CLARO and Data - Improvements for the Summer and Christmas of 2010

Blackberry continues to dominate the smart phone market, despite showing early signs of weakness fourth quarter profits being posted last year in 2009 as stated in the article “Is competition finally getting to RIM?”, published April 1, 2010 8:49 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength.

Indications by statisticians Crowd Science which indicated a higher defection rate for the BlackBerry than for the Apple iPhone as stated in the article “iPhone will continue to beckon BlackBerry owners”, published March 18, 2010 11:40 PM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog. A topic I had explored at length as stated in my blog article “Is the Writing now on the wall for RIM Blackberry”

However, despite this observation, Blackberry still holds the number one spot in terms of smart phone OS in the United States of America. Google Android OS gaining 5.2% increase in its subscriber percentage of the smart phone OS market within the period November 2009 to February 2010 as stated in the article “Google Android growth outpacing the industry” published April 5, 2010 2:36 PM PDT by Tom Krazit CNET News - Relevant Results, based on a study done by ComScore.

Thus Blackberry is holding it own by doing what it does best: email and messaging, and being the most efficient user of Telecoms Providers networks, a position which it has further cemented by giving away its Blackberry Enterprise Server software for free as stated in the article “RIM to give away server software”, published February 16, 2010 4:32 AM PST by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - 3GSM Blog.

Blackberry is not, however deaf to the Barbarians at the Gate, namely the Medes and the Persians in the form of Google Android and the Apple iPhone, thus it has been making improvements to its offerings since last year 2009. An attempt at Social Networking to augment its already excellent messaging services as stated in the article “Report: Rim to launch blackbery Social Network” published July 13, 2009 2:35 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon CNET News – Wireless. Recent upgrades to make its interface more Social media friendly with the potential launch of its new Blackberry 6.0 OS as stated in CNET Loaded, aired April 28 2010, CNET News, CBS Interactive.

I had thus suggested that as a means of making the Christmas of 2010 brighter, aside for support for the Apple iPad Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) and the Apple iPad 3G + Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n). One of the offers that Telecom Provider CLARO, Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME could offer is a free Blackberry in exchange for any phone from the competition, or any high end phone purchase. The only catch being is that the user would have to purchase a thirty (30) day Data Plan for the Blackberry, with minimum three (3) months free Data Service from the Telecoms Provider.

This offer could be also be extended to the Netbooks, with free Netbooks in exchange for Netbooks from the competition or for laptop in good working condition and even free 3-D HDTV with a specially designed Receiver Box with a built in 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) router with a RJ-45 jack, hard drive and camera to facilitate Video Calling.

Such as Google TV, Google pet project as stated in the articles “Google and partners seek TV foothold”, published April 17 2010, New York Times in the Video CNET Loaded, aired April 17 2010 by Natalie Del Conte, CNET TV (CBS). “Will Google unveil its 'Smart TV' platform this week?”, published Monday May 17, 10:58 am ET  by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, New York Times, Yahoo News now all but confirmed as being called “Google TV”.

Thus, these giveaways would herald the continue expansion of Telecom Provider CLARO’s 3G Network and in fact, could be a major incentive for Telecom Provider CLARO to expand its now highly successful 3G Network to cover the entire island as well as increase its bandwidth, speed and latency issues.

This is a bid to more successfully compete with Telecom Provider LIME 3G and Telecom Provider Digicel’s upcoming WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) which is expected to have 60% coverage from day one as stated in the article “Digicel to offer mini laptops with 4G service next year”, published Friday September 4^th 2009 by Lavern Clarke, The Daily Gleaner.

ZTE Corp of China is their build out partner of their new WiMaX 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Network as stated in the article “Digicel signs ZTE as 4G Mobile WiMaX Internet Partner”, published Sunday, September 27, 2009, The Jamaica Observer.

Hence it is imperative that Telecom Provider CLARO have the 3G market locked in terms of smart phones, Mobile Internet and Video Calling ahead of the coming Data Wars this Summer of 2010.

Apple is a part of Telecom Provider mix, as nothing draws people to a Telecom Provider like an Apple Product, as Telecom Provider AT&T realizes. Despite Blackberry’s resulting in Apple’s slip to third place, CEO Steve Jobs has such confidence in the smart phone market that they are planning to launch another twenty four (24,000,000) million more Apple iPhones.

This as stated in the article “Report: Apple readying 24 million units of next iPhone”, published May 17, 2010 10:25 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News - Circuit Breaker the sales of which could be helped along by the introduction of the Square App for small businesses in Jamaica.

This App is called Square (https://www.squareup.com) as stated in the article “Ideal for small businesses, Square iPhone App will change the way we shop”, Posted May 19, 2010 8:21am by Kathryn Swartz, Appolocious: Tech and is developed by Twitter co-founder and Chairman, Jack Dorsey as stated in the article “Twitter co-founder launches new venture: Square”, published May 16 2010, The Jamaica Herald, Washington (AFP).

