Today I was reading an interesting article from Milena Gabanelli on the Magazine “IO Magazine-Corriere della Sera April 28, 2006” of Corriere della Sera with the title: “Parents, Attention! Pornography arrives via SMS”.
This is the content:
““3” the first “media mobile” Company that is launching TV on mobile phones. The big opportunity are the June 6 ‘06 World Soccer Championship. In the mean time the offer in the “3” mobile phone portal is various: from music to sport, from cartoons to Playboy TV”. In order to access to the “adult” channels there are advices “channel prohibited to minor of 18” to prevent the access to teenagers. But unfortunately the story does not end here.. On the portal one can find a “privè” community. Here one can find a porno video clip that users implement themselves with their girl-friends or their little sister and up-load into the system. Every time that someone connects to see these performances, from €0.03 to €0.1 are credited to the author. This is a popular game for teenagers that have always credit problems. Moreover the system offer the possibility to meet the video clip author. The problem here is that teenagers from spectators of a porno video clip can be motivated to become actors. Everyone can do the business he likes (i.e. “3”), but the Communication Authority what he is doing?”
Reading on the same day “The Economist April 22-28, 2006” the interesting article “Among the Audience” (see www.economist.com/surveys) I’ve gathered another piece of information.
This is the content:
“The age of Mass Media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media. The age of participation: last November, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 57% of American teenagers create content for the Internet-from text to pictures, music and video. In this new media culture, says Paul Saffo, a director at the Institute for the Future in California, people no longer passively “consume” media (and thus advertising, its main revenue source) but actively participate in them, which usually means creating content, in whatever form and on whatever scale (the future of advertising is in the interactive use of the mobile phone)”
From these two article I’ve arrived to following synthesis:
If the role of The Mobile Carrier is: to create the most efficient mobile services, to offer/manage services (aggregating contents: Media, Advertising). I think “3” is doing an excellent job in investing a lot of money in promoting new services. I think that “3” should also stimulate authoring of pictures, through contests, so that the best author can get credit on his/her phone.
If the role of journalism is to guarantee the right of the citizens to be informed, I think that “The Economist” is doing a better job talking about mega-trends so that the reader can prepare him/her self to the future. I do not think that the Communication Authority should intervene in how to use telecom services, but in how efficient they are so that part of this efficiency gain could be distributed to users with cheaper fees.
From the possibility of the mobile phone I would like to add other thoughts that I have developed through discussions with TelCo Executives about new opportunities for the Enterprises/Consumers:
* Customer Relationship through mobile phones: teenagers will be tomorrow’s Bank Clients and they are learning how to download programs (ringtones,…) and upload (pictures, video, blogs,…). So Banks should prepare in advance new services mobile-based
* Internet Packed Data through mobile phones: today there are a series of platforms but “silos” managed (Voice, Video, SMS, Video via Internet). TelCo Carriers should concentrate more on integrating them and on creating platforms that will allow Banks to develop mobile services.
* New potentialities: to use the telephone for all Banking relationships activities, like:
o Video via Internet (via UMTS)
o Application Video Contact Centre (via UMTS)
o Mobile payments (DoCoMo experience)
o RFID on the telephone (a mechanism to simplify access procedures (Felica experience)
* Internet access with the mobile phone: the Bank should be more pro-active with its Client base that intends to connect into Internet (it is an error to use the telephone as a PC when interacts with the Bank portal)
Something to say? Some “best practices” to present?
Lucio Vollaro
