LIME and 3G - The YouTube and Hulu Paradox

Commuter – one who spends his life,

In riding to and from his wife;

A man who shaves and takes a train,

And then rides back to shave again.

E.B. White, The Commuter

Telecom Provider LIME is acting rather silly in it debut of this Service, a partnership with cable TV provider DC Digital which allow users to watch television on their mobile phone as stated in the article “LIME goes Mobile TV”, published Saturday August 28th by Christopher Serju, The Jamaica Gleaner.

LIME Chairman, Christopher Dehring thenproceeded to make some of the strangest utterances to leave his mouth that should have Telecom Providers scratching their heads: “We are the revolution. Some people say they have 4G, we say we have more G”.

Well folks, it is official. Telecom Provider LIME is now into gangsta rap.

I knew the rumors were true; Marijuana is making a comeback in the old C&W boardroom, just like back in the days when we (Union Representatives) used to negotiate with them for wage increases. The promise of the Service by Christmas 2010 as stated in the article “TV on your mobile phone this Christmas”, published Friday, August 27, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

This puts all Jamaicans in the same boat as the people of Mobay as stated in the article “LIME to build US$40m 3G Network for Montego Bay”, published Sunday June 27, 2010, by Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer, The Sunday Gleaner, and makes LIME Chairman, Christopher Dehring look like Kris Kringle, Santa Clause’s other nom de guerre.

But slapstick and humorous pokes aside, this is on the face of it, is on the same level as the fumble at the end zone, two (2) yards from the goal line, made by WiMax CEO, Alex Boothroyd of Telecom Provider Digicel fame.

Fumble!! Customers go wild!! Just goes to show you, I am not particularly fond of any of these Telecom Provider and they do seem to all think alike.

The Thursday soft launch was particularly interesting, as the usual atmosphere was on show and the rhetoric was ratcheted up a notch. The slow-out-of-the-blocks Telecom Provider LIME was looking fighting fit, trying to put on a brave face to show everyone that Telecom Provider Digicel and their new baby, Digicel Broadband 4G, powered by super fast WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.11n) as stated in the article “Digicel goes 4G”, published Saturday, August 21, 2010 By ROSS SHEIL, The Jamaica Observer. was not the only circus in town.

John Public can assure you that they certainly succeeded at that with that kind of statement, as John Public was looking around for a possible cameo appearance by Snoop Dogg. But putting the fluff, flashing lights and the skin tight women aside, is this really as good an offer as it sounds? John Public chews on his chocolate pipe and dissects the LIME to make some lemonade………..

Streaming TV on a Phone – Great idea if the Hardware is there for High Quality Viewing

Television on a mobile phone is nothing new. Most dual-SIM mobile phones from the People’s Republic of China, which stop working after a while and have no parts support in Jamaica, can pick up television. On the high end side of things, there are branded mobile phones from Samsung and Nokia, the most popular brands worldwide that can watch television without 3G Internet.

Then there are smart phones that use mainly streaming over 3G or 4G to enable TV watching, the Apple iPhone 4.0 on Telecom Provider AT&T’s Network coming to mind readily and its Google Android powered competitors, the HTC Droid Incredible on Telecom Provider Verizon’s Network, the HTC EVO 4G on Telecom Provider Sprint’s Network and the Motorola Droid and it next of kin on Telecom Provider Verizon’s Network rounding off the list.

All smart phones now feature Apps store and all have downloadable apps that support streaming video content from the cloud, which is obviously the technology featured behind LIME TV’s Service.

Thus all this ballyhoo is most likely about a mobile app that will allow streaming over the 3G cloud to your phone for a thirty (30) day subscription so that you can watch television – I love it when I break it down like that!

Thus Television streamed on your mobile phones is an excellent idea, albeit Telecom Provider Digicel had already made announcements in the same wind that portend to their  launching their own Wireless Subscriber Television Service as stated in the article “DigiTV launch for 2009 - Mobile provider branches into TV”, published Friday November 14th 2009 by Ross Sheil, Online Co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer via TechJamaica.

This is similar to the ones they currently have in the South Pacific Island and they had tried their hand at TV on mobile phones in the past with little success. Back then, mobile phone screens with less than VGA quality screens were very small and the content was streamed over EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) with buffering being a common problem.

But Telecom Provider Digicel tried, and albeit the experiment was a failure, it did whet the interest of those members of the Jamaican public who saw a future where Television would be on mobile phones. That future is now, intoning the title from the sleeper-awakes movie remake of The Time Machine (2005)

Streaming from Digicel and LIME – Hulu, YouTube Streaming Alternatives and good Hardware needed

With these rash announcements by both Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel, John Public wishes to interject a bit of the obvious, as I am now confused. Is it that the Telecom Provider’s really think that Jamaicans are not aware of the fact that YouTube and Hulu provide streaming Services, specifically Hulu, which are now viewable in Jamaica?

