Who wants to be a….CEO?

Who, in their right mind, would want to be the CEO of a communications service provider these days? Of course, many people crave the position which they see as one of power and high remuneration, but closer inspection reveals that the person on top is the prime target...

Sacrificed spectrum has SPs singing

What happens when you hold a 3G spectrum auction that fails? No, I’m not talking about the shenanigans going on in Thailand, this is the bastion of all that is good and proper in Asia, Singapore. Failure, the word used by the local press, may also be a little strong...

'Throne Surfing' big in Oz

Australia’s obsession with mobile internet-connected ‘smartphones’ has reached new heights (or lows) depending on how you read the results of a Telstra survey. Australians have admitted to using their devices in bed, on the loo and, alarmingly, when behind the wheel....

Buyout buoys big biller

When I heard CSG Systems International, Inc. was buying interconnect and retail billing company Intec, my ancient memory cells twigged. CSG, well known as a provider of customer and billing management solutions to satellite broadcasting and cable operators in North...

'Going Dutch' has taken on new meaning

Just after publication of my prediction that war was breaking out between the major players in the NFC and mobile payments world, three mobile operators and three banks in the Netherlands announced collaboration on a unified m-payments system. The announcement came...

Something fishy in Thailand

Five years in the making, five days to fail dismally. That’s the sad story of 3G in Thailand. Yes, I’m talking about 3G spectrum auctions. Not 4G or LTE, plain old 3G, the stuff that most other countries introduced years ago. Even India, the past leader of 3G...