Outsource to china
Yin and Yang is the concept of finding the equilibrium of two extremes-everything comes in two sides and every decision has pros and cons; cause and effect. When it comes to making decisions on IT outsourcing, it’s about achieving the balance in cost and benefit.
IT outsourcing is becoming a familiar concept for local enterprises, as more enjoy the benefit of cost savings from delegating certain IT operations to third parties. While the benefit of outsourcing is not limited to monetary returns, not many CIOs see beyond that.
Shipment tracking portal CargoSmart, however, has a unique perspective in finding the benefit of outsourcing. Instead of aiming to lower its cost, outsourcing is the bread and butter of CargoSmart’s business.
The company helps its clients to manage their shipment-cycles, which are handled by multiple carriers. The portal tracks and manages cargo shipments by relying on the sensitive shipment pricing and scheduling data provided by these carriers.
However being a wholly owned subsidiary of one of the carriers, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), CargoSmart’s survival relies on its neutrality. Since the shipment data provided by other carriers, who are also OOCL’s competitors, is sensitive and critical in the carrier business. To ensure its neutrality and gain trust from other carriers, CargoSmart turned to outsourcing as a “buffer zone.”
“The main objective [of outsourcing] for CargoSmart is to protect shipment-sensitive data when serving our customers,” said CargoSmart CEO Steve Siu.
The company relies on outsourcing provider HP to run its daily IT operations. HP manages the datacenter and provides production, application and technical support, as well as operating the customer help desk. Not only is the shipment data unavailable to OOCL, but CargoSmart’s IT team also serves as a secondary support when necessary.
“HP is responsible for all control access to the application production environment of CargoSmart-from physical, infrastructure (that includes network, database, application server, web server), data, and applications,” said Siu. “Only if HP’s application or technical support team requires second level support will CargoSmart provide the data to illustrate the case.”
Meanwhile, CargoSmart focuses on the development and integration with other carriers to bring real-time shipment information online for its users.
“You can see the complexity of the operation, and it requires the outsourcing provider to commit to learn [about the business]…and treat our business as part of their business,” he said. “There were terms in the contract to link the outsourcing provider’s tariff with CargoSmart future business volume.”
Finding the right partner
This successful relationship between CargoSmart and HP started back in 2001. Recalling the evaluation process, Siu noted the company was looking for providers that understand its business and IT requirements, particularly on the evolving cycle of new application releases and system/network activities.
He said a successful business application depends on how well it engages the business operation. No matter how detailed the listed user requirements during the conceptualization stage, when it gets to the actual coding stage, there are often changes or new requirements relating to other business units to be considered.
“Often the programmers have to second-guess the new requirements and the related impact to other applications,” he said. “If they made wrong guesses, that’s how bugs are created in the application.”
If outsourcing providers do not understand the business, they could create more bugs when providing application support. “Development culture is essential in this process,” he said. “If the culture encourages questioning at the development process, it is easier to bridge the gap between business and IT.”
For HP, the bidding process in CargoSmart’s project was not much different from other tactical outsourcing deals, which includes RFPs, proposal submissions and site visits, noted Cally Chan, country manager of managed services at HP.
Tactical vs strategic outsourcing
The major difference, according to her, is the evaluation focus. “The main difference is really between transactional buying and relationship engagement,” said Chan.
For enterprises looking to purchase an outsourcing service, the evaluation is based on the providers’ capabilities to fulfill a specific task. She said capability to deliver these tasks takes up 30 percent of the evaluation focus, while the remaining 70 percent is simply price.
On the other hand, in strategic IT outsourcing deals, Chan noted clients focus on building a relationship. These enterprises look not only at the capability to complete a task, but also the capability to be flexible in taking up other IT services to support changes in business environment or expansion in the system, said Chan.
“Business environments do change,” said Siu. “Whether the provider is flexible enough to make that extra effort in supporting what is required to keep our business running is essential during the evaluation process.”
