“An
idealist is a person who helps other people to be prosperous”
Henry
Ford, on the witness stand, 1919
Innovation
is indeed the driving force behind technological development. Innovative
people, or idealists as the world would christen such luminaries of the Tech
World, look on the world around them and seek to make it better, sharing their
vision of an alternative that most people are too busy to see.
People
who are about their hum-drum daily existence, little interested or sparing a thought
to take the time to read long winded articles – such as this one – instead more
interested in Facebook and Twitter and
its micro-miniaturization of our communication or micro-blogging, to be hip
with the Twitter slang.
And
yet this was the vision of Jack Dorsey, Chairman and CEO of Twitter, who began his unique take on Social
Networking using SMS (Simple Messaging Service), which has been exploding ever
since Mobile Telecom Provider Networks have been springing up worldwide like
poppies and just as addictive as the heroine that poppies are used to make.
Thus
I was quite surprised to preview on my computer (I do not watch live TV, I
record it and watch later!!!) what appears to be another hidden gem in the
burgeoning SMS market, mainly in the form of a small, relatively unknown
start-up that has been around for some time called CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited.
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A
start-up so small that it only exists on the Internet as a webpage with no
listing in the 2010 LIME Business Telephone Directory, may not necessarily have
a brick-and-mortar presence and appears to have less employees than a
micro-enterprise.
Which
is usually seen as less than ten (10) persons as stated in the article “Small
businesses post JA$96 billion sales decline – Firms borrowing more and commerce
worsens”, published Sunday June 2010 by Avia Collinder, Business Writer,
The Jamaica Gleaner.
And
yet CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited CEO Tyrone Wilson and Technical Officer
Leighton Campbell, the CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited prima donnas, exudes an air of
confidence, panache and adroit cleverness in marketing and promoting their
baby, drawing admiring smiles from Carlette DeLeon aka the Pet Tales chick
of Television Jamaica fame
and Gadgette (feminine descriptive noun for a “techie”…..that is a bit of
Silicon Valley slang right there!!).
With
her normally sugary smarm smirking contained for once as she surveys them,
hands clasped and walk them through their presentation with her sly capybara
eyes on Smile Jamaica, aired Thursday June 24, 2010, Television Jamaica.
So
what is the nature of their business model and what reason have they to have
such confidence? Gentle people, pull up a chair, as John Public takes you
to Harvard Business School…………..
CoreTalk Caribbean Limited is what we
in the Telecommunications World refer to as a Third Party VAS (Value Added
Service). This differs significantly from a VAS provided by the Telecom
Provider.
Or
In-house VAS is that it is entrepreneur driven and can be seen as a case of
Telecom Providers providing a “storefront” for rental of access to a start-up
to port their services over the Telecom Provider’s Network state in the article
“Mobile operators
embrace App store mania”, published February 17, 2010 12:32 PM PST
by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News-
3GSM blog.
As
an aside, MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators), such as Yardfone and the now
defunct Carlos Hill operation Megafone, both of which offered overseas calling
for JA$999.99 for 1000 Voice Minutes to United
Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America, are actually a
special case of a VAS.
CoreTalk Caribbean Limited Business
model is based on contract Subscription from Clients, who pay, according to the
presentation on Smile Jamaica, aired Thursday June 24, 2010, Television Jamaica,
approximately US$49.99 per month.
Effectively
similar to an American Pre-Paid model (equivalent to monthly Postpaid in
Jamaica on Telecom Provider LIME or Telecom Provider Digicel Network) to have access to
the service, which used an API (Application Interface) that would make the eyes
of Grace Silvera, Marketing Manager from Red Stripe and now JCDC (Jamaica
Cultural Development Corporation) sparkle.
This
as CoreTalk Caribbean Limited effectively
leverages a concept that was one of her light bulb moments committed to paper,
bereft of the technical details.
Once
the Client has had their computer is installed with the API on a desired secure
Internet Connected Computer and the desired settings are installed in the API’s
software, inclusive of any Mobile Phone Number on any Telecom Provider’s
Network that supports SMS.
The
Client is able to receive and send SMS to their potential Customers and of
greatest fascination to me, collect Statistical Information or Metrics as
Marketing people like Grace Silvera term such mountains of Data in real-time,
in terms of:
1.
The number of SMS received or sent by
the Client
2.
A breakdown of the incoming
SMS Traffic using a user friendly GUI (Graphic User Interface), Statistical
Analysis Tools pre-loaded in the UI (User Interface) to determine mathematical
pertinent information such as the Mean, Median and Mode
3.
Identities of participants i.e. who
“texted” in correct responses, say, to an ongoing promotion being put on by the
Client
This
of course the Client has advertised, taking care to mention their telephone
number, which from the looks of it (and this bears repeating!!) can be ANY
Mobile Phone Number from ANY Telecom Provider’s Network that supports SMS, effectively
a Telecom Provider Agnostic Third Party VAS.
