Facebook + WhatsApp + Voice: So What?
So Facebook is buying the mobile IM app WhatsApp for $19bn including $4bn in cash, and WhatsApp is launching a voice service. Why, and what are the consequences and lessons for telcos and others?
Growing the Digital Economy: Lessons from Brazil, Mexico, and Iran
The success of digital economies is underpinned by the growth of the Internet. Our analysis of a number of economies shows that enlightened policy is more important than the wealth of the populace or any other measure. What are the key lessons?
Cisco, Microsoft, Google, AT&T, Telefonica, et al: the disruptive battle for value in communications
Disruption is taking place across the voice and messaging space – not just with telcos. Established vendors and de facto technology standards are also being challenged. For example, Cisco, the market leader in enterprise telephony, finds itself being disrupted in key markets by other vendors offering more horizontally integrated solutions. This report provides an overview and insight into a number of vendors and technologies in the voice and messaging markets, including telco platforms and services, and LTE, RCSe, and WebRTC. Three telco case studies (Vodafone, Telefonica and AT&T) are also provided, examining their activities, products and results.
Self-Disruption: How Sprint Blew It
How Sprint’s necessary shutdown of Nextel turned into a commercial disaster, losing valuable customers, reputation, and market share. Our analysis shows that amdist the drama of the Softbank deal and the complexity of a major network upgrade, SMB customer needs were neglected, and its competitors (VZW, AT&T and T-Mobile) stepped smartly in.
Mobile Marketing and Commerce: the technology battle between NFC, BLE, SIM, & Cloud
This report will help digital commerce players assess some tough technology and strategy choices in the on-going mobile marketing and commerce battle. E.g. Will bricks and mortar merchants embrace NFC or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or cloud-based solutions? If NFC does take off, will SIM cards or trusted execution environments be used to secure services? Should digital commerce brokers use SMS, in-app notifications or IP-based messaging services to interact with consumers? What are the big players backing, and what will be the key indicators that a specific technology is likely to win?
Telco 2.0: The $50bn Enterprise Mobility Opportunity: four steps for telcos to take today
Enterprises are turning to mobility to transform their operations, creating a c.$50bn ‘Enterprise Mobility’ opportunity globally. There are four levels of engagement that telcos can adopt to start to capture a share of this market, and upgrade and repurpose their internal capabilities to deliver repeatable, high volume, customer-facing growth initiatives. They need tools, technologies and partnerships to provide the deep industry knowledge and mobile workforce expertise. This will allow them to take a defined proposition to market and evolve from being “just another channel” to originators and owners of intellectual property. (December 2013, Foundation 2.0, Executive Briefing Service, Cloud and Enterprise ICT Stream).
Enterprise Mobility Framework December 2013