CLARO and MNP - Happy Birthday and no more stones and snakes

{7:9} Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

{7:10} Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 

{7:11}  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask

him?

Matthew 7 vs 9 to 11, King James Version

Most Customers or Subscribers will never have the privilege that the workers of the Telecom Providers have of working knowledge of how the Rewards System works. Customers get Loyalty Credit and Free Calling in exchange for demonstrating their loyalty by purchasing airtime in the form of Prepaid Credit (Pay-as-You-Go in the UK and USA) or just paying their Postpaid bills (Prepaid or Contract Plans in the USA and UK) on time.

It seems, however, that the Telecoms Providers seems to have some resistance to the coming of MRSI (Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Information) as stated in the article “CLARO Backs Cell Phone Tracking Plan; Digicel, LIME in Wait-And-See Mode”, published Sunday May 16, 2010 by Mark Titus, Business Reporter, the Sunday Gleaner, with Telecom Providers LIME and Telecom Providers Digicel expressing reservation as to how this Database will be funded, using legal arguments which in effect pour cold water on an initiative that has the potential to stem organized crime within Jamaica.

Telecoms Providers, it appears, have been giving us stones [Double Credit] and snakes [Free Calling] instead of bread and fish, which is of greater benefit than their splash of money the average Jamaican will never win. Employees of Telecom Providers, are ye evil?

The response of Telecom Providers Digicel, for those who follow Telecoms “happenings” stands in stark contrast to the urgency and adamancy of Senator Dwight Nelson, Minister of National Security and Justice, who  having made his intention clear some weeks  ago to pursue the same Crime strategy as Mexico as there is an obvious link to criminals or “badmen” as laid out in my blog posting entitled “Mexico and MNP: A Solution to Crime in Mexico”.

This “Badmen” may be using Unregistered Mobile Phones, Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI to organize crime as suggested in the Reuters mentioned by CNET Loaded aired April 12 2010 by Natalie Del Conte, CNET News,CBS and confirmed by the article “Mexico may shut down 25.9 Million Cell phones which haven't joined Registry”, published April 11, 2010 - 11:45pm by MacRonin, PrivacyDigest.

Thus Jamaica, hopefully, will push ahead with this ambitious and far reaching plan – by force on the Telecom Providers if necessary.

That Telecoms Providers argue with Government of Jamaica regulators in the name of the Almighty Dollar is a shocking spectacle to observe indeed. Thus Senator Dwight Nelson, Minister of National Security and Justice may encompass the shutting down of Mobile Phones as is the case in Mexico and the real-time geo-location of the position of people suspected of committing criminal offences. Simple.

That they [LIME and Digicel] seem to be so reluctant, with the exception of Telecom Providers CLARO’s Marketing Manager, Joseph Oates, who in his clever, cool, coy, collected comments, has scored a major PR (Public Relations) coup for Telecom Providers CLARO, who for some time was looking for something positive to endear themselves to the public, is a serious indictment against the two (2) Telecom Providers, who seem to be only interested in making money, driving in large vehicles and wearing expensive suits by giving away Loyalty Credit [stones] and Free Calling [snakes] and not interested in ACTUALLY helping Jamaica solving its number one problem: Crime.

Perhaps it is the common kinship shared between the Mexicans and the Jamaicans as it relates to the problem of organized crime as suggested by the actions of Mexican President Phillipe Calderon as stated in the article “Mexico may shut down 25.9 Million Cell phones which haven't joined Registry”, published April 11, 2010 - 11:45pm by MacRonin, PrivacyDigest, related to narcotics trafficking, that has guided the utterances coming out of the Telecom Providers CLARO encampment.

Whatever the reason, Jamaica will definitely have Telecom Providers CLARO in the back of their minds, as their PR stunt set them apart from the other Telecoms Providers and makes LIME and Digicel appear to be adding and abetting organized crime in Jamaica in order to continue making money. Hence the “bread” and “fish” offer from Telecom Providers CLARO to the Jamaican People. John Public is pleased.

This reservation, expressed only one (1) month away from the impending announcement of the finding of the study by the OUR (Office of Utilities Regulation) soon to be made public in June 2010 as it relates to MNP (Mobile Number Portability), its benefits and how best to implement as stated in the article “Paulwell calls for number portability”, published, Wednesday April 21, 2010, Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter, is unfortunate. Thus John Public was pleasantly surprised, as after writing three (3) complaint letters to the OUR as it relates to the lack of transparency of Telecom Providers and how the overcharge consumers.