He added that relationship-building is critical in strategic outsourcing. “Working as a team with an outsourcing partner is more than just SLAs and contractual management,” said Siu. “Continual discussions are essential. Both parties have made very heavy investments and it is to mutual benefit that the relationship flourishes.”
Beyond vendor-client relationships
Chan agreed. She said HP’s relationship with CargoSmart is not much different from a marriage.
“There are, of course, ups and downs in this relationship. But it’s the trust and common belief between the executives that make this relationship a successful one,” she said.
Chan explained these common beliefs include staff management and corporate culture, which often determine the trust in this relationship.
“Staff turnover is common in this industry,” said Chan. “But the way we manage our staff is important to minimize the impact on service quality, as well as to protect the insight held by the outgoing staff as they move to a new company.”
The common belief also holds that both parties treat the relationship as a partnership, rather than a traditional vendor-client relationship.
“If the clients are looking only for the best bargain, the vendors would realize that,” she said. “We cannot provide a service without making a profit. But if the clients would consider our position, we can develop a win-win situation through trust.”
Chan said that these proactive outsourcing relationships are not common in Hong Kong. According to Gartner, it is also rare among enterprises around the world. The technology research firm conducted a worldwide survey with 945 individuals early this year on outsourcing.
It concluded that while strategic IT outsourcing can be an integral part of a company’s long-term business success, most organizations resort to outsourcing as a short-term tactical measure to lower costs. The survey indicates more than half of the respondents identified ‘controlling or reducing operating cost or improving efficiency’ as the primary value they receive in outsourcing.
Many enterprises indicated access to skills and support for business transformation as the major purpose for outsourcing, but the discussions often lead to the cost savings they can achieve, said Mike Ettling, VP and general manager of Unisys’ Asia Pacific outsourcing and infrastructure services.
“You see grand statements made about [business] vision and gaining flexibility,” added Ettling. “But at the end of the day, it becomes a pricing-based discussion, often with deals closed based on unclear goals and expectations.”
Moving to the next level
Nevertheless, as technology alignment with business becomes CIOs’ top priority, Chan said more are exploring opportunities in strategic outsourcing.
For enterprises ready for their outsourcing partners to play a more strategic role, she suggested to first study their balance scorecards-a good tool to indicate the alignment between IT and business.
She noted it is common among local organizations that 60-70 percent of their IT teams are engaging in the daily routine. But the resources that keep the system running only contribute 30 percent value to business growth.
“Such mismatch between IT and business is forcing CIOs to re-evaluate their IT structure and outsourcing strategy,” said Chan. “Even when CIOs like to restructure their IT teams, it’s not easy to bring such a revolutionary shift in human resources.”
Beyond monetary cost and benefit
In this case, the relative cost, meaning the cost to run the operation internally, is high. When making strategic outsourcing decisions, enterprises should look beyond the monetary cost they are paying the service provider, but instead, the relative cost of running the operation in-house, stated Chan.
Siu agreed. If enterprises seek monetary costs in outsourcing, the percentage of business administrative costs will determine the CIO’s decision. He added enterprises with business administration costs of 60-70 percent of overall expenditure tend to have higher motivation for tactical outsourcing.
“The higher the percentage, the stronger the incentive to outsource operations, because a higher cost efficiency can be achieved,” he said. “As a shipping company, our business administration costs take up only about 10 percent, but we decided to outsource because of the strategic value that outsourcing bring us.”
While there is a trend that enterprises are breaking their scope of outsourcing into smaller scale and support by multiple partners, Chan said, there are still rooms for the provider to take up a strategic role.
For example, in infrastructure outsourcing, if the enterprises use a strategic outsourcing perspective, they are purchasing not only the service to maintain the infrastructure, but also adopting a change management practice from the provider to strengthen internal IT governance.
“Strategic outsourcing very much depends on how the management perceives their outsourcing relationship. Enterprises can take their outsourcing technology to the next level only when management perceives its outsourcing partner beyond the monetary costs and benefits,” she concluded.
