Taking a cue from the successes of DoCoMo and other Asian mobile carriers, US carriers and content owners are exploiting the popularity of personalized ringtones among the young, including some of the more peculiar - shall we say - sound interests of the North American adolescent male. Lest we go too far in thinking our domestic carriers have found a clue, a Verizon spokesman at the end of the article makes it clear they still know how to destroy customer value by blocking downloads from outside their walled garden. Guys, part of the iMode lesson was to leave the system open, but get the content owners and customers to pay for convenience and prominent placement. You'll get it someday, at least when dual-moded WiFi phones completely trash your ability to wall off anything.

Hat tip to Himanshu
5:10:11 PM    

Brit mobile carrier MM02 takes a $16b write-off, with about two-thirds attributable to overpaying for 3G licenses. Since it doesn't look like the relevant governments are going to be giving rebates on dubious license purchases (having already booked them to cover their failure to meet EU budget targets), it's time for the Euro-carriers to get on with unpleasant task of marking to market. MM02 deserves credit for owning up to the reality. The Continentals had better follow suit, and while they're at it, include some allowance for the probability that WiFi further erode that ARPU they'd hoped for.

Via Across The Atlantic.
4:03:26 PM    

What Is Your Animal Personality?
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10:21:15 AM