Hulu, in particular had announced plans to begin making subscribers pay for its streaming content as stated in the article “Hulu soon to charge for content”, published June 9, 2010 9:53 AM PDT, by Lance Whitney, CNET News.

Now it is official: Hulu is now a pay Service as stated in the article “Hulu launches US$10 video subscription Service”, published Tuesday June 29 2010 by RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38001512/ providing streamable advertisement laden content via the cloud for a measly US$10 on a thirty (30) day subscription.

They are now offering both a paid and a free streaming, the free streaming being at 480p resolution and being only recent episodes and the paid version being 720p. With access to back episodes inclusive of the current ones and both offerings being ad supported, the once free Hulu is now a revenue spinner in the new media and also a potential target for hackers.

Also, the mobile phones mentioned thus far by Telecom Provider LIME in the article “TV on your mobile phone this Christmas”, published Friday, August 27, 2010, The Jamaica Observer, have too small a screen.

Anything less than a 4” AMOLED (Amorphous Organic Light Emitting Diode) with at least 720p HD (High Definition) or Retina Display with support for either “tethering” via Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) or Wi-Fi Direct to allow for streaming to a HDTV television set, with optional HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) port or even fiber optic port will just not make it attractive enough for even the casual TV watcher wishing to catch news in the traffic.

Once these hardware issues are cleared up by Telecom Provider LIME offering HTC and Star Wars branded Motorola siblings of 4” mobile smart phones that fit this bill, the only issues will be is if the price is right.

The Rise of Tablets – Potential View Screens for the Streaming Generation to come

YouTube and Hulu are still free and far more interesting than streaming Cable TV on a free downloadable app from the Google Android MarketPlace or Blackberry Apps Store and is even available on the new Blackberry Torch 9800 as stated in the article “RIM looks to make a splash with US$199 touchscreen Blackberry Torch”, published Tuesday August 3 2010 by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.

There is also the hinted intentions of producing a Tablet PC to compete with the Apple iPad rumoured to be called the BlackPad as stated in the article “RIM BlackPad Expected to Compete with Apple's iPad”, published Friday July 30^th 2010 by Mike Kent, Yahoo! News which  may mean their threadbare Blackberry apps store may need a few good Developers.

Did I really forget in all of this to mention the Apple iPad, which started all this craziness?

Still, John Public is not knocking this as yet launched product by Telecom Provider LIME, as the timing of the launch, which will be in Christmas 2010, is done so as to capture some of that feel-good vibe that usually results in people opening up their wallets a little more, festive season and whatnot.

Streaming benefits to Broadcasters - Behavioral Targeted Advertising to bring in the revenue

It is also in the nick of time too, as the RJR Communications Group was taking a beating in the form Second Quarter Losses in 2010 as stated in the article “RJR profits drop 53% in June Q”, published Friday, August 20, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

The news with regards to the fate of Cable TV, if the survey by ComCast is to believed, does not make going into that arena any more attractive. The potential advertising loss being visited upon broadcasters by the trend of time shifting using DVR (Digital Video Recorders), watching DVD’s and WebTV as stated in the article “Survey of viewers shows extent of TV time shifting”, published Tuesday August 17, 6:53 am ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer, Yahoo! News appears real enough.

RJR Communications Group diaper laden child, Multimedia Jamaica Limited, has hit up on using Bluetooth advertising, a type of Direct Targeted Marketing in a partnership with Blue Wave Caribbean, a UK based entrepreneur in this field as stated in the article “Bluetooth ads coming to cellphones soon”, published Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by Alicia Roache Business, The Jamaica Observer.

Direct Targeted Marketing is a very close cousin of Behavioral Targeted Advertising as stated in the article “Study: Like it or not, behavioral ad targeting works”, published March 24, 2010 9:01 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News.

Telecom Providers Streaming – Ultimate Savior of Broadcasting in Jamaica

Jamaica makes the perfect guinea pig, and is good that we get the chance to try this out first. This new advertising medium, at least new to Jamaica, may be like Obi Wan Kenobi, their only hope, as opined by the R2-D2 projected hologram of Princess Leia in the movie Star Wars – A New Hope.

And then came Telecom Provider LIME. But what I like best of all about either Telecom Provider LIME or Telecom Provider Digicel streaming Cable TV and Local Television stations over the cloud via their Wireless Broadband Services.