- IDG staff contributed to this article
Outsourcing across the border
When cost reduction continues to be Hong Kong enterprises’ primary goal for outsourcing, China is often where CIOs seek vast supplies of low-priced talent.
“When making outsourcing decisions, Hong Kong enterprises tend to pick simple and labor-intensive jobs, like basic programs-coding, with the purpose of cost savings,” said Greg Au Yeung, fellow of international affairs committee of the Hong Kong Computer Society.
With a vast supply of young and cheap software developers, China is becoming a popular location for software outsourcing, not only for enterprises in Hong Kong, but also around the world. According to market research firm Analysis International, China’s software outsourcing market increased about 44 percent in the first quarter of 2006 to RMB2.6 billion, from the same period last year.
Au Yeung said when looking for an outsource provider in China, access to the talent pool is a major factor.
“If the outsourcing provider is located close to prominent universities, it’s more likely they can recruit a higher quality of talent to support your business,” he said.
He noted Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are where most of the top universities are located. Also head of IT for a multinational bank, State Street Bank, Au Yeung said the company has an operation in Hangzhou mainly because of its proximity to Zhe Jiang University, which is ranked among the top three universities in the country.
Apart from access to cheap talent, local CIOs have additional incentive to outsource in China: location. Many software parks, hosting the outsourcing providers, are only a couple hours travel across the border.
“The software park’s location and its distances from the business operations are essential,” said Au Yeung. He noted that the MTRC chose to outsource its backend IT development in Zhuhai partly due to its location. “In case of emergency, it’ll take them only a few hours to get to the outsourcing site.”
Buying talent not experience
“For many local CIOs, talent or resources buying is often the purpose of outsourcing, so proximity of the universities becomes a factor,” said Darren Tan, associate director of consulting at Gartner. Instead of buying resources and talent, the essence of outsourcing is to purchase a provider’s output, which includes its capabilities, experience and sometimes even corporate culture and governance policy.
“[In this case] China still needs some time to become a mature outsourcing provider like its counterpart India,” said Tan. When multinational corporations (MNCs) with mature IT shops seek for outsourcing partners, they look for track records and experiences similar to themselves. “Therefore many MNCs continue to turn to the big players in China as their outsourcing partners.”
“We see China with a lot of facilities in outsourcing,” added Mike Ettling, VP and general manager of Unisys’ Asia Pacific outsourcing and infrastructure services. “So there are cheap and plentiful datacenters to utilize but they cannot offer the process and best practice for any advanced ITO/BPO.”
Nevertheless, Tan noted China has a much steeper learning curve than India.
“China will need to go through the same process as India to build that experience and track record to become a mature provider,” he said. “But the country will take a much shorter time to mature, as India has paved the learning path.”
When outsourcing turns in
While China remains to be a mature outsourcing partner, many Hong Kong firms tend to expand their scope of China strategy in a different approach, said Au Yeung.
“Enterprises on a smaller scale outsource the fundamental work to Chinese outsourcing providers,” he said. “But larger enterprises simply set up their own backend IT shop in China to take full advantage of the vast supply of talent at a lower price.”
He noted Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), Citibank and State Street Bank are a few of the enterprises doing insourcing in China.
“But as outsourcing becoming more mature, companies are also expanding their outsourcing spectrum to include more strategic work,” he added. “Chinese providers have great potential in offering more strategic roles in outsourcing, particularly with the commercialization of nascent technologies.”
Since China is known for its academic research and development, Au Yeung said enterprises could take advantage of these technologies for business growth at a lower price.
He quoted one example: the use of human engineering, which includes the study of human habits and eyeball-placement in website design and development.
“By making good use of this nascent technology to increase the usability of the website or reduce the number of clicks for its users and customers, enterprises are generating more strategic value from their Chinese outsourcing providers,” he said.
