Tag: Smartone-Vodafone

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Smartone-Vodafone Failed AGAIN!

A few hours ago Smartone-Vodafone’s (SMV) IOM Toolbar (the thick red bar at the top and bottom of browser window) returned to the Safari browser on the iPhone.

I called SMV Customer Service and they say the issue has to do with a system upgrade which failed to honor the flag, “Disable IOM Toolbar”.

This has to be the third time such issue occurred. I don’t think any iPhone users will ever want the SMV IOM Toolbar occupying the valuable Safari browser space. So the correct way to disable the IOM Toolbar is to check the browser’s User Agent rather than some flag in a customer’s profile.

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Choosing a 3G Tariff Plan in Hong Kong for iPad

With the pending iPad official release by Apple Hong Kong some time in July, mobile carriers in Hong Kong have begin to release tariff plans designed specifically to target iPad owners.

Among them only 3 HK currently has a data plan that comes with either a regular mini-SIM or the new micro-SIM. The rest of the carriers are offering data only 3G tariff plans that includes a free USB 3G modem. All of the plans also come with free WiFi network.

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Smartone-Vodafone Attempts to be Chic

Being one of the most critical users of Smartone-Vodafone (SMV) I am also someone who believes SMV can do better.

With the introduction of Zendgo on the SMV mobile network it is definitely a sign that SMV wants to be chic, whether it is time will tell. Using substitutions in place of Chinese or English characters in a message is not new. Taiwanese and mainland Chinese use numbers to represent phrases in SMS and IM. Japanese mobile and iPhone users have Emoji. Mobile handsets and carriers around the world had adopted Emoji as an alternative form of expression in SMS like emoticon‘s use for IM.

Why SMV invents a new form of emoticon, especially when its users have to subscribe to a tariff plan to use. Not to mention the recipients of these Zendgo message will either have to install a Zendogo client and/or subscribe to the SMV Zendgo plan to view the incoming message.

Can someone explains to me why SMV doesn’t simply promote the use of Emoji instead? It is free for all handsets that support it (ie. iPhone, Samsung selected models, LG selected models, and many others).

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Internet Deprived in Shanghai

As I stay in Shanghai on my 6th day I am staring to get Internet withdraws. It is not that I do not have access to the Internet. I do have access to my online store, my emails, my blog and some of my favorite sites.

Although this is possible the mainland Chinese government has effectively killed my net social life. Access to Facebook, Twitter and all Google feeds for blogs are blocked. For the latter I have to figure out the original site, visit it’s Home page and then locate the story I’m interested in. Yes, VPN is one way to get around the Great Firewall, but I am not that addicted to my net social life to pay for VPN service during my short stay in Shanghai, and the free services like Hotspot Shield is not helping.

For Twitter I use it more for sharing interesting finds on The Net and breaking technology related news. I hope my followers will not give up on me during my short period of hiatus. I guess I can only tell when I returns to Hong Kong.

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Internet Deprived in Shanghai

As I stay in Shanghai on my 6th day I am staring to get Internet withdraws. It is not that I do not have access to the Internet. I do have access to my online store, my emails, my blog and some of my favorite sites.
Although this is possible the mainland Chinese government has effectively killed my net social life. Access to Facebook, Twitter and all Google feeds for blogs are blocked. For the latter I have to figure out the original site, visit it’s Home page and then locate the story I’m interested in. Yes, VPN is one way to get around the Great Firewall, but I am not that addicted to my net social life to pay for VPN service during my short stay in Shanghai, and the free services like Hotspot Shield is not helping.

For Twitter I use it more for sharing interesting finds on The Net and breaking technology related news. I hope my followers will not give up on me during my short period of hiatus. I guess I can only tell when I returns to Hong Kong.

Continue reading “Internet Deprived in Shanghai”

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Rogers is Hearing the Call. When Will Smartone-Vodafone

Several weeks ago I published an Open Letter to Smartone-Vodafone asking them to create a new tariff plan. Unfortunately, I have yet to receive any comments from SMV regarding my suggestions. Instead, it appears that Rogers in Canada is hearing my cry. The data plan that Rogers is considering is not specific to Apple’s iPad or iPhone, but they did mentioned Apple’s new device by name.

Too bad Rogers is a Canadian carrier who only operates in Canada. In the past carriers in North America had not taken the lead to innovate and change with the times. So it is a present surprise to see this from one of the older carriers in Canada.

