Comments on: Skype on your handset? Operators don’t think so http://blog.taptu.com/2009/03/02/skype-on-your-handset-operators-dont-think-so/ Taptu makes it faster to find and share mobile-friendly stuff. It's the free alternative search machine, tailor made for mobile phones. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:44:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Paul M http://blog.taptu.com/2009/03/02/skype-on-your-handset-operators-dont-think-so/comment-page-1/#comment-34766 Paul M Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:28:54 +0000 http://blog.taptu.com/?p=792#comment-34766 @MartinSFP: I agree, the carriers should concentrate on being dumb pipes, and good ones, with transparent pricing. If people understood what they were paying for and how to control their bills, they'd be less frightened to use them. If the operators want make more money out of providing content, they WOULD if their content was compelling. Most people seem to use their portals because there's not much choice, either because rivals are blocked or pricing differentials make people willing to put up with crappy carrier services. @Carl: once, SMS was purely a by-product of the GSM protocol, but when volume increased they had to bolt on additional capacity purely to handle consumer SMSs! However, the true cost of an SMS is near zero, but the carriers have formed a cartel to cross-charge each other so that they can justify charging their customers for them. The same cross-charging process also allows them to screw customers over with roaming charges and even cross-network calls. @MartinSFP: I agree, the carriers should concentrate on being dumb pipes, and good ones, with transparent pricing. If people understood what they were paying for and how to control their bills, they’d be less frightened to use them. If the operators want make more money out of providing content, they WOULD if their content was compelling. Most people seem to use their portals because there’s not much choice, either because rivals are blocked or pricing differentials make people willing to put up with crappy carrier services.

@Carl: once, SMS was purely a by-product of the GSM protocol, but when volume increased they had to bolt on additional capacity purely to handle consumer SMSs! However, the true cost of an SMS is near zero, but the carriers have formed a cartel to cross-charge each other so that they can justify charging their customers for them. The same cross-charging process also allows them to screw customers over with roaming charges and even cross-network calls.

]]> By: Carl http://blog.taptu.com/2009/03/02/skype-on-your-handset-operators-dont-think-so/comment-page-1/#comment-34165 Carl Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:18:05 +0000 http://blog.taptu.com/?p=792#comment-34165 It's hard to sympathise with the networks given the constant rip-off that is SMS: http://gthing.net/the-true-price-of-sms-messages/ It costs 4 times as much to send data via SMS as it does to send data to the Hubble telescope: http://www.physorg.com/news129793047.html And since SMSs are actually implemented in the control protocol the phones used to regularly contact base stations anyway, the costs are practically zero: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=433536&cid=22219254 It’s hard to sympathise with the networks given the constant rip-off that is SMS:
http://gthing.net/the-true-price-of-sms-messages/

It costs 4 times as much to send data via SMS as it does to send data to the Hubble telescope:
http://www.physorg.com/news129793047.html

And since SMSs are actually implemented in the control protocol the phones used to regularly contact base stations anyway, the costs are practically zero:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=433536&cid=22219254

]]> By: MartinSFP http://blog.taptu.com/2009/03/02/skype-on-your-handset-operators-dont-think-so/comment-page-1/#comment-34136 MartinSFP Mon, 02 Mar 2009 11:31:14 +0000 http://blog.taptu.com/?p=792#comment-34136 I agree with you Vero - the networks *should* be dumb pipes. People don't want locked off services on their phones that only people on the same network can use. They want open services that allow them to share and communicate with others. Customers want good service and a good connection at a good price. They shouldn't be holding customers back in any way. As the market for mobile data becomes more advanced they'll just lose their customers to their competitors. I agree with you Vero – the networks *should* be dumb pipes. People don’t want locked off services on their phones that only people on the same network can use. They want open services that allow them to share and communicate with others.

Customers want good service and a good connection at a good price. They shouldn’t be holding customers back in any way. As the market for mobile data becomes more advanced they’ll just lose their customers to their competitors.

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