“Hong Kong enterprises should not limit their outsourcing in China to the low-cost routine tasks-if companies are looking for cheap and low-business value sub-contracting work, many booming Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam [please refer to page 20], can provide even cheaper services.” he concluded.
- IDG staff contributed to this article
Top 10 list for due diligence in China
Due diligence is an important step in any outsourcing project, but particularly important in China, where quality ranges. Gregory Au Yeung, fellow of international affairs committee of the Hong Kong Computer Society, shared his tips for due diligence in China.
1 Creditability check-Make sure the company has a sound financial background and a well established corporate structure.
2 Research work-Do your homework to research on your provider’s background, in addition to its certification, also find out its reputation within the industry.
3 Location-It may not be the only indicator, but the location of the provider is a guide of its creditability. If the service provider is located at the software park run by the Central government, it’s more likely the company has a higher quality. Just like if a financial institute is located at IFC, it’s more likely to be a legitimate and quality company than locating, say, at Kwun Tong.
4 Employee’s background check – Request for resumes of employees, especially the key personnel. Their background and experience is important to ensure the provider has the capabilities to support your IT team.
5 Specific SLAs-Make sure service levels are specific and measurable to avoid finger-pointing when expectations were not matched.
6 Project management structure-Study the outsourcing team structure and the metrics for monitoring and measuring the performance.
7 Walkthroughs-It is a good idea to walkthrough with your outsourcing providers to find out how project is carried out. A specific step-by-step software development process or infrastructure maintenance process is helpful when making decision.
8 Data security – Ensure your sensitive corporate data is handled securely, find out where are the servers placed, what is the providers’ security policy to ensue client’s sensitive data won’t be shared by another team within the same outsourcing house.
9 Corporate governance enforcement-Ensure the corporate governance or data security policy is not only established, but enforced. Information leakage is common in China; sometimes sensitive corporate information can be eavesdropped by others in the lift, where people tend to share casual conversation.
10 What if?-It is not necessary to define all the specific details in handling emergency or special situations. But it is a good idea to set different scenarios and discuss with your provider how some of these emergencies will be handled.
Internet business model in Chinese
1.在线广告；
最主要最常见的网络在线盈利模式，国内做的较好的是新浪（www.sina.com.cn ）、搜狐（www.sohu.com ）、网易（ www.163.com ）雅虎（www.yahoo.com.cn） 等门户网站（包括行业门户）。
新兴的在线短视频网站，通过影音载入前后的等待时间播放广告主的在线广告
典型例子：
国外的youtube （www.youtube.com ）
国内的56（www.56.com ）、土豆（www.toodou.com ）、六间房（www.6rooms.com ）、