I speak these superlatives of the Square App as it has far reaching implication as to how we conduct business transactions both on the Apple iPhone as well as on mid range phones such as the LG Neon, Xenon and Karma as described in the article " AT&T pushes quick-messaging phones", published March 24, 2010 6:10 PM PDT by Marguerite Reardon CTIA 2010 - CNET News Reviews and possibly even low end phones such as the Motorola Quantico or even my personal favorite, the Nokia 1208, which is a basic “flashlight” phone – and an engineer’s best friend.

Basically, it is a free App with a free widget in the form of a card reader, much like the ones used to lock door entrances to secure locations e.g. ATMs that plugs into the audio input of your Apple iPhone or Google Android phone, as the Square Card reader is a miniaturized version of the one used on door locks and was always an analog device.

Square allows you to conduct Debit or Credit card transactions without having to rent a POS device from your bank. Square uses only your Apple iPhone or Google Android Phone, the Square widget and the Square App, both of which (widget and App) are free on the Apple Apps Store or Google Android MarketPlace as the makers of Square mainly make their money from Credit card and Debit card transactions charges, which ranges from 2.75% for transactions done with the Debit or Credit card physically swiped with Square widget or 15% without it being present.

Users sign up at the Square website using the sign-up process as described in the YouTube posting “Welcome to Square” and they receive the widget and can begin making transactions right away. Square would be the perfect platform to push the sale of the Apple iPhone, the Apple iPhone 3GS and the Apple iPhone 4G as suggested in my blog article “CLARO and Square - The App of the Year 2010 and CLARO's Savior”. Simple.

Apple has even debut their one-of-a-kind e-Reader, the Apple iPad on Saturday 3^rd April 2010 as reported by CNET Loaded, aired Saturday April 5^th 2010 by Natalie Del Conte, CNET News, the new e-Reader challenger to the dominance of the Amazon Kindle launched in 2008, which has only recently made a 3G GSM compatible model.

Already, it has been a success, by looking at the statistics coming out of the Apple iPad launch as tabulated by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster as stated in the article “iPad 3G sales estimated at 300,000 for launch weekend”, published May 3, 2010 4:13 AM PDT by John Paczkowski, CNET News – AllThingsD.

Which suggest that the Apple iPad Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) despite selling more units than its cousin the Apple iPad 3G + Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), the overall sales of the device not only exceeded three hundred thousand (300,000) for the weekend ending Sunday May 3^rd 2010, but according to the analyst, he is now revising the sales target for the device, which he expected to sell nearly 1.3 million units by June 2010, as it looks to be a bit of an underestimate.

No kidding, boss. Turns out that his comments are spot on and are confirmed by another CNET reporter, who stated in the article “Apple sells 1 million iPads”, published May 3, 2010 6:16 AM PDT by Jim Dalrymple, CNET News – Apple that it took twenty eight (28) days since the debut of the device on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 for the device to hit the one million (1,000,000) mark.

A device that Natalie Del Conte, a CNET Reporter, was able to “touch with these hands” two (2) days before it official launch as stated in the Video by Natali Del Conte in CNET Loaded, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Natalie del Conte, CNET News (CBS) and confirmed by Tom Merritt, sitting in for Molly Wood on the CNET Buzz Report, aired Friday April 1^st 2010, by Tom Merritt, CNET News, CBS Interactive.

Even leaving Telecom Provider CLARO Sales Executives Nadine Palmer-Collins and Saneisha Green mouth agape and clueless based on photographs in The Social, published Friday May 14 2010, The Friday Gleaner, p. D5. Telecom Provider CLARO + Apple iPhone + Apple iPad = Customer Satisfaction!

Thus in my mind it is already a done deal, albeit Telecom Provider CLARO now has to confirm whether they plan to support this device, specifically the Apple iPad 3G + Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) versions, as the Apple iPad Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) version obviously will not need Telecom Provider CLARO support. But as Telecom Provider CLARO is the retailer for Apple in Jamaica, there is the possibility that they can support the device by simply selling 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers or Mi-Fi.

As I had said in previous article on my blog Telecom Provider CLARO needs to decide real fast to support this device either by reselling it for Apple or selling the 3G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) routers. The apple iPad and other e-Reader devices would mostly be used by Church people [Seventh Day Adventists] and students of Local Universities, as they are the only potential market of people who actually read books and are looking for a touch screen portable computer. It is aimed squarely at Amazon’s Kindle and the Netbook, Apple CEO Steve Jobs intention with this device, the Apple iPad, that is proving to be more than just an e-Reader device. It is proving to be a game changer.