Telecom Providers are not the enemy of Television and the Big Three (3) Broadcasters, but may in fact be their ultimate saviour…………a happy ending that no one but John Public could have scripted in Jamaica, riding off into the sunset. The End.

Telecom Provider CLARO, any new announcements?

Digicel and WiMax 4G Mobile - The Phantom Menace

If I have done the public any service, it is due to patient thought

Sir Isaac Newton, Remark to Dr. Bentley

I would like to think, that like good Sir Isaac Newton, by making it widely known that the reason that Telecom Provider Digicel is avoiding launching with smart phones is because they come with Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) modems built in and they cannot be disabled, I, John Public, Judge in the Court of Public opinion, have done the Jamaican people a great Service.

It was not because of cost as per the article “Digicel all set to unveil 4G Broadband offering”, published Friday, August 13, 2010 by AL EDWARDS, The Jamaica Observer, as the WiMax CEO, Alex Boothroyd naively claims, but because Telecom Provider Digicel is deathly afraid of losing revenue to “jail broken” smart phones working on competitor Dekal Wireless, a Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.1n) Network.

“Jail breaking” as the Americans call is it now not only legal in the Great United States of America as stated in the article “Apple: Jailbreaking an iPhone will (still) violate your warranty”, published Tuesday 27 July 2010 by Ben Patterson, Technology Writer, Yahoo! News.

 This is further elucidate in the article “On Call: Go ahead an jailbreak, its legal now”, published July 27, 2010 2:20 PM PDT by Kent German, CNET News - Dialed In, but every phone unlocker in Jamaica can watch CNET News and their informative CNET TV or even just go on YouTube and learn how to “jailbreak” their mobile smart phones.

“Jail breaking” differs from unlocking, as unlocking enables a mobile smart phone to work on a competing Telecom Provider’s Voice Network, provided that the phone supports the frequencies and modulation technology i.e. GSM (Global System Mobile) or CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) used on that competing Telecom Provider’s Voice Network.

“Jail breaking”, on the other hand, unlocks software restrictions in the mobile phones OS e.g. Apple iOS, Blackberry 6.0 and Google Android OS, enabling not only non-approved apps to be used on the mobile phone, but unlocking features, such as Video Calling and Bluetooth Calling

Even Mesh Networking via Wi-Fi Direct, a firmware upgrade of Wi-Fi that turns a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) modem into a Wi-Fi hotspot, is possible, a feat achieved by Dr. Paul Gardner-Stephen of Flinders University in Australia in his Project Serval using unlocked Google Android smart phones as stated in the article “Cell phone chats in the Australian Outback?”, published July 12, 2010 2:06 PM PDT by Leslie Katz, CNET News - Crave and  another potential source of revenue for Dekal Wireless, the Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network.

Thus, Telecom Provider Digicel launching ONLY with Netbooks, laptops and 4G-to-Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Routers or Mobile hotspots, more popularly called Mi-Fi, or just simple CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) similar to ones by Telecom Provider Verizon to provide Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) as well as used in Russia, will soon start, in short order, becoming expensive paperweights.

This will occur once Dekal Wireless, the Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network that launched with the silence of a stealth bomber as opposed to the noise sonic boom of Telecom Provider Digicel as stated  in the article “Wayne Chen, Lees enter Wireless Broadband Market”, published Friday July 30^th 2010 by Mark Titus, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Dekal Wireless is now stress testing its network to see if it will hold up to the load, and will soon start it expansionist move and cover the island with is competitive Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network at only JA$2400 for a Prepaid thirty (30) day subscription versus Telecom Provider Digicel JA$2500 for a PostPaid thirty (30) day subscription.

The emphasis here is on the fact that you have to commit to Postpaid AND purchase a Dongle or a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) JUST to come close to prices similar to that of the Prepaid bread-and-butter GOLD offering of Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless based on the article “Digicel retrofitting stores for 4G”, published Sunday August 22 2010 by The Jamaica Gleaner.

WiMax CEO, Alex Boothroyd is not only naïve, he is a complete moron to believe Jamaicans can be so easily deceived into being overpriced for a service when choices exist that are lower in cost – and ironically designed by yours truly, taking advantage of the fact that Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) will be built into almost every Netbook, laptop and appliance and even purchasing a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) only costs JA$2500. Jamaican people are not cheap; we are merely bargain hunters, much like my now resting-in-peace Seventh Day Adventist girlfriend Audia Granston, who would scoff at Telecom Provider Digicel offering.