偶偶（www.ouou.com ）等
2.彩铃彩信下载、短信发送、电影手机注册、手机游戏下载、电子杂志订阅等电信增值形式；
目前最赚钱的网络盈利模式之一，几乎每个进入全球排名前10万位的商业性网站和个人网站都在通过sp来获取经济回报，目前由于sp受到中国移动等运营商的限制，盈利率有些下降，以此类引力模式为主的上市公司市值较以前有缩水。
典型例子：
空中网（www.kong.net ）
3G门户 （www.3g.net.cn ）
Zcom （www.zcom.com ）
唯刊（www.vika.cn ）
腾讯（www.qq.com ）
3.通过网站销售产品；
A．通过网站销售别人的产品；
典型例子：
（B2C 和 C2C模式）
淘宝（www.taobao.com ）易趣（www.ebay.com.cn） 在线竞拍，从成功交易中抽取佣金。
卓越 （www.joyo.com ）当当（www.dangdang.com ） B2C
豆瓣网（www.douban.com ）营造社区，推荐销售抽取佣金。
B.通过网站销售自己的产品；
大多数外贸网站和国内中小企业网站，多不胜举
比如：起名类网站。
4.注册会员收费，提供与免费会员差异化的服务；
典型例子：
阿里巴巴（www.cn.alibaba.com ） 中国B2B 网站典范。
慧聪商情（www.hc360.com ） B2B
金银岛（www.315.com.cn ） B2B
我的钢铁（www.mysteel.com） 中国钢铁行业门户
中国化工网（www.chemnet.com.cn） 中国化工行业门户
配货网 （www.peihuo.cn ）
51 （www.51.com ）
5.网络游戏运营，虚拟装备和道具买卖；
典型例子：
网易游戏（ www.163.com ）
盛大游戏（www.poptang.com www.shanda.com.cn ）
九城游戏（www.the9.com www.ninetowns.com ）
久游（www.9you.com ）
及其游戏地方代理运营商。
6. 搜索竞排、产品招商、分类网址和信息整合，付费推荐和抽成盈利；
典型例子：
百度（ www.baidu.com ）
迅雷 （www.xunlei.com ）
中国商机在线 （www.28.com）
一网商机（www.e26.cn ）
当代医药（www.ey99.com）
58同城（www.58.com）
客齐集（www.kijiji.com）
Hao123 (www.hao123.com )
265(www.265.com )
3721（www.3721.com ）
请客800（www.qingke800.com ）
K68 （www.k68.cn ）
豆瓣 （www.douban.com ）
7.广告中介
广告联盟网站通过给为广告主和站长服务，差价销售广告，获得利润。
典型例子：
弈天广告联盟 （www.unionsky.cn ）
Iplus广告联盟（www.iplus.com.cn）
好耶广告联盟（www.allyes.com ）
窄告网 （www.narrowad.com ）
8.企业信息化服务
A .帮助企业建设维护推广网站
中企动力（www.ce.net.cn ）
铭万（www.mainone.com ）B2B+建站
城库 (www.chengku.com ) B2B+建站 (依靠红头文件开展企业信息化服务，这类有政府背景的网络公司不在少数，赚钱比起一般的网络公司容易的多)
书生（www.booksir.com ） 一站式服务，从代理销售网络实名起家。
B.代理销售大公司的网络产品
几乎每个网络公司都在做，不再举例。
C．网络基础服务提供
万网（www.net.cn）
新网互联 （www.dns.com.cn ）
新网（www.xinnet.com ）
中国频道 (www.china-channel.com )
商务中国(www.bizcn.com)
很多规模较小的公司也在做域名注册，服务器托管的生意，收入比较稳定。
D．网络营销策划和搜索引擎优化的专业公司
通王科技 （www.tongwang.com ）
冯英健 （www.jingzhengli.cn ）
9.其他盈利模式
盈利模式没有固定的，只有成功和不成功之分。现实网络中存在各种各样的盈利模式以及若干中盈利模式的组合。
总结起来，网站的盈利其实无非是，卖产品或者卖服务或者两者结合，区别是可能是卖别人的也可能是卖自己的
http://hi.baidu.com/c%5Fbotong/blog/item/3b2fdf5460c0d158d10906fe.html来源
China Mobile’s WVAS vision
China Mobile’s WVAS Vision
On August 18, China Mobile held a meeting with 20 of its leading SPs and several handset markers to discuss its future plans for Wireless Value Added Services (WVAS). The meeting succeeds the regulations China Mobile issued to SPs in July including the double-confirmation policy. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce new services and discuss strategic changes for WVAS, as the company endeavors to keep revenues up amid the unfavorable regulations. Mobile music, mobile video, mobile games, mobile IM, 2D barcode, mobile search and mobile blog have all been tagged as key applications for China Mobile as the company embarks on the 3G era. China Mobile also announced that it intends to work more closely with handset vendors and content providers to gain better control over the WVAS value chain.
Mobile Music and Video as Core Services
China Mobile has identified mobile music and mobile video as its 3G core services. Given its ability to demonstrate substantially higher revenues than mobile video, mobile music is China Mobile’s highest priority WVAS this year.