Additionally,
this Platform can be used to create Two (2) way Subscription services where
potential Customers can query a Database via SMS using a SQL (Structured Query
Language) or even the implementation of a Mobile Social Network, somewhat
reminiscent of Geo-Location site DodgeBall or micro-blogging site Twitter.
This
opens up a myriad of business opportunities for young Jamaica Entrepreneurs who
have always wanted to go into Telecommunications via the unique albeit not
first-of-its-kind service being offered by the Third Party VAS CoreTalk Caribbean Limited, as the
principals of the start-up emphasized with much alacrity.
Examples
given most helpful in driving home a hitherto overlooked point:
Real-time Two (2) Way Interactivity via SMS, not just One (1)
Way Interactivity. Beginning to sound a lot like Twitter…………when they just
started out.
What
is most clever about this service is that the Client pays for the service of
being able to send and receive SMS to the Client’s potential Customer base, but
the potential Customer only pays JA$1.00 for each SMS.
Though
I suspect with my bad hearing and the falling rain, I may have misheard the
cost of the SMS, which nonetheless is possible, as CoreTalk Caribbean Limited CEO Tyrone
Wilson made mention of “partnerships” with the Telecom Providers
Implicitly
suggesting that the modicum of their business model involves subsidization of
the Customer cost of sending SMS to the Client via the Telecom Provider’s
Network via debt management as well as IP routing of the SMS over the Internet!
This
as the SMS terminates on the Telecom Providers MGW (Media Gateway) or Router
and then is routed unto the IP Gateway within their MGW, which is cheaper than
sending the SMS to a devices that is a Mobile Handset, somewhat reminiscent of
the business model of Chairman and Twitter CEO
Jack Dorsey business model.
Simply
put, Telecom Provider Digicel, Telecom
Provider LIME and
Telecom Provider CLARO negotiate
contracts with payment percentage from the Prepaid Subscription Revenue
dependent on negotiation with each Telecom Provider.
This
should come as no surprise, as business models are quite easily replicable with
Telecom Providers, once you know the right people, have the correct, convincing
proposals with Cost Analysis and Telecom Providers are willing to provide you
gateway access as a Third Party VAS, once you have satisfied their criteria as
it relates to Authentication and Identification, Abuse and Security on the
Telecom Provider’s Network access.
More
proof that there is nothing new under the Sun. Thus CoreTalk Caribbean Limited API
Software installed on the Client’s Computers or Servers, which appears to be a
standalone application or may be a Client-Server Implementation or even a
Cloud-Based application.
It
is most likely secured via the Phone Number, MAC Address of the NIC Card in
case of Telecom Provider LIME ADSL or Triple Play Provider FLOW Cable modem access or the
Phone Number, Modem IMEI or Modem SIM Card IMSI in the case of an EDGE
(Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), 3G or 4G Modem.
All
being registered at the time of the Client signing the contract using
Government of Jamaica Identification i.e. Driver’s License, TRN, Passport or
Birth Certificate and the login process being designed in such a manner that it
prevents access if any of the registered elements mentioned do not correspond
with that in CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited’s Database.
This
provides a secure means of alerting the Client whenever their thirty (30) day
Subscription has ended and thus are required to renew their Subscription, most
likely via a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Credit Card payment option.
Indeed,
like I said, a start-up so small that it only exists on the Internet as a
webpage and is not even listed in the current 2010 LIME Business Telephone
Directory, may not necessarily have a brick-and-mortar presence and appears to
have less employees than a micro-enterprise, which is usually seen as less than
ten (10) persons, further reduction CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited’s operating expenditure.
An
even more interesting sign that they are on the right track, as their
confidence and basic marketing savvy suggests, can be corroborated from reports
coming from the United States of America indicating an increase in the number
of Prepaid subscriptions as stated in the articles “Prepaid wireless
outpaces contract services”, published April 5, 2010 3:35 PM
PDT CNET News - Signal
Strength by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News
and “Smart phones
come prepaid wireless market”, published May 19, 2010 4:00 AM PDT by
Marguerite Reardon, CNET News.
This
is a temporary trend lemming-like reaction of people looking for deals but
still wanting to have high-end phones, Contracts merely needing only minor
adjusting to the ETF (Early Termination Fees) to make them more attractive
after the Recession abates!
Statistical
proof, however is provided by Gartner, who have compiled statistical data
confirming beyond a shadow of a doubt that this Summer of 2010 will see a surge
in the purchase of smart phones with Apple makers of the Apple iPhone, RIM
makers of the Blackberry, also showing healthy signs of growth as stated by NPD
in the article “RIM's strategy
to stay on top in smart phones”, published May 12, 2010 4:00 AM PDT
by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News.
Other
smart phones that run Google Android OS leading the charge and confirming the
shift towards Prepaid as stated in the article “Cell phone,
smartphone sales surge”, published May 19, 2010 10:01 AM PDT by
Lance Whitney, CNET News.