Worse, no University of the West Indies Student or University of Technology student, as rich as they may be, would neither in their right or wrong mind plunk down money to purchase ANY of Telecom Provider’s WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) offerings, muchless Telecom Provider LIME or Telecom Provide CLARO 3G modem offerings, the ONLY persons Telecom Provider Digicel can defeat.

Especially as Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) is present on campus – and is paid for in our now over inflated tuition. Research is key in bargain hunting, and only really rich people will purchase these devices. Already, Telecom Provider CLARO Netbook offerings are beginning to gather dust as people catch wind of the fact that their offerings are overpriced and come with disabled (IEEE 802.11n) modems.

Did I forget the Apple iPad and Amazon Kindle Effect in terms of it lowering the prices by lowering demand for Netbooks and Laptops as per the article “ Netbook Sales Sag as the iPad Arrives” published April 7, 2010, 12:27AM EST By Cliff Edwards, CNET News – COMPUTERS and followed on in the article “Apple ponders iPad cannibalization of PC's”, published July 20, 2010 8:43 PM PDT, by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog?

Apple is now number three (3) in the world behind only Hewlett-Packard and Acer in terms of Global Unit Share, as stated in the article “iPad pushes Apple into the top mobile ranks”, published August 2, 2010 9:20 PM PDT by Brooke Crothers, CNET News Nanotech - The Circuits Blog and confirmed by the article “We're no. 3, We're No. 3!”, published August 3, 2010 10:20am by Eric Benderoff, Appolocious, Yahoo! News.

A position it gained by selling three million, three hundred thousand (3,300,000) plus Apple iPad’s since the debut of the Apple iPad on the weekend of Saturday April 3^rd and Sunday April 4^th 2010 AD.

But it gets worse. In another blog article entitled “Digicel and WiMax 4G mobile - Gorillas in the Mist”, I pointed out that there are other Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks that are coming, and now early information has landed, albeit less quietly than Dekal Wireless.

ANKHS Limited has rebranded itself as Nubian -1 Tech Services Limited and is now pursuing exactly the same strategy as Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless by purchasing T1 access from FLOW and is now in the process of setting up their very own Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network as stated in the article “Another small player emerges in the wireless broadband market”, published Friday August 2 2010 by Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Bit of something to note at this point: both Dekal Wireless and Nubian-1 are names of a type of Droid [the Droid Dekal] and the spaceship of her Royal Highness, Queen Amidala of the Naboo [Nubian-1] respectively.

ANKHS Limited logically had to rebrand, as anything to do with George Lucas’ successful Star Wars franchises will be enough to fire up the imagination of prospective gadget geeks, who will be a bit amused at the name references, drawn straight from Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), making these upstart Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks appear to be the Rebel Alliance fighting against the Empire.

The Empire is herein represented by the overpriced Big Three (3) Networks in the semblance of Telecom Provider Digicel and their WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) and Telecom Provider CLARO and Telecom Provider LIME 3G offerings respectively

The Empire, just like in the movie Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) was trying to tax the people of Naboo via a trade blockade. This is what the naïve, moronic blockheaded and now Greed Monster infested  WiMax CEO, Alex Boothroyd  and Telecom Provider Digicel and their Digicel Broadband does not realize is happening.

How naïve is he? Even the Motorola Milestone, which is a rebranded Motorola Droid (did you catch that?) is Star Wars branded. So is the Motorola Droid 2 and the Motorola Droid X as stated in the article “HTC Evo 4G, Incredible shortages make room for Droid X”, published Monday July 12 2010 by Jared Newman, Yahoo! News

It is now in short supply and the soon to debut Motorola Droid R2-D2 as stated in the article “R2-D2 Droid 2 edition to arrive in September”, published August 16, 2010 5:07 PM PDT by Scott Webster, CNET News - Android Atlas, Motorola having formally inked a rebranding deal with George Lucas of Star Wars Directorial fame.

And may I, John Public, be so bold as to predict the next Gorilla in the Mist? It will be another, the chosen one…….. called Anakin and the next Motorola being the Motorola Droid C3PO, with a faster processor and possibly a fiber optic port. Please, just don’t go around using the R2-D2 chirps as your ring tone……………

Broadcasting and Advertising - Why is the Dog's Nose is Cold

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between a dog and a man

Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar

It seems that I spoke too soon. People, one of the Big Three (3) Broadcasters has awoken from its slumber in response to the potential advertising loss being visited upon it by the trend of time shifting using DVR (Digital Video Recorders), watching DVD’s and WebTV as stated in the article “Survey of viewers shows extent of TV time shifting”, published Tuesday August 17, 6:53 am ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer, Yahoo! News.

