Vodaphone etc.

[David R. Newman]

Andy Loughran wrote:
> Well those were exactly my two thoughts:
> 
> 1) Vodafone can brand it to a much higher level than ever before.
>    -'unlimited' customisation

Actually, many carriers are now moving into new countries, as there is
more scope in places where people don't have many 'phones.

That means they will have to start offering services and handsets in
lots of different languages and scripts (not just English/ASCII), and
then customise them to meet the needs of, say, rural farmers in
Bangladesh, instead of the city traders and teenage SMS addicts they
know and love.

To research those markets, they will need really customisable devices,
ones which allow you to install new fonts and localisations, or even
design screen interfaces for the illiterate.

So it makes sense for them to start with the most customisable machines
they can, before decided on a final design to mass produce.

I have a Ph.D. student who is going to be studying how rural farmers in
Bangladesh make use of wireless communications to improve rural income
and agricultural productivity.

-- 
Dr. David R. Newman, Queen's University Belfast, School of
Management and Economics, Belfast BT7 1NN, Northern Ireland (UK)
Tel. +44 28 9097 3643 FAX: +44 28 9097 5156
mailto:d.r.newman at qub.ac.uk
http://www.qub.ac.uk/mgt/