3’s Skype plunge

telecomasia.net

The CEOs of 3 UK and Skype have jointly announced the Skype Phone. The new phone, exclusive to 3 and sporting the Skype brand, is optimised for making VoIP calls using Skype over cellular. It will be available to both prepaid and postpaid customers. The phone will retail at £49.99 ($72) each, or £89.99 for a pair. Chinese ODM Amoi is manufacturing the 3/Skype phone.

The bigger operators, such as Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange, have all taken flak recently for alleged hostility towards customers using VoIP on their networks. Now here comes 3, not only encouraging its customers to use VoIP, but bending over backwards to make it easy for them. That this initiative is being taken by 3 is no coincidence, of course. As the smallest and newest of the UK mobile operators, 3’s best hope for growth is to disrupt the status quo wherever it can.

We think 3 might have something of a hit with the Skype Phone – albeit within a niche, unless (1) it expands the range of handsets available and (2) it makes Skype In/Out available – at present only Skype-to-Skype is supported. The package is attractive, and the cost of acquiring it is low. The phone is cheap at £50 but, crucially, it doesn’t look or feel cheap: it has a slim, elegant design, it’s nicely finished and has a pretty good spec for its price point, including a 2 megapixel camera. In combination with the promise of “free phone calls”, it’s likely to get at least a second look from customers who haven’t necessarily set their hearts on the latest from Nokia or Samsung.

The phone has been set up to make Skype calling as easy and intuitive as possible. There’s a button in the middle with the Skype logo on it (gasp!), and when you press it you see your list of contacts. You choose one, and set up a call. It looks and feels similar to making an ordinary mobile phone call. Skype calls will likely be subject to variable quality, and perhaps not even possible at all sometimes. But then again, they will be free, (data charges notwithstanding)– and if your call is an important one, there’s always the option to make it in the conventional way.

To get the Skype phone off the ground, 3 will have to do a lot more marketing follow-up than it did with the X-Series. X-Series was launched with some serious hoo-hah almost a year ago, but it hasn’t been promoted very effectively since then. However, the Skype phone has two advantages over X-Series as a market proposition: it’s simpler and more focused; and its target market is wider, encompassing people who just want to make phone calls, and can’t/don’t want to spend a lot of money on their phone.

In the short term, 3 may be able to use the Skype phone effectively to boost its subscriber numbers. In the long term, though, if 3 is successful with the Skype phone, the X-Series and similar projects, it might end up creating its own strategic problems. Imagine the scenario: on your mobile phone you use Skype for phone calls, Hotmail for messaging, Google for search and directions, YouTube for TV and music. What do you need your mobile operator for? The answer could turn out to be: subsidising phones, carrying data packets, and dealing with problems & complaints. Does that add up to an attractive business?

John Delaney, principal analyst at Ovum

Google lures MySpace for social network platform

Reuters (2 Nov 2007)

Google Inc has lured MySpace, the world's largest online social network, to its system courting independent software developers, raising its challenge to fast-growing Facebook.

Web search leader Google said on Thursday that MySpace will join its OpenSocial platform that allows developers to write programs across multiple social sites using one set of tools. The tools, which will become available early Friday on the Web, will eliminate the need for small start-ups or even one-person shops to customize their programs for each site. "OpenSocial is going to become the de facto standard (for developers) instantly out of the gates. It is going to have a reach of 200 million users, which is way bigger than anything else out there," Chris DeWolfe, chief executive and co-founder of MySpace, told reporters. Google unveiled the system earlier this week and said it has already lured some of the biggest developers aligned with Facebook, which opened its site to outside applications in May in a move that has helped boost its user base to more than 48 million people. Developers have created interactive programs that let users rank their friends, wage virtual food fights or compare and recommend music. Some of the applications are now used by millions of people and are already being sought out by advertisers.
"The Web has moved to its next stage," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. "We always knew that the Web would be significantly social. We also always knew that it would be standard, open, and extensive, which is what this combination and the other activities today are showing."

Google and MySpace said they had been working together on the project for more than a year. News Corp-owned MySpace has some 110 million users worldwide and already relies on Google to provide search functions for its site.

