Operators must learn to love their inner bit pipe.
Went drinking with a bunch of industry types last night, and among them were four content guys from the UK operators. Guess what, three of them are leaving.
And they're not being pushed out in one of the operators 'let's get rid of our content teams and outsource the whole shebang' cycles.
No, they're going of their own accord because they can't tolerate the sheer mind-numbing hopelessness of their respective positions.
The operators' faith of their ability to be media companies never fails to touch me. I'm reminded of Wall-E's heart-rending attempts to get the attention of the superior and uninterested Eve (God, I love that film).
I see Eve as the UK public, rushing into the arms of Apple, Google, Facebook - anywhere but the cold mechanical arms of its eager operator admirer.
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After ten years of writing about this stuff, nothing changes. Operators can't make it work.
I'm hearing very very bad things about Vodafone 360 right now.
Rumours of handset sales in their hundreds, of devices being broken into parts and shipped to emerging markets, of pitiful download numbers, of big rows in the boardroom. No one seems to know what 360 is. Rich contacts book? Portal? Phone?
Then there's Orange App Shop. Hardly pulling down trees, as the expression goes. Have you used it yet? If yes, do you work at Orange?
Yes, I know. They don't want to be bit pipes. But someone tell me what's so wrong with being a bit pipe? Why can't efficient operators with sound network infrastructure and solid billing systems make a ton of money for years to come?
Here's my 'to do' list for operators for the next ten years:
1. Embrace the bit pipe word. Just as homosexuals have taken back the word 'queer' and defused its negative connotations, operators should 'own' bit pipe.
2. Charge three per cent for mobile billing. Imagine the m-commerce possibilities if operators could match credit card companies.
3. Throw the kitchen sink at person to person mobile payments in emerging markets.
4. Stop using phrases like 'we're better, connected' in advertising. Yeah, I know the comma gives it a double meaning. But while the copywriter has been very clever there, nobody gives a shit.
Speaking of campaigns, Vodafone is currently bombarding the UK with ads for Sure Signal, its new femtocell service. The ads are quite funny, but the underlying message is astonishing. It's saying – buy this because the signal you're already paying us for is shit.
Overall, though, how staggering that after 25 years of mobile telephony, the networks are still competing on who has the best voice call quality?