This services is soon to be visited upon them by the launch of as-for-now-uncapped WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Broadband service Digicel Broadband from Telecom Provider Digicel as stated in the article “Digicel goes 4G”, published Saturday, August 21, 2010 By ROSS SHEIL Online co-ordinator, The Jamaica Observer

Just in the nick of time too, as the RJR Communications Group was taking a beating in the form Second Quarter Losses in 2010 as stated in the article “RJR profits drop 53% in June Q”, published Friday, August 20, 2010, The Jamaica Observer.

The RJR Communications Group’s youngest child, Multimedia Jamaica Limited, has, in a flash of inspiration, a clear case of happenstance and experimentation (first ever for a local broadcaster!!) began beta testing a new technology called Direct Targeted Advertising based on Bluetooth powered technology by a company called BlueWave Caribbean from out of the United Kingdom, of all places!

This is a technology that I had previously hinted was possible in a previous series of in my blog articles entitled:

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

These set of proposals I had sent to Telecom Provider Digicel, but as usual with those techie-types, they showed no interest in researching the concept and experimenting with it as an additional source of revenue, which, in a twist of irony, the younger child of a very old broadcaster has decided to dabble.

By making that decision, the RJR Communications Group has become the first company in Jamaica and indeed the entire Caribbean to use this little know type of advertising known as Direct Targeted Advertising powered by Bluetooth as stated in the article “Bluetooth ads coming to cellphones soon”, published Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by Alicia Roache Business reporter, The Jamaica Observer

Bluewave Technologies is a very close cousin of Behavioral Targeted Advertising as stated in the article “Study: Like it or not, behavioral ad targeting works”, published March 24, 2010 9:01 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News – The Social ().

Wherein lies the difference? Behavioral Targeted Advertising is dependent on being a member of a Social Network that has geo-location e.g. FourSquare, who started this concept and FaceBook Places readily comes to mind. Both services that have the capability to push you targeted advertisements and offerings on your mobile smart phone based on your “likes” as selected on your Social Network.

Once you are in proximity of an advertiser based on your GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) location, your acceptance of the advertisement being recorded as a hit at the time of “check-in” to use this now prolific term originated by FourSquare, who started the trending towards geo-location.

Direct Targeted Advertising is also location based, but is unsolicited advertising and is more dependent on proximity of the customer to a fixed Wireless Network, be it a Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n), Bluetooth or Mobile Cellular Network to push advertising to a customer.

This is much in the same way Telecom Providers, without your prompting, send you SMS (Short Messaging Service) or Text messages to your mobile phone, most likely a cost they themselves absorb or in the case of Third Party SMS providers, such as CoreTalk Communications Limited.  CoreTalk Communications Limited specializes in such Direct Targeted Advertising via SMS.

Thus this service is nothing new under the Sun. The genius of BlueWave Caribbean, a subsidiary of the British company that is championing this advertising concept in Jamaica, is that unlike SMS based services from CoreTalk Communications Limited, which can also be utilized for advertising. It is free to the customer and is Telecom Provider agnostic as Bluetooth is already ubiquitous on most mobile smart phones and “feature” phones, be they on Telecom Provider Digicel, CLARO or LIME’s Network.

Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) is also becoming more ubiquitous on mobile smart phones as well as on household appliances and gadgets, such as 3-D HDTV’s as per my previous blog articles, thus the concept of advertising being pushed to you on mobile smart phones via Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Networks such as Dekal Wireless is very possible in the future and is most likely possible, especially as this Asian Tiger spreads its message of low cost, modem-less “Super-Wi-Fi”.

Another big advantage of using Bluetooth as a medium to push advertising is that you can choose if you wish to receive the advertising or not, much as one is able to opt-in or opt-out of being tracked by your friends using geo-location services such as FourSquare.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has decided to opt-in everyone into FaceBook Places and make it a tad tedious to opt-out, which thankfully, Molly Wood, Executive Editor at CNET has been most kind to give us the “411” as the Americans would say, in the video “CNET How To - Turn Off Facebook places”, aired Monday August 23 2010, by Molly Wood, Executive Editor, CNET News.

Bluetooth’s very own proprietary technology helps to mitigate against any perceived risk of invasion of privacy due to this opt-in feature, but it truly makes one worry about content that is not appropriate for children. Ironically, the Broadcasting Commission had no axe to grind with the RJR Communications Group, especially as they are already compliant in their advertising on broadcast free-to-air Television and Radio.

This new advertising venture is expected to hit the ground running and with a bang, as merely porting the advertisements that are acceptable to the Broadcast Commission will help to spur its adoption, as already Jamaicans have been clamoring for geo-location services, which have fallen on the deaf ears of Telecom Providers and even local startup MonaGIS (Geo-Informatics) Ltd.

