‘Business innovation: A good sign’

TALKING to a business associate the other day, the conversation turned to our cell phones. Notice I say ‘cell phones’ since I recently also joined the group of those now carrying two phones all the time.

I thought it was five-star to have a phone that offers more features than my personal computer. But no, now, in order to be more cost-effective, you should be carrying another phone with a SUN subscriber identification module (Sim) card because it is cheaper to use when communicating with people you have contact with several times a day. Time-urgent communications from one of the Big Two providers; cheap communications on cell phone No. 2.

So why not just switch exclusively to SUN? Nothing is ‘free’ and the price you pay for ‘free’ calls and text is that sometimes there are more dead areas under the sun than at Manila Memorial. It is tough in this new age of high tech.

So back to my conversation during which both of our two phones rang at least once. It used to be that work ended at a certain time, if not the same time each day. A person could always look forward to the drive home, knowing that, at last, business concerns could be put aside. Now, most people view car travel time as an opportunity to catch up on calls that would otherwise be distracted by things going on in the office.

It used to be that when you entered your own front door, no one would disturb you on your landline unless there was blood and broken bones or something was on fire. At least during nonemergency situations, a colleague might text first to inquire if it was convenient to call your cell. I am as guilty as the next man is. I texted once recently asking if it was okay to call. The response was, “Wait a while. Taking my shower.” Welcome to the 21st century.

The sad part of the conversation came when my friend and I both admitted that sometimes we turn our phones off and then feel guilty about it. I hope someday I become rich enough not to worry about being contacted 24/7.

However, the new technology of this type of communication is unavoidable and the Philippines has been a leader in consumer exploitation of the cell phone. As I mentioned before, cell-phone penetration in the country is higher than most of our neighbors. And we are still the undisputed world champ when it comes to texting. Even the word ‘texting’ is not part of the world’s vocabulary. Try typing the word on MS Word and see what happens.

As the technology grows, so grows too commercial exploitation as business finds more ways to get another peso or two from users and users gladly pay those pesos for more services.

Value-added services on the cell phone began with being able to download new ring tones and wallpapers. That expanded to joke-of-the-day and then ‘text messages’ from your favorite celebrity. However, in a sense, these are gimmicks, without long-term consumer appeal or revenue stream to the providers. Consumers are requiring service to and for their phones that make using it more efficient and practical.

Cell phones are becoming more like wireless laptop computers for a certain class of user that can afford and want those features. Honestly, I find that much high-tech unnecessary, although I do occasionally check my e-mail on my phone. The bulk of cell- phone users in the Philippines are in my use category or even less. What is needed are add-on services that the average, by Filipino standard, user find valuable.

A local Filipino company, Mobile Data Personal Solutions Inc., is collaborating with an American company, Future Dial Inc. to bring a new service to local users. According to the firm’s president, Mr. Elmar Gomez, very soon you will be able to transfer and store all the information on your cell phone on their server for permanent safekeeping.

This new service will allow phone holders to go to an Internet café, upload data like telephone numbers, pictures, videos and everything else, and then download this information back to the cell phone at anytime. The user will pay a small fee for the transfer. No more data nightmares if your phone is lost or stolen. Mr. Gomez also hopes that soon you may be able to allow friends to access your files to share that same data, phone numbers, pictures, and the like.

There is much creativity in the local business community that often is ignored. For example, taking a cue from the phenomenal growth of prepaid cell cards, Maynilad Water Services plans to offer “prepaid water” to its customers.

These types of innovations that are both financially profitable to the corporations and provide an additional marketplace benefit to consumers is a sign of an economy that can continue to be vibrant and grow.

E-mail comments to mangun@email.com.

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