T-Mobile Boss Hamid Akhavan: “Life Would Be Simpler” Without Nokia’s Web Services Foray
If there is one analogy that keeps being trotted out these days in the mobile content business, it’s whether or not the content cake
If there is one analogy that keeps being trotted out these days in the mobile content business, it’s whether or not the content cake
What cheese ? t-mobile is THE underperformer in all matters of digital entertainment. If, in the past, there was something to be screwed up, you could be sure they did it.
If you look at their download figures on mobile content items, they are the absolute laughing stock of the industry in Europe, espacially compared to their huge subcriber numbers.
So what is Mr. Akhavan complaining about ? His company has convincingly proven its incompetence more than once in the past years. It's time someone wrings a tool from their hands that they know not how to make use of it. If Nokia wants to do worse than t-mobile, it'll take quite some achievement !
Just two examples from the real world, to prevent the risk of having this seen just as a "flaming comment":
(1) web'n walk search
No optimization to prioritize content from their very portal. Instead, just a simple Google search, showing the standard web results (…and don't even think that sites optimized for mobile would get any priority). The simple truth of mobile content: anywhere where mobile content was relegated from the start page to a "lesser tab", with a Google search box filling the place instead, downloads dropped 30-40%. How good is that to drive a small eco-system ? Do they really want to earn money with content on their portal ?
(2) Purchasing process
Talking about t-mobile being the laughing stock of the industry: for years, it is know that >30% of all clicks on the "buy now" button on their t-zones portal end in disaster. Due to some obscure combination of legal and technical problems (…that, btw, no other operator in Europe seems to have), the enduser who just showed his determination to spend money is being send of with the remark "that he refuses to transmit his MSISDN". Insulting the enduser for one own faults strangely reminds me of Microsoft ("You did not shut off properly your system…" anyone ?). The problem was adressed internally several times and for years – with absolutely no result.
Coming to think of it: Nokia, please come in fast and help !
Small typo, it's SFR and not SRF.