Leaving money on the table

Tags: Business,  Carriers
February 28, 2005 by barbara

There is a carrier behavior that I don't understand. They are given the opportunity to invest less than $5 per customer at time of phone purchase, and get an additional $1-$5 per customer per month in usage in the very area they are trying to promote. They don't take it. They delay, detract, and perform testing.

My favorite example of this is a very easy-to-use keyboard from Digit Wireless. Carriers have known it is easier to use than standard 12-key keypads for a couple years now. But you won't find the keypads on many phones. (Telus Mobility of Canada is a notable exception.)

My numbers above are approximate, and would obviously depend on the exact situation. But why wouldn't a carrier let customers self-select for whether data services are important and give them a phone that will make data services more enjoyable to use?

The buttons on my PalmOne Treo phone are small - I can definitely type, but it is uncomfortable and I make errors. It is worse for those who don't have small hands or who have long fingernails. But I have no problem typing on a Fastap phone, and I've learned that I am more likely to do things on my phone if it is easier to type. This, of course, is a no-brainer. The carriers are leaving money on the table.

This behavior is right in line with the non-adoption of location-based services. By federal mandate, US carriers had to implement the capability for location-based services for 911 purposes. They had to make changes to their handsets and to their towers; they had to create an internal database to store the information and they had to develop the processes to handle all the above. So one would think that they would be anxious to spend the very small amount of money necessary to start capitalizing on all the previous large investments.

Alas, the myriad applications made possible by location services are not possible. Application providers are forced to develop creative alternatives, few of which are good substitutes. Again, the carriers are leaving money on the table.


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