Particularly I complained about the fact that they do not advise Customers via SMS (Short Messaging Service) before they exceed their minutes (Local, Cross-Network, International), SMS (Local, Cross-Network, International), and Data Plan Megabytes.  Sheer coincidence, the OUR, or at least its cousin the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal, has taken actions that appear to be a pre-cursor to either the impending MNP ruling or the MRSI implementation request by Senator Dwight Nelson, Minister of National Security and Justice.

They have spoken as stated in the article “Digicel loses appeal, call rates could fall”, published Wednesday, June 02, 2010, The Jamaica Observer, standing by the 2004 ruling by the OUR stating that all Telecom Providers can be seen as dominant, a ruling that Telecom Providers Digicel had appealed at the time, more signs about Telecoms Provider’s concerns being only about making money.

That the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal has decided to rule in such a manner bodes well for Customers, as by doing so they uphold Section 30 and 33 of the Telecommunications Act of 2000. Section 30 of the Telecommunications Act of 2000 is now re-activated and now since all Telecom Providers are declared dominant, discrimination against the other dominant Telecom Provider with which they are competing is unlawful, as this section of the Telecommunications Act of 2000 states that they must provide cross connection between themselves [Telecom Providers]  in a manner that is fair, transparent and based on the cost of provisioning the service only, not on negotiated interconnection rates.

Section 33 of the Telecommunications Act of 2000 further goes on to give the power that the OUR has in setting cross network rates under the guidance of Section 30 of the Telecommunications Act of 2000, thus brushing aside Digicel’s appeal, which was challenging the powers of the OUR. Great news for consumers, as this means that lower calling costs are on the horizon, if not the Flat Rate Calling that would be the result under an implementation of MNP.

If the MNP proposal being put forward by the OUR is implemented by December 2010, it will begin to look a lot more like Christmas 2010 being the best Christmas in a long time, free BlackBerry’s, 3G capable Netbooks and 3-D HDTV with 3G support on a thirty (30) day Data Plan in exchange for mobile phones, laptops and old Television sets respectively not withstanding. Like I said, its beginning to look a lot like Christmas 2010 being the best Christmas ever, Novia’s Fashion Night Out being in the mix for CLARO sponsorship……..but that is another article.

So after the hype, PR and the eventual implementation of MRSI and MNP, which is as sure to come as rain, Telecom Provider stand greatly to benefit, from the offering of new VAS (Value Added Services) such as Geo-location, Election Voting, Personalized Targeted Advertising, Market Surveys, Geo-Location Services and Personal Tracking Services, Augmented Viewing Services, Phone Directory Services, etc as well as blocking Illegitimate Unregistered VoIP, as is now the case on Telecom Provider AT&T ‘s Mobile 3G Network as stated in the article “Skype for iPhone now support 3G, but free ride's ending”, published June 2 2010,by Ben Patterson, Yahoo! News.

MNP, if implemented via the Big Three Telecoms Providers and the other smaller Telecoms Providers registering all their Customers or Subscribers Mobile Phone Numbers, Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI using Government of Jamaica approved identification i.e. Voters ID, Drivers License, Passport, TRN, Birth Certificate, sharing their company resources and jointly blocking all Illegitimate Unregistered VoIP traffic both inbound and outgoing from the Telecoms Providers Networks in a drive to regulate the Third Party VoIP Industry.

This joint venture would pay for itself and be completely free to the Customers or Subscribers with the potential of  increased revenue gained from cost savings due to VAS that can be implemented due to the registering of Customers or Subscribers, sharing resources and increased revenue via the blocking of VoIP as the National Telecom Regulatory Authority in Egypt has been proactive enough to do  in order to protect its state owned Telecoms Provider’s revenue base as stated in the article “Egypt bans international Internet voice calls”, published April 5^th 2010, AFP, Yahoo! News.

This may translate to increased salaries for Telecoms Providers Workers, and thus more of a reason for Telecoms Provider Workers to push their management to go MNP. And one of those VAS would be Mobile Triangulation also known as Geo-Location which could be used for advertising as well as personal tracking services. And there is a demand for it currently aside from assisting the Government of Jamaica in solving crime and a financial windfall for the Telecoms Providers in the long run.

Standardization of Top-Up methods, salaries and salary increases, training, uniforms and the sharing of resources are esoteric benefits more related to the close co-operation between the Telecoms Providers that are a necessity to finance MNP and its servers. Telecoms Providers, as a means of protecting their Customers or Subscribers base, would also, under MNP, be able to put in place policies and mechanisms to stop the Unauthorized Access to the Telecoms Providers Networks by Customers or Subscribers who purchase Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) from one Telecoms Provider (whether local or abroad), unlock them and place them on another Telecoms Provider Network without contacting the Telecoms Provider Customer Care Center whose Network the Customers or Subscribers are attempting to access,

It may also be purchase of SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) or Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  from Unlicensed Third Party Vendors of these Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) who do not register the sale of the Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems using the Customers or Subscribers’ information to the Telecoms Provider whose Network the Customers or Subscribers are attempting to access.