Color Ring-Back Tone (CRBT), currently China Mobile’s greatest mobile music driver, has become one of the biggest revenue sources in terms of the company’s non-SMS data business. CRBT revenue was RMB 2.6 billion (USD 325 million) in 1H 2006, accounting for 10.9% of China Mobile’s total WVAS revenues. CRBT users rocketed to 128.4 million by June 2006, up from 57.9 million in June 2005. Mobile music is also an important content source for other applications such as WAP and IVR. As demonstrated by successful application in the 3G markets of Japan and South Korea, mobile music will become increasingly crucial for mobile operators as applications such as full-track music downloads are enabled in China.[...]
Mobile Games
China Mobile’s mobile game business has yet to achieve growth momentum because of limited user interaction and poor marketing. China Mobile plans to create a game community channel under its mobile Java portal Baibaoxiang. The operator will enable users of the game community channel to purchase items like avatars using virtual money. [...]
Mobile IM
China Mobile recently began trials for ‘Femoo’, its IM solution developed jointly with Huawei. China Mobile aims to dominate the mobile IM market by integrating other WVAS applications into its IM platform. The company is requiring handset makers to replace other SPs’ mobile IM software such as MSN and Tencent’s QQ with Femoo IM in their customized handsets.[...]
2D Barcode
China Mobile launched 2D barcode trials in 9 provinces testing both Data Matrix (DM) code and Quick Response (QR) code technologies. China Mobile is currently focused on promoting DM code services to propel its WAP and mobile marketing business, since DM codes are mainly used to tag WAP websites. The operator currently markets DM codes exclusively through Beijing-based Gmedia, and directs their services towards corporate users such as advertisers and SPs.[...]
Control over Free WAP Portals
By the end of 2005, free WAP websites generated over 80% of China Mobile’s GPRS traffic, according to sources close to China Mobile. Free WAP portals are building up their brand names as rivals of China Mobile’s Monternet portal. In response, China Mobile is reinforcing its leading role in the WVAS value chain by cracking down on free WAP portals.[...]