This is ironic, as a female friend of mine on FaceBook who is employed at  MonaGIS (Geo-Informatics) Ltd originally gave me the idea of tracking people via a suggestion she made to me in 2009 via email (sorry, can’t post my private emails!!) about using GPS outside of building and a local network indoors to track people. Ostensibly a reference to Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) or GloPos Communications Ltd GSM based technology which allows single tower triangulation as stated in the article "Global Positioning without GPS”, published September 13, 2009, 11:30PM EST by Kevin Tofel, BusinessWeek.

Worse, I posted the suggestion repeatedly on BOTH Telecom Provider Digicel and MonaGIS (Geo-Informatics) Ltd Facebook pages, even sending Telecom Provider Digicel hardcopies of my concept for a Mobile Social Network, which by the way is a combination of ConnectU, CreditU and C&W BlingBack Tunes back in 2002 and its updated cousin Digicel InTunes.

Guess as usual, it takes foreigners to shake up the advertising business for it to become relevant, hence the reason why I give away any of my purloined ideas over the Internet and bask in the glory at the Baxter Building among the employees of Amazing PC and the Bee Hive at the back of Bargain Village in May Pen, Clarendon.

I am extremely happy that Jamaica is going to be the first to try this out. Advertisers will love this too, as it breathes life into some ideas I purloined from Red Stripe as it relates to Mobile Advertising and Marketing Metrics, which I later gave away in 2003 and started the Social Networking trend now known as Twitter and FaceBook….and its many related cousins.

Persons would then say that with an opt-out feature, no one will opt-in and support receiving advertising. However that worry is easily brushed aside as well, as Jamaicans love free giveaways, as evident from Telecom Provider Digicel and their previous free giveaways and current Jus Buss Promotion and as they are many Jamaican with foreign travel experience who may be using FourSquare, Loopt, Gowalla and FaceBook Places.

This trend will rapidly catch on, especially as persons get used to the idea of getting free giveaways, party tickets, even mobile phone credit from the various Telecom Providers based on just “check-in” to a location or in this case with the BlueWave Caribbean Bluetooth Technology, coming into proximity of a Bluetooth Network strategically positioned to broadcast advertising information.

Most likely, the carrier to provide interconnectivity will undoubtedly and ironically be Digicel Broadband, their most prolific advertiser and partner-in-crime, thus making the Bluetooth Wireless Hotspots remote and independent of manual intervention.

New advertising can be remotely pushed to these Bluetooth Wireless Hotspots on a on-demand basis over Digicel Broadband WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) Network. Profitability is guaranteed, thus the RJR Communications Group may be saved, ironically by its potential killer: 4G Broadband. Poetic Justice indeed……….

The words of Director of BlueWave Caribbean sum it up best: “It's new technology so do you wait for regulations to come in or do you give people the opportunity to experience the technology? My preference is to give people the opportunity to experience the technology”. Had Telecom Provider Digicel or MonaGIS (Geo-Informatics) been a little more forward thinking, they would have seen this coming too………….albeit it is not too late.

My proposals for Brown Dawg Mobile Social Network are freely available for copying from my blog, as I have already become bored with this and started working on a proposal for another big future Social Networking Trend: Augmented View and its relation to Video Calling Social Network Chatroulette……..Dolche Gabbana and Mui Mui style

Broadcasting and Telecoms - To cap or not to cap, that is the question

Nor deem the irrevocable Past,

As wholly wasted, wholly vain,

If, rising on its wrecks, at last

To something nobler we attain

Longfellow, The Ladder of St. Augustine

It seems that on the Road to Damascus, the Broadcasting Commission has lost not only their vision but their ability to read and comprehend, or for that matter Research. Perhaps John Public needs to apply to the Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio for a position as a Research Officer, as opined by the recent Red Rose Tea Commercial, as John Public does not possess an MBA or a Management Degree, and thus is only qualified to be a Research Officer, driving around and collecting statistical data on this most important of things: what Television Watchers and Radio listeners want. The Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio are yet to commit to plans to go DSO (Digital Switch Over) as stated in the article as stated in the article ““Slow road to digital switch-over  - Cable groups mum; Flow ahead but network coverage behind”, published: Saturday  August 15, 2009 by Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer, The Daily Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). The Broadcasting Commission has already decided on the process, which the learned John Public can quite easily discern from visiting the Broadcast Commission’s website as “technology selection, digital switch-on and analogue switch-off”. It seems, however, they are stuck at the Technology Selection stage. Meanwhile DVR (Digital Video Recorders) and DVD watching is rising………

