dot_)ucl(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk (Jon Crowcroft) wrote on
01.03.00 in <1531(_dot_)951900198(_at_)cs(_dot_)ucl(_dot_)ac(_dot_)uk>:
basically, the mobile phone business is making moves to do what
MSN failed and capture "the whole internet" by making itself the one and
only portal - in europe at least, they stand a chance of succeeding for 3
reasons
No chance at all that I can see. Especially considering that per-minute
charges from mobiles are about ten times as high as from traditional
phones over here. Maybe if they come down. A lot.
i) traditional telcos make dinosaurs look like rodents when it comes
to deploying fancy new fast access nets and services - newbies are
practically illegally
prevented from entering the market despite EU de-regualtion
Hmm. The best and fastest net around here seems to be the one from the
former monopoly telco (much to everybody's surprise, including mine).
Seems they're deploying fancy new access stuff like mad. OTOH, newcomers
are certainly around, and have been for a long time.
ii) the mobile guys have practically no regulation
Hmm. One of the mobile guys is the ex-monopoly telco. I don't see all that
much difference between them and the others.
iii) some mobile phone service providers are becoming credit card
companies -this is very very shrewd....think about it...
Haven't heard of that one happening over here. Oh, the monopoly telco had
some news recently about doing something with banks - I suspect it's
actually nothing all that interesting once you look past the hype.
MfG Kai