Google unveiled OpenSocial earlier this week and disclosed that social networks such as LinkedIn and Friendster joined the program as well as some of the biggest independent developers on Facebook, including Slide and iLike.

Google lost out to rival Microsoft Corp last week, when the software maker took a minority stake in privately held Facebook and shored up its position as the site's advertising delivery partner. But that has not cooled investor enthusiasm for Google, based on the expectation it will succeed in extending its dominant technology for selling ads tied to search listings to many new platforms -- from mobile phones to television. Google shares surged to an all-time high of $713.72 on Nasdaq on Thursday, before closing at $703.21, down $3.79. Facebook, now valued at $15 billion with the Microsoft deal, is due to unveil an advertising platform at an event in New York next week.

Google executives said the company had also reached out to Facebook, and hundreds of other sites, about joining its OpenSocial platform. Facebook representatives had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Amanda Beck; writing by Michele Gershberg in New York)

Experts call for policy continuity

The Nation (2 November 2007)

Smooth transition seen as vital for expected coalition government

The private and public sectors agree that despite an expected economic recovery next year, political uncertainty flowing from an expected coalition government after the election is a key risk. They suggest the new administration continue to implement the policies of the interim government in order to achieve as smooth as possible a transition.

At a seminar held yesterday by the Thai Listed Companies Association on "Factors to Stimulate the Economy After the General Election", participants included representatives from the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the World Bank.

They expressed the hope that new government would stabilise politics and warned business operators to adjust to pressures from rising oil prices, rising interest rates and a volatile foreign-exchange rate. But they believe capital inflows will continue.

FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanont said despite capacity utilisation at 75-76 per cent, businesses were hesitant to expand investment as they are waiting for the next government to announce its economic policies. They want to see how much these policies will boost the confidence of investors and consumers.

Nonetheless, an economic recovery is expected next year. World Bank country economist Kirida Bhaopichitr said the number of companies applying for Board of Investment privileges had doubled from last year, reflecting the potential growth of the economy over the next one to two years.

She suggested the new government implement flexible economic policies and clarify those that affect foreign investors, including the 30-per-cent reserve requirement, the amended Foreign Business Act and the expected Retail Business Act.

The World Bank estimates that the Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) will by grow by 4.6 per cent next year, compared to about 4.3 per cent this year.

However, that is still low when compared to China, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. Therefore, despite the anticipated economic recovery, Thai growth is still expected to be relatively low.

Kirida emphasised the importance of the competitiveness of Thai business operators amid turbulence next year sparked by oil prices, foreign-exchange rates and a lower volume of world trade. The World Bank expects global trade to grow at 7.5 per cent next year, from 10 per cent this year.

Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations chairman Kongkiat Opaswongkarn said capital inflows would continue next year following a huge influx over the past two years.
He said several foreign fund managers believed capital would continue to flood into Asia as the US economy is in a period of slowdown. This might even boost the baht to the level it was at before the 1997 financial crisis.

Therefore, business operators must adjust, while the new government must make sure there is continuity in the implementation of the economic policies of the current administration. "I don't worry about the Thai economy, because it can continue growing. What I'm worried about is politics. The new government will be a coalition. If they can't do what they promise, the economy will face turbulence," Kongkiat said.

BOT Assistant Governor Amara Sriphayak said the current government had already decided on certain key policies, such as a fiscal deficit to finance mega-project investment and the central bank's monetary policy. The new government should therefore continue to implement these policies, in order to make the transition a smooth one. "The concern about politics is the psychological factor that puts pressure on the GDP. In addition, the new government shouldn't worry about the stronger baht, as it could weaken," she said.

October inflation at 2.5%

The Nation (2 November 2007)

Cost of oil, food adds to pressure
Year-on-year inflation came in at 2.5 per cent last month, due mainly to skyrocketing oil prices and increasing food and consumer-goods prices, the Commerce Ministry said yesterday.

