LagrangePoint - Brad Howarth

Australian Anthill - Motorola's market dilemma

It's amazing how the drive to standardisation has led literally hundreds of phone companies around the world to spend billions of dollars creating mobile networks that essentially all do the same thing. For those companies to achieve growth - especially in saturated markets - they need to find new ways of deriving revenue out of existing customers. The long mooted solution has been data services, but these are still to generate much excitement in all but a few markets. Anyway, when Motorola decided to take me over the Barcelona in February to attend the 3GSM conference, it was a good chance to look into how themselves might be trying to terraform the mobile data desert. Anyway, you can check it out for yourself in this editorial from Australian Anthill.

The Pocast Network - IM ettiquette

Just got a note from Cameron Reilly at The Podcast network to say that my show on instant messaging has not gone live. Apparently the audio quality at my end is not so flash, but hopefully the content might be worth listening to. You can check it out here.

My Career - Web wizards required

Anyone out there who might still be confused as to whether or not Australia is suffering from a technology skills crisis ought to talk to the nation's web site and content developers. Years of low demand and poor salaries drove many one-time high earners out of the market. Now however, with the web bouncing back and digital content the flavour of the month, their skills in areas such as Flash and .Net are being sorely missed. Click the link for my recent story in the MyCareer section of the Sydney Morning Herald and Age newspapers. Download web_wizards_required.rtf

B&T Turbulence Column - Content is key for 3G

A quick post here from my Turbulence column in B&T. My trip to Barcelona in February with Motorola gave me a chance to delve into many of the issues that will affect the future of mobile telephony - not least of which is the role of content in driving up customer revenue. With the carriers of the world spending billions of dollars to essentially all provide the same undifferentiated service and new consumers thin on the ground, content is poised to become the new battleground. You can check out the draft article Download bt_column_3gsm.rtf .

Fijian villager entrepreneurship

Am back in the country after four nights in Fiji. Didn't think it would be possible to come back from such a beautiful and relaxing location feeling so exhausted, but a sold schedule of bumping around the back of a 4WD in the highlights, river crossings, kava ceremonies and interviews didn't leave much time to indulge in the more sedate pleasures that Fiji is better known for.

The main reason for heading up was to observe the work being done by the ANZ Bank's Rural Banking division. Recognising that financial literacy is one of the stepping stones our of poverty, ANZ has created a service that takes banking facilities into the highlands, helping villagers start savings accounts and gain greater control over their financial circumstances. What was amazing to see was the ability of people living below or close to the poverty line to save money, even if it was only a few dollars a month. Many aspire to take our micro loans for education or investment in new tools and other means of boosting their productivity. The bank will only issue a loan after a villager has demonstrated their capacity to save money regularly over a six months period, and works with them to create a business plan to ensure that they are able to meet their new obligations to servicing that loan.

What was also amazing to witness was the the blossoming of entrepreneurship within a culture which that had previously been living at a subsistence level. In those communities where financial literacy was high and the process of savings and applying for loans well established, people who had previously only grown enough crops to feed themselves and engage in basic trade were now coming forward with ideas for creating bakeries, buying trucks and tractors, and creating micro-enterprises that might improve their revenue-generating ability and improve their lives and the lives of fellow villagers. The spirit of entrepreneurship is infectious, and rapidly spread among people who now realised they had the means to make something very different of their circumstances.

Anyway, the story will be appearing in AFR Boss in a couple of months ... will post a pointer once it comes through.

Archive - Motorola CTO Padmasree Warrior

Another lengthy gap between posts, and another apology. Am acutally posting this from the airport lounge in Sydney as I await a flight to Fiji. Once again, it's a work trip - not a holiday - the results of which will appear in an edition of AFR Boss in a couple of months.

In the meantime, The Australian has run another of my articles - this time an interview with the CTO of Motorola, Padmasree Warrior. Some interesting insights into the future of business-oriented mobile devices, but not to the extent that I had hoped, which makes me wonder whether or not anyone really knows what the future holds more than about a year out ... Anyway, the article can be accesed here.