China Mobile: More Dominant in 3G?
China Mobile is tightening control over its WVAS value chain, copying the walled-garden approach in Korea and building up the Monternet brand name in preparation for 3G. The operator has issued a series of strict rules to SPs to reduce customer complaints and purge smaller SPs from the market. China Mobile is also deploying its own new applications, including mobile IM and mobile search, as well as playing a dominant role in 2D barcode and mobile blog. Closer cooperation between China Mobile and CPs on mobile video and mobile music services is intended to continue in exchange for the increased 50% revenue share that China Mobile will take for these services. [...]
3G增值业务创新与市场需求
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技术的发展和进步是历史进程的必然趋势，先进的技术不断给人类的生活带来更多的便利和情趣，不断促进生产力的发展，不断推动人类社会的进步。目前，比较成 熟的第三代(3G)移动通信技术会给我们的生活带来变化吗？会带来什么样的变化呢？通过以下几个问题的探讨，希望读者会得到有益的借鉴和启发。 一、第三代(3G)移动通信系统在技术层面的进步 第三代(3G)移动通信网络不外乎是提供语音业务和高速数据业务的基础网络平台，3G时代的基本语音业务其通话质量会进一步提高；3G网络能够提供符合 QoS要求的更高速数据业务(商用产品已经实现了384kbit/s的速率)，这方面确实优越于现有的2G数据业务。此外，交换机制在传统的电路交换基础 上，又引入了包交换技术。最后一点就是3G技术采用了更先进的无线信道编码机制，大大优化了网络的利用率。上述三点可以说是第三代(3G)移动通信系统在 技术上的突破。 在2G移动通信网络的平台上，已经开通了林林总总的移动增值业务，其 中有些业务在3G网络的强有力支持下，会为用户提供更加优质的服务。对于3G业务有哪些问题， 从不同的观点出发有多种多样的答案。例如可以划分为通信类业务、查询类业务、娱乐类业务、互联网接入业务等等。 通信类业务通常包括基 础语音业务、移动视频电话(视频流媒体)业务等。3G以能够提供符合QoS要求的高速数据业务优越于现有的2G业务，但基础语音业务仍会是主要业务。3G 时代的基本语音业务其通话质量进一步提高，可能接近于固定电话的音质。需要强调的是，移动视频电话业务只有在3G网络上才能真正得以实现。移动视频电话 (视频流媒体)业务对网络带宽要求高，3G网络的高速数据传输率能够非常好的支持视频电话业务。目前看来移动视频电话业务应该成为3G的代表性业务，通过 移动视频电话业务的推广应用，会促进3G网络的进一步发展。移动视频业务的市场更需要形式丰富多彩、内容新颖别致的音频视频节目内容，但考虑到移动视频电 话业务的特点，提供的业务内容必须简洁、有个性、易于交互性操作。 查询类业务。随着无线数据传输能力的进一步提高，通过手机可以方便 获取交通实况、票务预订、餐馆指南、机票信息、字典服务、手机银行、电话簿、城市信息等等查询类信息，满足更高层次的衣食住行等生活需要。由于3G网络的 大容量与高传输速率，它支持的查询类业务更多的是图文并茂的实时交互性内容。 娱乐类业务的代表是音乐点播、影视点播(流媒体)业务。 3G时代这类业务的质量会达到前所未有的水平。用户甚至能够以2Mbit／s的速率尽情点播所喜欢的歌曲和电影，点播体育新闻和查看体育赛事。其语音和画 面质量是2.5G网络所不能及的。当然，影像图片、MP3铃声下载业务也最受用户欢迎，是目前成功的增值业务。 互联网接入业务，一般 认为3G移动通信技术会促使移动通信技术与互联网更好的融合。一旦能够方便地接入互联网，移动手机用户就可以享用互联网上无穷无尽的信息资源。用户不仅可 以在3G手机终端上撰写、收发、保存电子邮件，还可以收发文字、图片、动画、影像等多媒体信息，届时交互性操作会更加简单，更加符合人们的习惯。 移动增值业务的用户或是个人用户，或是企业用户。为企业用户提供增值业务是一个大有可为的发展方向。