But the above article was written back in 2009, the year in which the entire United States of America switch to Digital Television Broadcast and around the rest of the world, Analog Broadcast (for television at least) has already come to an end, specifically in EU bloc countries such as European countries such as Germany, Finland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium Austria having already built out in digital with the United Kingdom now doing a region-by-region switch over, scheduled to be completed by 2012. Apparently there are possibly concerns being raised by the Broadcasters as to how they will fund such a venture and how they will recoup their expenditure, as advertising revenues are projected to decrease with the coming of 3G from Telecom Providers CLARO and LIME and Wimax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) from Digicel, which is now here as stated in the article “Digicel goes 4G”, published Saturday, August 21, 2010 By ROSS SHEIL Online co-ordinator rsheil@jamaicaobserver.com (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com) which will make on-demand Television a reality, making them, appear to be entrenched, old fashioned  Management, interested only in continuity of profitability and not in actual spectral efficiency and thus financial gain from the resale of spectrum and “white spaces”, the unused spectrum both in-between the Television frequencies as well as in geographic locations. That DSO is necessary should be obvious, now with obviousness of their dependence on Government of Jamaica Bonds, evident in their massive Second Quarter losses in 2010 as stated in the article “RJR profits drop 53% in June Q”, published Friday, August 20, 2010, The Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).

But it is now apparent that the newly launched Digicel Broadband 4G, which uses the QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) schema in the form of WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d) could accelerate Digital Music and Video Piracy, as currently, its raw speed, like its closest, and as some would argue its ONLY competitor in the “speed” category, Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless, is uncapped. Many members of the Jamaican Public may argue that, finally, the customer has gotten a great deal, as they reason that Wireless Broadband should be uncapped much as Wired Broadband is uncapped, with comparable speeds. But it should be noted that persons of this opinion, mostly Techie “Trolls” [unruly young spoilt rich people children] and Data Hogs [heavy volume downloader], most probably the alumni of Tech Jamaica, wish nothing less than for this scenario to play out, as they would utilize the service for the purpose of downloading music and video content, thereby violating the copyright of the various artiste, developers and software engineers worldwide. In effect, it would paint a gigantic target on the back of Telecom Provider Digicel, as it would make them, not the customer, liable for prosecution by groups such as the RIAA (Recording Industry Artiste Association) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Artiste Association), already up in arms over the lack of protection of their Copyrights.

Curiously, they do have a point. Digital Music and Video Piracy robs the Federal Government of the United States of America of essential tax dollars, which have largely gone uncollected in the past, now being reconsidered for taxation. Not only had the Congress of the United States of America gone after Colleges and Universities by threatening to withhold Title IV Federal Aid under the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as stated in the article “Federal rules on campus file sharing kick in today”, published July 1, 2010 7:14 AM PDT by Greg Sandoval CNET News - Media Maverick (http://www.cnet.com), which came into effect on Thursday July 1^st 2010 AD, but a day prior, on Wednesday June 30^th 2010 AD, (for it is a day that will long be remembered by College and University Students in the United States of America), a crackdown had also been initiated against file sharers as stated in the article “Feds seize cash, Web sites of alledged film pirates”, published June 30, 2010 3:11 PM PDT by Greg Sandoval CNET News - Media Maverick (http://www.cnet.com) as Senator Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States of America, had been promising for a week prior to Wednesday June 30^th 2010.

Thus Telecom Provider Digicel and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless, will, in short order, have to begin considering strategies to impose a Data Cap without having to appear to be like the competition, Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider CLARO, both of whose 3G Wireless Broadband Networks have imposed Data Caps, but with the charging for the overage removed recently, event since it became apparent that Telecom Provider Digicel would soon be launching their WiMax 4G Mobile (IEEE 802.16d). It is good to note that these other two (2) Networks are mainly going after the “browsing” market with their slower speed internet access respectively, their caps mainly to mitigate against heavy downloaders. Telecom Provider Digicel may be allowing their service to be uncapped for now, a means of attracting people away form the competition, as their strategy, and then cap, based on Average Observed Traffic. It is good to note that this strategy may be short lived by time the next another All Media survey from the MRSL comes out, indicating the degree to which streaming of live programming maybe affecting television time, as is now the case in the United States of America. Early signs of this can be found on reading 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 (https://www.theguardian.co.uk). ComCast recently brought evidence to the fore, pointing out that there will soon be an onslaught of easily viewable and streamable content, due to decreased viewership of live content on television and an increased prevalence of time shifting [recording] of content to watch at a later date, as recently discovered in a recent study ComCast conducted as stated in the article “Survey of viewers shows extent of TV time shifting”, published Tuesday August 17, 6:53 am ET By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer, Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com).