The comparable September figure was 2.1 per cent. The Consumer Price Index increased 2.1 per cent year on year in the first 10 months. Despite oil prices tending to climb, the ministry remains confident the full-year rate will not exceed the projected 2.5 per cent. Commerce permanent secretary Siripol Yodmuangcharoen yesterday reaffirmed that inflation would remain under control and be as low as the ministry's target, because the average oil price remained within the ministry's projection, thanks to the strengthening baht. "Inflation in the remaining months should increase 2.5-3 per cent, which would ensure that accumulated inflation did not grow beyond the projection," he said. The ministry's inflation forecast assumes that the Dubai oil price will not exceed US$65 (Bt2,200) per barrel, while the average oil price in the first 10 months was $64.97. On Wednesday, the oil price surged to $80.71 a barrel. However, the appreciation of the baht kept the domestic price, which directly affects consumer-goods prices, within the ministry's projection. The baht stood at 34.67 to the US dollar, while the ministry's forecast assumes the baht will range between 35 and 36 to the dollar. The domestic oil price, which averaged Bt27 a litre in the first 10 months, was also within the ministry' projection of Bt28 a litre. Siripol said food and consumer goods - the major weight in the inflation figures - would also remain under government control for the rest of the year. Some food and consumer-goods prices will increase in the remaining months, but that should not cause inflation to soar, he said. Seasonal prices of agricultural products like rice, sticky rice and vegetables are also set to decline, because of the arrival of the harvest season, Siripol added. Prices in the food and beverage sector increased 1.3 per cent last month from September, due to the price of vegetables and fruit rising 5.5 per cent during the vegetarian festival. Prices in the non-food and beverage sector also increased 0.5 per cent in October. With fuel costs up 3.1 per cent from September, public transport costs rose 1.5 per cent despite a slight 0.7-per-cent drop in electricity costs. In addition, the ministry reported core inflation last month rose 1 per cent year on year and 0.3 per cent from September.

Mcot charges fraud

Bangkok Post (2 Nov 2007)

The government broadcaster Mcot charges a firm owned by popular TV host Sorayuth Suthassanachinda has cost it millions.Mcot Plc on Wednesday filed a fraud complaint with police against six of its employees and Rai Som Co, accusing them of causing Mcot more than 130 million baht in financial damage. A legal officer said he lodged the complaint with police after Mcot's fact-finding panel set up to probe the allegedly fraudulent scheme had concluded its investigation. An Mcot source said the six employees were two high-ranking executives in positions equivalent to department chiefs and four other employees at the operational level.
Mcot will also set up another committee to look into taking disciplinary action against the employees who were considered to have committed serious offences, said the source. The legal officer said Mcot had appointed a fact-finding panel on Dec 20 last year to look into alleged corruption and mismanagement within the firm. The panel, consisting of 11 members, is chaired by former national police chief and former senator Pol Gen Pratin Santiprabhob. In the case of Rai Som Co, the panel uncovered an alleged graft scam related to a popular talk show hosted by Mr Sorayuth on Channel 9, Kui, Kui Khao (News Talk), the legal officer said. The legal officer yesterday also handed Huai Khwang police evidence to back Mcot's complaint. Somkid Somboon of Huai Khwang police station, who accepted the complaint, said his station will soon summon the accused to acknowledge the charges against them. Since the complaint involved such a large amount of financial damage, he needed to recommend his supervisor to set up an investigation panel to look into the case, Pol Lt-Col Somkid said. Last December, after being accused by Mcot of failing to pay on time a 176-million-baht portion of the profits from its two prime time talk shows on Channel 9, Kui, Kui Khao and Thueng Look, Thueng Khon aired from 9.30 to 10pm and from 11pm to midnight, respectively, Rai Som decided not to renew its contract with Mcot.
Mr Sorayuth and his team from Rai Som are now working for Channel 3 television, producing the Rueng Lao Chao Nee morning news talk programme.

Thailand risks losing its edge

The Nation (2 November 2007)

