'Shocking' billing survey results from Singapore

Leading messaging company, Acision, today revealed in market research commissioned by the company that over 90 per cent of postpaid mobile phone users in Singapore have experienced ‘bill shock’ locally or while roaming, especially when using mobile data services....

Europe's "anti-bill shock" measures

A fantastic article in Telcoms.com states that on July 1 2009, European Union mobile roaming tariffs regulation came into force cutting retail voice, retail SMS and wholesale data charges across the EU. With the European Commission identifying data roaming charges as...

Billing touted as catalyst for selective breeding!

Ever heard of Owatanna in Minnesota? I didn’t think so. It’s here that the local energy supplier and academics are trying out a unique experiment to dramatically reduce household energy consumption, using the lowly monthly bill, which may also lead to some from of...

iSnack2.0 tearing nation apart!

iSnack2.0, ever heard of it?  No, it’s not some sort of digital lunch and it’s definitely not a new piece of technology from Apple.  It has captured headlines in Australia and has become the most debated topic on chat lines, social networks and tweets across the...

'Creative billing' is alive and well!

Who says creativity in billing is dead?  ‘Creative pricing’ strategies uncovered by Australia’s consumer watchdog Choice, has put paid to that. Not surprisingly, I guess, a number of international phone card operators have been found guilty of hitting...

iPhone – now for something completely different!

If you are getting a little jaded with all the favorable press surrounding the iPhone and how it has single-handedly revolutionized the telecoms industry then you will be happy to hear that somebody has taken a lot of time to debunk a number of iPhone...

Ballmer publicly admits screw-ups on Windows Mobile

It has been reported that  Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer has been criticising his own products, notably Windows Mobile at Microsoft’s Venture Capital Summit.  One can only wonder why it’s taken him so long. You would think that falling market...

Twitter investor sounds like a twit

According to one of its venture capital investors, Twitter’s path to profitability lies in charging for mobile use. In an exclusive interview with UK’s Guardian newspaper, Joi Ito, chief executive of Creative Commons, made some startling statements that appeared...

Should we poo-poo ARPU?

Every now and again the press raises that old chestnut about the value of using ARPU (average revenue per user) as a valid metric of service provider’s performance.  It’s usually on low news days!  It raises the question that if ARPU is not the right metric to...