Already
T-Mobile, aware of AT&T and Apple coming push of another twenty four
million (24,000,000) of their iconic Apple iPhones running iPhone OS 4.0, now
re-christened iOS 4.0 as stated in the “Report: Apple
readying 24 million units of next iPhone”, published May 17, 2010
10:25 AM PDT by Erica Ogg, CNET News ,
Saturday June 19th 2010, gave away free smart phones on
condition of renewed Two (2) year Postpaid Contract Subscriptions.
Signs
of this coming smart phone storm can be seen from the crashing of the pre-order
system for the Apple iPhone over AT&T’s Network as confirmed in the article
“Apple, AT&T
get record number of iPhone orders” published Thursday Jun 17, 12:19
am ET By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.
Though
worlds away, Silicon Valley and the purchasing habits of Americans influences
the buying habits of Third World Countries, especially Jamaica, so emulative of
American Culture yet not having nearly as much access to the technology as our
Northern Neighbours.
Here
in Jamaica, an adoption of smart phones is already beginning to occur.
Ever since Jamaican Telecom Provider Digicel and Telecom Provider LIME launching
the affordable and iconic Blackberry PIN Messenger cum email
goddess-of-a-phone!
The
RIM Blackberry and its trim line of smart phones, namely the BlackBerry Curve
8900 as stated in the article “LIME launches the Blackberry Curve
98900 smart phone with Free Service offer”, published Monday, 09
February 2009 by TechJamaica.com.
Meanwhile,
Digicel introduced the Blackberry Bold as stated in the article “Digicel brings the Blackberry Storm
to customers in 26 markets”, published Friday, 17 April 2009
by TechJamaica.com.
Telecom Provider Digicel also introduced the same
Blackberry, such as the Blackberry Curve 8900 and the Blackberry Bold at the
same time as stated in the article “Digicel introduces the New
Blackberry Curve 8900 smartphone in the Caribbean”, published
Monday, 09 February 2009 by TechJamaica.com, Jamaica has
caught smart phone fever!
Jamaican
Telecom Provider CLARO is
not to be outdone, carrying the full lineup of Blackberrys and competitively
priced Data Plans, namely:
1.
The Blackberry Pearl Flip 8220
2.
The Blackberry Curve 8900
3.
The Blackberry Gemini 8520
4.
The Blackberry Bold 9000
5.
The Blackberry Bold 9700 (finally they
got rid of the trackball!!)
6.
Blackberry Storm 9500 (Apple iPhone
imitator, its flattery most sincere!!)
Of
course, the only “smart” phone in the line-up and definitely NOT a Blackberry
is the Apple iPhone, my obvious bias towards Apple eruditely displayed for all
to see.
Even
feature phones, capable of just SMS alone and a lot less advanced than smart
phones, such as the LG Neon, Xenon and Karma will be popular, all potential
Customers along with the mobile phones already in the wild to which a Client
of CoreTalk Caribbean Limited can
market their products or services.
Chairman
and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey
would have been proud that Jamaicans are adopting his business model so
successfully, and at such a cut-rate PrePaid Subscription for Clients to offer
promotional giveaways as well as Two (2) way Real-Time Interactivity.
Good
for Database using SQL or even Social Networking Platforms with a Twitter-esque or DodgeBall-esque feel and a low
rate for SMS to encourage user interactivity, much like Twitter, when they had
originally started out in 2004 as a SMS based “micro-blogging” service.
DodgeBall
started out as an SMS based geo-location service. CoreTalk Caribbean Limited’s business
model will, by virtue of pursuing a low price model, revolutionize the SMS
business in Jamaica by making SMS services available to potential
clients as well as enable any phone to provide the service to its clients, be
they on Telecom Provider Digicel, CLARO and LIME.
Much
as Square app and sugar
cube shaped Square Card Reader
widget from Chairman and CEO of Twitter Jack
Dorsey shown on the YouTube posting “Welcome to Square”, and
explained in brief in the article “Twitter co-founder launches new
venture: Square”, published May 16 2010, Washington (AFP), The Jamaica Herald, and explained in
detail on my blog entitled
“CLARO and Square
- the App of the Year 2010 and CLARO's Savior”.
A
proposal for a partnership between CLARO Jamaica Ltd, the Big Three (3) Banks
in Jamaica, namely BNS (Bank of Nova
Scotia), NCB (National Commercial Bank)
and RBTT (Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago)
and Chairman and CEO of Twitter Jack
Dorsey to promote the usage of this free app on Apple iPhones via the Apple
Apps Store.
Also
on smart phones running Google Android OS from the Google Android MarketPlace
would be beneficial. CoreTalk
Caribbean Limited are truly Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981),
having found it being guarded by the God Anubis, Guardian of the Underworld, as
show in the movie Raiders of the
Lost Ark (1981), lost an forgotten…………..until now…………
