Click below to
find interesting
information from our
September 2011a
newsletter
relating to:
Roaming
Travel
Mobile phones
Roaming
Your
voice
won't be
heard
any more
The only
telecoms user
body in
Australia is
shutting down.
For thirty years
the Australian
Telecom Users
Group (ATUG) has
championed the
cause of
telecoms
consumers (and
that is all of
us). Starting in
the pre-Telstra
days, they have
been
instrumental in
many of the
major telecoms
reforms that
shape our
country.
For
the last decade
they have
consistently
maintained a
strong campaign
against
excessive
roaming charges
via their Roam
Fair campaign,
and have kept
roaming costs
high on the
reform agenda
(without much
visible success
to date in
actually
reducing roaming
prices, to be
honest). For
more than five
years roaming
has been the
only topic
staying
continuously on
their priority
list (the other
current
priorities are
the National
Broadband
Network and a
transition to a
digital
economy).
ATUG has also
been
instrumental in
forming (and
staffing) the
International
Telecoms User
Group (INTUG),
the peak global
consumer body,
which continues
to press for
roaming reform.
But no more
in Australia.
Expect roaming
issues to
gradually drop
off the agenda
of our telecoms
regulator, and
for the roaming
rip-off to carry
on.
Of course our vSIM
post-paid
alternative
doesn't rip
you off.
Travel
Fast
trains
Thirty
years
ago, the
busiest
air
route on
the
planet
was
between
London
and
Paris.
Today
that
route
doesn't
even
rank in
the top
50. What
happened?
Eurostar
is the answer.
The tunnel dug
across the
English Channel
allowed fast
trains to link
the cities.
Transit times
(between
city-centres)
are faster than
catching a
plane, with the
result that
around 90% of
passengers take
the train (and
with a vast
expansion in
number of
passengers,
too).
The French
and Japanese
pioneered fast
trains, which
can run at
speeds up to
350km/h or more
and run between
central-city
stations giving
easy connections
and fast transit
times.
There have
been rumblings
about fast
trains being
planned for
Australia for
some time. Given
that
Melbourne-Sydney
is currently the
second-busiest
air corridor in
the world (by
number of
flights - Rio to
Sao Paolo being
the busiest) and
with
Sydney-Brisbane
also up there at
number nine
globally, our
guess is that
fast trains will
eventually make
it here, too.
Mobile phones
Smartphone
patent wars
We've seen the
iPhone hype, the
flood of Android
machines, and
the tablet wars
that are now on
in earnest. For
the
manufacturers,
it's a
high-stakes game
where every
percent gain in
market share
means billions
in dollars. Not
surprisingly,
there are some
swift and shady
moves going on.
The
average
smartphone is
subject to
around 250,000
(often dubious)
patent claims,
which can take
years or decades
to resolve.
Usually the
manufacturers
settle along the
lines "we'll
stop suing you,
you stop suing
us and we'll
move on".
However with
Google's Android
operating system
until recently
being less
"patent-heavy"
compared to
other
manufacturers,
and with several
old (but still
valid) patent
bundles becoming
available,
alliances
between previous
bitter rivals
formed to try
and block the
rise of Android.
Microsoft,
Apple, Oracle
and EMC banded
together to
purchase key old
patents held by
Novell; and
Apple, RIM (the
maker of
BlackBerries),
EMC, Ericsson,
Sony, and
Microsoft paid
$4.5billion for
a large package
of patents held
by the bankrupt
company Nortel.
Microsoft now
makes more money
out of Android
(they attempt to
charge a $15 per
handset
licensing fee)
than Google does
(which gives
away Android for
free), and more
than they make
from their own
Windows Phone 7
operating
system. Apple
has blocked the
launch of
Samsung's
highly-regarded
Galaxy tablet in
Australia and
elsewhere
(Samsung is the
largest maker of
Androids). And
Google has now
purchased the
mobile-phone
part of Motorola
for $8.5bn, just
to get a decent
number of
mobile-telephony
patents.
Where will it
all end?
Companies are
waking up to the
value in their
patents (Kodak
holds lots of
imaging patents,
HP with the
shutdown of the
WebOS system
will have
"surplus"
patents), but we
suspect a
stalemate will
ensue between
the surviving
players (as
there's simply
not many
companies left
who really want
to buy them).
Unfortunately
the legacy of
the patent wars
of 2011 will to
prevent new,
innovative
smartphone
systems from
emerging in
future (as they
might be crushed
by lawsuits
before they can
get traction).
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