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Rogers is Hearing the Call. When Will Smartone-Vodafone

Several weeks ago I published an Open Letter to Smartone-Vodafone asking them to create a new tariff plan. Unfortunately, I have yet to receive any comments from SMV regarding my suggestions. Instead, it appears that Rogers in Canada is hearing my cry. The data plan that Rogers is considering is not specific to Apple’s iPad or iPhone, but they did mentioned Apple’s new device by name. Too bad Rogers is a Canadian carrier who only operates in Canada. In the past carriers in North America had not taken the lead to innovate and change with the times. So it is a present surprise to see this from one of the older carriers in Canada.

I see SMV as a even more forward thinking carrier than Rogers, so if Rogers can consider it why hasn’t SMV mentioned anything. Is this really that difficult? Are there technical hurdles that cannot be overcome? Is this pure a business roadblock? Does SMV care?

Love to hear opinions for or against my suggestions, whether you’re in the telecom business or not, I love to hear from you. Please leave your opinions in the form of a comment here, on FriendFeed or Facebook.

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Open Letter to Smartone-Vodafone

Of the seven mobile carriers in Hong Kong: CSL’s One2Free, CSL’s 1010, Hutchison’s 3 HK, PCCW Mobile, Smartone-Vodafone (SMV), China Mobile and China Unicom, SMV may be the one that tries to deliver the best quality of service the hardest. This is why I am writing this open letter to SMV, hoping that the CEO and others in charge see it and finally make a change.

Dear CEO,

I understand Smartone-Vodafone is a business that needs to make money, and your business is to deliver mobile communication and data connectivity to the people in Hong Kong.

The way I see it is that majority of your revenue comes from monthly subscribers and pay-as-you-go customers. With the sales of handsets and other 3G radio equiped devices rounding out the remainder of your revenue.

You currently have several voice only, data only, and voice/data combine tariff plans. All of these come in both contract and Flexi versions of the tariff. What I want to focus on are the data plans.

I’m sure you are happy to see that your existing and potential customers are surrounded with more and more devices equipped with 3G or better radios. I am also certain you will love to have all these devices connected to the SMV network and use paid data on it.

Given this situation many of your existing and potential customers are faced with the delima of whether to commit to multiple 3G contracts for their devices. Or choose which of these devices to allow to connect to the SMV 3G network. With the latter resulting in lesser revenue to SMV.

We both know that these 3G radio equped devices will be much more functional if they are connected, resulting in higher revenue per customer just because the devices are connected.

You may already see where I am going with this. For example if a customer have a MacBook, an iPhone and an iPad they will have to commit to a voice/data contract for his iPhone, a data contract for his iPad and one more for his MacBook.

The type of devices is not that important here, what is important is that this example customer above has to sign 3 separate contracts with SMV.

Not only is this costly undertaking, there must be extra administrative cost to SMV to maintain and serve this customer.

The Solution

What I propose instead may sound like something radical in the telecom industry, but in the long run it may increase the revenue of SMV per customer. While at the same time makes SMV looks chic enough to realize, carrier should treat mobile voice/data service as an utility, which everyone needs and not try to dictate how its customer use the service.

SMV should offer new voice and/or data plans that enable N number of devices to connect to its 3G network simultaneously. If the customer needs more simultaneous devices he can pay more.

I may be describing the needs of the advance users here but these are the users who will generate the most revenue and in turn help advance SMV’s infrastructure.

Now that this Open Letter is published, I’m sure your 6 other competitors in Hong Kong will see it. With the pending arrival of the iPad and alike devices time is running short. So it is now up to you to stand out among your competitors and show us why we should be loyal to SMV instead of churning.

Look forward to your actions and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Vinko

I hope as many of you, who agrees or disagree with me, will contribute your opinion of my proposal to SMV in the form of comments below.

Let see if SMV reacts appropriately.

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Should non-US Residence Pre-order iPad WiFi+3G?


Apple began taking pre-orders for their iPad today via their USA online store for delivery to US addresses or in-store pickup.

There are two ways to reserve your iPad for the April 3, 2010 launch date, you can pre-order it and have it delivered to your US address, or you can reserve one for in-store pick up at one of Apple’s US retail store. In either case, Apple limits the iPad pre-order to 2 units per customer. I guess this limitation is to warn off grey market sellers, ensure enough early adopters get their iPad’s, and less likely is the rumor that supplies of iPad will be low on launch day April 3rd (in USA).

There are two specific lines of iPad’s, one with WiFi only connection and another with both WiFi and 3G connections. Which one you buy really depends on how you plan to use the iPad. The great thing about the iPad is that its use will depend on the user and the apps s/he choose to install onto the iPad. People have to stop slotting the iPad into any existing electronic device categories. It is definitely not a “tablet computer” in the traditional definition or a “notebook” or “netbook” computer, so comparing it to any of these are like comparing apples (sorry for the pun) and oranges.

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