Additionally, the purchase of SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) or Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) from Telecoms Provider without registering the Customers or Subscribers using Government of Jamaica approved identification i.e. Voters ID, Drivers License, Passport, TRN, Birth Certificate. MNP would create a means so as to have a record to whom each Phone Numbers, Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI are registered.

Did I also mention that employees in the Telecom Providers would get a significant increase in salary, due to the increases in efficiency resulting from having a centralized database of registered subscribers? That MNP would pave the way for the introduction of Contract Plans and Flat Rate Cross-Network Calling, possibly at lower rates based on the ruling by the Telecommunications Appeals Tribunal?

Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI would be paired in the Switch in such a way that if the Customer or Subscriber attempts to change the paired Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI, the mobile phone would be blocked from being able to make calls?

Thus under MNP, once Customers or Subscribers Phone Instrument is stolen, they should be able to report the theft via SMS from another registered mobile phone by using their Government of Jamaica approved identification i.e. Voters ID, Drivers License, Passport, TRN, Birth Certificate to identify themselves and thus be called by an operator working in the Telecoms Provider’s Customer Care Department, thereby having the Customers or Subscribers stolen Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI blocked and be unable to make or receive calls or any other form of communication on the Telecoms Provider’s Network.

This is effectively similar to SIM locking as stated in the article “SIM Locking”, viewed Friday May 28 2010, WikiPedia, differing in that it is a lock specific to the Phone Instruments (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems)  IMEI and SIM Cards (mobile, fixed line mobile, landline or wired /wireless modems) IMSI and not the network as is the traditional view of SIM locking, for those who love to dalliance with technical trivialities and semantic obfuscation. All that from just registering Customers or Subscribers using Government of Jamaica approved identification i.e. Voters ID, Drivers License, Passport, TRN, Birth Certificate.

But best of all, it would allow for the provisioning for more creative Loyalty Programs, such as Triple Credit and Free Calling on Customers and Subscriber’s  birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions. That is real fish and bread!

This is a more targeted approach than the current blanket application of Double and Triple Credit as in the case of Telecom Provider CLARO and even a Mobile Social Network for Free Calling based on ones immediate family relations using Telecom Provider CLARO’s social-esque feature of being able to Call two (2) Telecom Provider CLARO Customers for free, and text one (1) Telecom Provider CLARO Customer and Subscriber for free, with the option to have one (1) of your free call number be a USA, UK or Canada landline, via the same SMS (Short Messaging Service).

The service is an obvious VoIP implementation as suggested in Telecom Provider CLARO television advertising. Telecom Provider CLARO needs to implement an Automated Billing Platform.

This is so that Customers or Subscribers can manage their Postpaid accounts in much the same way Telecom Provider LIME has now done for their UltraPak (Postpaid) Customers or Subscribers via their MyLIME Customer Portal as stated in the article “LIME launches MYLIME Customer Portal” published Monday, 08 March 2010 by TechJamaica.com, so that Customers or Subscribers can see live their billing in a paperless format online as well as make complaints and changes to their account, including disconnections without having to call 100 Customer Care

This is now currently possible in the United States of America in the Telecom Provider AT&T’s 3G Mobile Network as stated in the article “For New AT&T users, no more "all you can eat" data”, published June 2 2010 By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer, Yahoo News, in the article “AT&T phases out unlimited data plans”, published Wed Jun 2, 12:07 pm ET, by Ben Patterson, Yahoo News, in the article “AT&T to end unlimited use of mobile data plan”, published Thursday June 2 2010, by Ryan Kim, Chronicle Staff Writer , San Francisco Chronicle.

More news from my favorite news aggregator, CNET, come the following article on the subject entitled “AT&T's new pricing takes smart phones to the masses”, published June 3, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength and in the article “New AT&T data plans for iPhones, iPad, more”,  June 2, 2010 2:39 AM PDT by Matt Hickey, CNET News - Crave.

The only thing left to adjust would be the onerous ETF (Early Termination Fees) so that they decrease over the life of the contract on a daily basis from the discount value to zero on the day that the contract ends and SMS alerting the Customers or Subscribers when they are about to exceed their Voice Plan minutes (Local, Cross-Network, International), SMS (Local, Cross-Network, International) and Data Plan Megabytes. Best of all would be the introduction of a Universal Data Plan as suggested by Molly Wood from CNET in the article “It's time for universal data plans”, published June 3, 2010 6:01 PM PDT by Molly Wood CNET News - Molly Rants................but that is a topic for another well researched article.