Social Networking on their iCLARO Email Platform would also be a means of driving more content to their Telecom Provider CLARO homepage (https://www.claro.com.jm). Social Networking would not only create a unique experience to its rival Telecom Provider Digicel which has a Social Networking page of Facebook and Twitter with over 100,000 users, as stated in the article “Digicel gains 100,000 Facebook fans in under 100 days”, published Wednesday, 17 March 2010 by TechJamaica.com.

Which I would christen (as it is a Mexican company) iCLARO Siesta; A Facebook Page is already being done by Telecom Provider CLARO, but Telecom Provider CLARO needs to come with something more unique and a revamp and rebranding of the iCLARO Email Platform is just the thing.

 iCLARO Siesta would also be an excellent platform for Telecom Provider CLARO to launch its Web TV service similar to YouTube and built in support for Video Calling. which is also another source of revenue from advertising especially as the research note by Morgan Stanley intern Matthew Robson, aged fifteen (15) years old, which he wrote in 2009, entitled  “How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City”, printed by the Guardian Newspaper, Monday 13 July 2009 10.23 BST, The Guardian.

The rollout of 4G Worldwide as stated in the article “On call: Welcome to 4G”, published March 9, 2010 11:01 AM PST by Kent German CNET News – Dialed In, (http://www.cnet.com) indicates a preference among young people towards increased interactivity in how young people consume media content.

A fact further borne out by the push by cable companies in the United states of America to become more web-like as stated in the article “Cable TV: Pushing to Become More Web-like”, published April 16, 2009, 5:00PM EST  By Tom Lowry, BusinessWeek – Strategies.

It would have features similar to Google Buzz, which is a crossbreed between Facebook, Twitter and FourSquare, the catalyst for geo-location as stated in the article “Social Media's New Mantra: Location, Location, Location - Fast-growing Network FourSquare luring potential buyers”, published  May 6, 2010, 5:00PM EST By Diane Brady  BusinessWeek - TECHNOLOGY with advertising support provided by Telecom Provider CLARO affiliate partners interested in booking advertising space on iCLARO Siesta.

iCLARO Siesta however, would included from day one have geo-location, thus allowing iCLARO Siesta to completely subsist from advertising revenue derived from adopting features similar to the Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network:

1.      “Brown Dawg, a Mobile Social Network based on Mobile phones”

2.      “Brown Dawg and A So di Ting Set - An API tool for User preferences and avoid backlash”

3.      “Brown Dawg and I spy Rewards - Geo-Location rewards system for Mobile Social Networking”

4.      “Brown Dawg and Se'et Deh - Behavioural Targeted Marketing Ads”

Already predictions are forecasting usage patterns similar to those of people in the United States of America using regular wired broadband. This would be a good move as well for the Big Three Telecoms Providers Digicel, Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider CLARO as the expected surge in usage from customers for its all Data services that mimics wired broadband usage.

Even to the point of replacing traditional wired broadband, once the performance and the price is right as stated in the article "Can 4G wireless take on traditional broadband?", published March 22, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - CTIA 2010. Early indications that Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) will be big is somewhat evident from recent rumors in May Pen, Clarendon of a Cable Operator that has plans to roll out Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) in May Pen to be used for a fee.

Telecom Provider CLARO now has to face facts as very thing that I had predicted is happening. It will take years to beat out entrenched incumbent Telecom Provider Digicel in the Voice Telecoms Market, which it has cemented, despite the quality of Telecom Provider CLARO’s Social Networking-esque tie ins as suggested in its latest barrage of advertisements.

Like the rich kid at high school who gives away free things, Telecom Provider Digicel has basically bought the Mobile market lock, stock and barrel, as evident from the support that they still attract, despite the low-cost offering from Telecom Provider CLARO, which is in desperate need of improving its network coverage by co-location with Telecom Provider LIME.

The race is towards the Promised Land and if Telecom Provider CLARO does the above, it would guarantee them a strong foothold on the portion of the Mobile Market that they already have dominance – the Data Telecoms Market – which is where Telecoms worldwide is headed anyway, based not on concrete evidence, but on trends and experimentation as noticed from the cacophony of noise that is the Tech World and the Internet.

Already, Telecom Provider LIME realizes this, as their advertising is geared towards improving their 3G Internet offerings and thus it would be wise for Telecom Provider CLARO to do likewise, before Telecom Provider LIME achieves island wide coverage and Telecom Provider Digicel launches.

On this basis alone, I would recommend that Telecom Provider CLARO go LTE (Long Term Evolution), which is the 4G upgrade to match Telecom Provider Digicel and distinguish themselves from Telecom Provider LIME. Maintain their prices, increased their coverage, speed, bandwidth and use fiber optic to improve latency which increases at higher speeds and do the above to increase their customer base to justify the much needed upgrade and expansion.