Throw into that funeral pyre for the Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio the coming of Chinese Broadcasting and you have a very amusing situation. This eventual entry of another media company owed by the Chinese to potentially compete with them for the ever shrinking advertising dollar has the MAJ (Media Association of Jamaica) worried, as not only was their decision announced suddenly, but the fact that the MAJ are and apparently were always unsure of the Government of Jamaica media policy is an indication that for the first time, the media itself was in the dark about its own future as slyly hinted in the article “Chinese media proposal troubles local interest group”, published: Tuesday  April 6, 2010, The Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). But the fact that Senator Daryl Vaz, Minister of Information has been saying that the Chinese broadcaster was not intended to compete with local broadcasters for the local advertising dollar and curiously enough would be broadcasting Chinese programs, as Senator Daryl Vaz, Minister of Information stated that “The Cabinet has given approval for the pursuit of discussions in respect to a proposal received for cooperation between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of People’s Republic of China to transmit Chinese programmes over free-to-air radio and television stations”. This apparently is being done in a bid to facilitate closer ties between the Government of People’s Republic of China and Jamaica, relations with the communist state which began as far back as 1972 and apparently now being cemented with trade and cultural ties.

Ironically, it may be the very stone that the Builders rejected that seems to currently be the factor that mitigates against such illegal activity on Telecom Provider Digicel’s Network and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless. Telecom Provider Digicel’s policy of having the customer register upon installation of their Dongle, CPE (Customer Premises Equipment), Netbook or Laptop once online is actually a form of MRSI (Mandatory Registration of Subscriber Information) a precursor to full MNP (Mobile Number Portability), which is more related to Voice Telecoms than anything else. Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless needs to follow suit soon, requesting at least mandatory registration on logon on their PrePaid Service. MNP would allow for verifiable tracking of people on the Internet and allow the Government of Jamaica to safely introduce Credit Card usage online, which currently is not possible due to security issues and poor CyberCrime Legislation as stated in the article “Move to Tackle CyberCrime - Hacker got Golding”, published Sunday  February 14, 2010 by Philip Hamilton, Gleaner Writer, the Jamaica Gleaner (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com) and would give the Government of Jamaica the ability to collect tax online revenues from the introduction of regulated Offshore Banking or even Online Gambling, as is soon to be the case in the United States of America as stated in the article “Congress may roll dice, legalizing Net Gambling” published May 18, 2010 11:14 PM PDT by Declan McCullagh CNET News - Politics and Law, (http://www.cnet.com) akin the Americans as stated in the article “Democrats push for new Internet sales taxes”, published July 2, 2010 12:28 PM PDT by Declan McCullagh, CNET News - Politics and Law (http://www.cnet.com). This is a case of uncollected taxes, folks, not an increase in taxation, as online purchases are supposed to be taxed. By Christmas of 2010, in the United States of America, this will be case.

So the equation now reads as follows: Streamable content via uncapped Wireless Broadband + Competition from Chinese Broadcasting = Loss of Advertising revenue for local Broadcasters. Another balanced equation, but this time albeit the customer gets more choice as to how they consume their media, the Big Three (3) Broadcasters stand to lose big time, unless they push into other non-traditional areas of advertising, such as mobile phone advertising based on geo-location, for which I had written a proposal on push advertising based on BlueTooth or even accessing wireless Broadband services, such as Telecom Provider Digicel’s Network and Municipal Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n) Network Dekal Wireless. Indeed, they may even have to consider selling downloadable versions of their current programming, such as the sugary Carletta DeLeon’s Pet Tales and the Laurel and Hardy duo in the form of Simon Crosskill and Dean McLarty in Tech Tutorial. The Big Three (3) Broadcasters, RJR Communications Group, CVM Communications Group and LOVE TV/Radio will thus have to accelerate their DSO (Digital Switch Over) plans or like ComCast, they may soon begin facing Death in the face, especially in light of streaming services such as Hulu, now on a thirty (30) day subscription for a reasonable US$10 per month as stated in the article as stated in the article “Hulu launches $10 video subscription service”, published Tuesday June 29 2010 by RYAN NAKASHIMA, AP Business Writer, (https://www.news.yahoo.com), now viewable in Jamaica, amusingly information I garnered from Techjamaica’s own website, their plan now so obvious. Broadcasters, take heed!! Video did not kill the radio Star, but Streaming can finish off Old Media quite easily.