World Bank issues stern warning
World Bank expert Kirida Bhaopichitr warns Thailand risks losing its edge Thailand needs to speed up the drive to make its industries more competitive or it may lose out as an export, investment and manufacturing hub to other Asian countries, the economist said yesterday. Country economist Kirida said Thailand would record 4.3-per-cent economic growth this year, the lowest in Asia. The World Bank's forecasts for next year, to be announced later this month, will show Thailand's gross domestic product expanding 4.6 per cent next year. "Despite the 4.6-per-cent expansion - compared with 8 per cent in Vietnam and 10 per cent in China - Thailand could lose out through lack of competitiveness if it does not make adjustments," she told a seminar hosted by the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Kirida's warning came amid concerns that prolonged political uncertainty and unclear business laws could drive away investment next year. The Kingdom's key export markets could suffer from fallout from the US sub-prime lending crisis, while new export markets could show a lower-than-expected growth rate. The World Economic Forum's competitiveness rankings show Thailand's position remains unchanged this year in 28th place. Singapore and Japan, which rank seventh and eighth, respectively, in the forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2007-2008, lead the Asian region. Seven other Asia-Pacific countries and territories are among the top 30 in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) rankings, with South Korea, Hong Kong, China, and India continuing to lead the way among large developing economies. "The Asian region encompasses the entire gamut in our rankings, from highly competitive countries to the most challenged, drawing an extremely heterogeneous picture with respect to the levels of growth and development achieved in the region," said Fiona Paua, head of the World Economic Forum's Strategic Insight teams. "Nine Asia-Pacific countries are among the top 30 in the GCI rankings, led by Singapore (7), Japan (8), South Korea (11) and Hong Kong (12), while Mongolia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal and Timor-Leste are all at the very bottom of the rankings." The rankings are calculated from both publicly available data and an annual executive-opinion survey conducted by the World Economic Forum together with its network of partner research institutes and business organisations in the countries covered by the report. This year, more than 11,000 business leaders were polled in a record 131 countries. The survey is designed to reflect a broad range of factors affecting an economy's business climate, and the resulting report includes comprehensive listings of the main strengths and weaknesses of countries, making it possible to identify key priorities for policy reform.

Turmoil at TITV

Bangkok Post (2 Nov 2007)

Staff are in shock after the NLA passed a bill which forces the station to become a public broadcaster - but provides no budget to produce programmes or to pay a probably reduced number of employees. The passage of the bill to transform TITV into a public television broadcaster was another bombshell for the embattled TV station's staff, who said they were now "very confused and insecure". "The National Legislative Assembly made the decision [to pass the bill] without concern about the plight of staff," said a member of the TITV news staff, who has been working with the station for 10 years.

Although the move did not affect staff as much as when the Office of the Prime Minister seized the broadcasting concession of its predecessor iTV earlier this year, the passage of the bill had badly demoralised the employees, she said.

In March the PM's Office seized iTV's broadcasting concession after the station failed to pay fees and fines amounting to 103 billion baht for violating its contract on programme content.
"We have been kept in the dark. We don't know anything about the future of the TV station. We don't even know who our boss is now," said the senior reporter.

Staff members also doubt that running a public television broadcaster is practical as producing and broadcasting quality programmes and news coverage costs a lot of money.
"We are not sure if the government could shoulder the cost. I'm afraid that the new Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) won't work as the pro-public television group has imagined because of budget constraints," she said.

Jom Phetpradap, a moderator on TITV's Tua Jing Chad Jen news talk programme, said he agreed with the establishment of public television; however, the scheme must take into account the adverse impact on staff members. "How can we protect the public interest when we can't even protect ourselves?" he said.

"In the next two months, the broadcaster will no longer have income from commercials and no one knows where the station will get money [to run the station and pay salaries] because the allocation of state budgets to run this new public television is a lengthy procedure."
Mr Jom said all staff had to sign resignation letters in order to re-apply for positions with a five-member committee to be set up by the cabinet to oversee the television station during the six-month transition period.

He also questioned the transparency of the committee, saying they could intervene in the management of TITV in the transition period. A massive change to TITV's content was expected during the next six months due to a lack of management and programming policy, sources of budget and equipment. "In the worst case scenario, the government will have to borrow some programmes from Channel 11 to run on TITV, but I doubt if those programmes are of good quality," he said.

TITV staff said they will wait for clarification from the government over the future of the organisation before making any moves. Prime Minister's Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan yesterday urged TITV staff who faced losing their jobs after the conversion period to consider it a process of life. "Of course the staff are worried, but I'd like to advise that they take this as a process of life," she said.

Khunying Dhipavadee said the TPBS station will recruit staff and it is impossible to say if all TITV staff would be recruited to work for the new station. According to Khunying Dhipavadee, a policy board will be set up to oversee the station's operations, including its programming.