Sales, Social and Tech

Singapore Telcos have been recently reported that they are looking to build their own apps to combat the loss of SMS revenue due to the popularity of messaging apps like WhatsApp, which offer free messaging via 3G connection. One of problems I predict that these telcos will encounter is that they would have to ensure interoperability and that their app becomes extremely popular. Would you use a Singtel, Starhub or even an M1 app if you could only message to only those on the network? Definitely not. My suggestion is for Telcos to look at enhancing the SMS experience by solving a simple problem which most smart phone users have today. We are on our laptop or desktop most of the time. One pet peeve that most of us have is the constant need to look at the phone when we hear notification sound alert of a new message or we look at the blinking LED lights on the smart phone. Even when we have no message, we still look at the phone to check if we receive one. I came across...

Many have voiced their disapproval of Singtel new reduced mobile data cap when the telco announced the launch of its 4G network.  http://superadrianme.com  has a good write-up on the launch. Here are some tips for your consideration to optimise mobile data usage with the reduced data cap. Tip 1: Monitor your data usage There are many apps out there that will help you monitor your data usage.  For iOS and Android users, just search "monitor data" and you can find tons of free apps. Those on the new Ice-Cream Sandwich (ICS) Android version will find that this latest OS comes with a in-built data monitor app, under settings, that also provide alerts when you are about to reach certain cap levels.  By monitoring your data usage, you will be able to identify which of the apps uses the most data and thus you can either reduce using that app or remove it completely.  Tip 2: Keep a look out for data compression app. So far, I have ...

Now that I have both a Starhub line and a M1 line (for the wife), it makes it easier to compare the two telcos side by side. And customer satisfaction doesn't just end at having a good network but also down to their apps. I noticed that both Starhub and M1 have their own native iPhone apps which allows you to track your current bill and data usage. I tried both, but I stopped at the registration process for the Starhub app and have since removed it from the iPhonoe. Here's why. After you install both apps, it will ask you for your mobile and password. For M1, the process was rather simple and fast as the registration only required your mobile number, IC number and password. These three are usually remembered by any Singaporeans. In order to register a user id and password for the Starhub app, you need to enter, not three, but four unique IDs. There are your mobile number, IC number, account number and password. Who actually remembers their account number? Even when you...

The byline of Don Sambandaraksa, the popular IT journalist for Bangkok Post whom some PR loves to hate, appeared recently at Telecom Asia. The last time the PR world saw Don’s byline was in the last issue of Bangkok Post’s Database on January 04, 2011. Don is now a reporter at Telecom Asia and will focus more on the commentary section of the telecom publication. In his latest commentary, he described Nokia Thailand giveaway of gold bars and motorcycles as lucky draw prizes as “Lush giveaway whiffs of desperation”. Wrote Don , What do you do when you are a former market leader in a country where goodwill still runs strong and your next generation of phones will not support the local language? That is the situation facing Nokia Thailand right now given that Windows Phone Mango is reported that it will not support the Thai language out of the box. The answer that Nokia came up with was simple - turn on the marketing dollars. In what some might feel an act of desperati...

While I was waiting for the train at Raffles Place MRT, I was surfing on Facebook via the iPhone. When the train arrived, I was still glued to Facebook on the iPhone. As I boarded the train and it moved into the tunnels, I entered a comment to a friend’s status update. Then it hit me. I am in the tunnel heading north and that would easily meant I was entering the 3G deadzone. But wait, I managed to enter a comment. Checked the status bar and Starhub 3G was at full bar. Singapore telcos were given a deadline " to provision 3G internet speeds on SMRT's existing underground network by end July 2011”. Starhub has not officially announced it but it seems that the telco is on track to meet the deadline.

Facebook has come under fire for privacy related issues. But it seems an unsolicited sms from one of the telco’s premium partner got a subscriber concerned about the privacy of his mobile number A Mr Ang wrote on Starhub Facebook Page that he was shocked to receive an unsolicited sms from eFusion reminding him that a premium sms service will be renewed for $20 if he didn’t send an sms back to to stop the service. Mr Ang first called Starhub hotline and they told him to call eFusion. When he tried the eFusion number, it was a non-working number. Further calls to Starhub only led to more confusion. Wrote Mr Ang on Starhub Facebook Page , 1. why am I getting this sms when I got no dealing wtih eFusion ? 2. I was told by Starhub CSC that their Premium Partner like eFusion has all the subscribers' phone numbers from Starhub. Why is this so and how is Starhub protecting our privacy ? 3. how is Starhub ensuring that their Premium Partners do not anyhow bill their subscr...

When blogger Arysan decided to access his phone bill online, he discovered a major glitch in the telco’s online platform that led him to random accounts of other subscribers whenever he logged into his account. Wrote Arysan , So today, i was logging in my maxis account and i found that it has logged me on a different account. And each time i logout, and re-login, it will bring me to another new account. And i’ve been seeing other people’s emails and telephone number and also be able to browse their phonebook that they backed up with maxis. THIS IS A HUGEEEEE breach of privacy. I tweeted about it and got re-tweeted by some of influential people. And later got a phone call by Caroline (their social media rep i think) demanding me to remove my screenshot due to privacy. Ok, i admit that i screenshot the phone number and email without masking it, so fine, my bad. I will now re-post the screenshot whilst masking some part of the number and names k? Instead of calling a spade a spa...

The last ten months in EASTWEST PR I have dealt mainly with IT vendors in the Enterprise and Telecom space. I have learnt a few things about social media and why this space is different from their consumer counterparts. Lesson #1: Their audience isn’t the bloggers While most consumer Social PRist target other bloggers for their PR campaign, those in Enterprise IT and Telecom are not looking to engage other bloggers. One of the problems is that the number of bloggers who actually blog about Enterprise IT and Telecoms in this part of Asia is almost zero. There could be some out there who blog in this space, but they choice of being anonymous makes it hard for me to engage them. Hence the audience isn’t other bloggers, but their existing or potential clients. When you are looking to engage on Social PR activities for those in the Enterprise IT or Telecom, its all about helping get them in front of the clients. Lesson #2: Clients want more impact Say you got your client an inte...