分析研究不同行业的特殊性，从而为用户提供真正需要的服务。 物流运输业：工作人员流动性高，动态调度是提高工作效率的主要方法，配合智能路由规划从而节约汽油费的成本开支。有吸引力的增值业务：语音业务，短信和多媒体短信，路由图(包括定位功能)。 安全执法部门：工作人员流动性高，需要移动通信的支持来保障人员的安全(报告状态，呼叫请求支援等)，现场信息需要及时验证。有吸引力的增值业务： 语音业务，短信和多媒体短信，路由图，定位业务，数据库接入业务。 信息通信行业：工作人员流动性居中，信息化程度较高，对服务的要求也高。有吸引力的增值业务： 语音业务，电话会议，短信和多媒体短信，电子邮件，即时消息，数据库接入业务，虚拟专用网，日期时间踪录业务，差旅费电子报销业务等。 公用事业(气，水，电)单位：大量现场工作人员维护管网基础设施，故障修复时间的长短是衡量他们工作的关键指标；故障修复时间越短，越节省资源。有吸引力的增值业务： 语音业务，3GPCMCIA卡数据库接入业务，日期时间踪录业务，PoC业务等。 三、移动通信公司已经提供的移动增值业务 现在，我们可以看看移动通信公司提供的增值业务的情况。其中有些业务是在2G网络上开通的，但是，有很多业务在3G网络上会给用户提供更快、更好、更符合人们使用习惯的服务，继续创造更大的价值。 1.中国移动提供的增值业务 包括彩铃、点对点短信、邮箱彩信、梦网像册、手机+笔记本上网、娱音在线、IP电话、手机钱包、手机银行、168信息点播、点对点彩信、百宝箱、随e行、梦网短信(梦网彩信)和手机证券。 2.T-Mobile通信公司提供的移动增值业务 随用随付费(Pay As You Go)：多少有些象我们使用的神州行业务，用户随时可以检查自己的剩余信用额度，不够用了，就买一张新卡，输入一串激活号码，为手机充值。 电子充值(e Top Up)：这种业务免去了买新卡输入一串激活号码的繁杂手续。用户只要购买具有按需付费功能的手机，外加一个磁卡，登记注册即可。当需要充值时，到特许店交钱、划卡，购买的同时会自动充值到手机。 文本消息投票：短消息业务通常情况下是单向的，用户只能接收短消息。利用“文本消息投票”业务，用户可以方便地使用手机投票。 批量消息(Bulk Messaging)：此业务对航空公司有用，利用这项业务可以方便、及时地告知广大订票客户他们的订票状况。 定位业务：3G网络的高速数据传输率使得定位业务具有了方便、快捷、准确的服务品质。其最大特点就是手机屏幕上显示数字化地图。因此，该业务具有广泛的应用前景。
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3G应用后用户最期待的服务
| 3G应用后用户最期待的服务 |
| 2006/05/27 |
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据调查统计，视听娱乐业务成为3G应用后，手机用户最为期待的服务占38.4%，其次是视频电话占22.7%，地图定位占18.4%，电子商务占14.8%。 |
第二代彩话 移动增值业务的下一个沸点
近日，一款在手机上使用的彩话软件――MOMO正在年轻时尚一族中悄然流行。外企职员小张兴奋地告诉记者，现在他可以把自己手机里的音乐设置成跟朋友们通话过程中的背景音乐，以营造不同的通话氛围。何谓“彩话”？即“个性化背景音通话”，是一项可以在通话过程中自由选择播放个性化背景音以及插播各种特殊背景音效的业务。
“不温不火”的第一代彩话
据了解，最早的彩话业务出现于欧洲，当地的运营商为用户的对话配上各种声音背景，例如堵车、开会、地铁等音效，由此满足一些用户的开玩笑或者搪塞理由的特殊需要。随后，彩话开始在日本、韩国风行。
2004年4月广州移动率先为动感地带用户开通彩话服务，这一业务才在国内正式登陆。随后，电信、联通、网通等运营商也在各地进行试点，开始了第一代彩话业务的运营。但因为技术局限等因素的影响，彩话业务一直未达到十分理想的增长局面
不过彩话业务潜在用户需求所映射的巨大市场前景，使业内始终看好其未来的发展，各方力量也一直在为彩话的“沸腾”而备战。据记者了解，小张所说的这款MOMO彩话软件就是WAP门户网站摩网于近期推出的。
“一厢情愿”到“两情相悦”的第二代彩话
据了解，运营商推出的“彩话”是由主叫方在拨出电话号码前加拨一个特殊服务号码才能在通话中使用由主叫方选播的各种音乐；这种基于IVR平台来实现的“彩话”业务必须由主叫方来操控，被叫方只能被动接受。
而时下正流行的手机客户端彩话软件——MOMO颠覆了现有“彩话”的语音通话方式，使操作更简便，用户只需在手机上预先安装软件即可自由管理自 己手机上的音乐；更重要的是，无论是在拨出还是呼入的通话中都可以使用，满足了拨出和呼入双向的个性化需求。业内分析人士则认为，以MOMO为代表的第二 代彩话的解决方案将促使彩话业务的发展进入一个全新的时期。
记者还了解到，目前免费使用的MOMO公测版除了提供彩话服务外还具有在线交友聊天（包括跟MSN好友互通聊天）、定位、浏览资讯等强大的娱乐功能。
随着未来3G的到来，人们对手机娱乐化的要求越来越高，更多的移动增值业务也将应运而生。以MOMO为代表的第二代彩话能否成为移动增值业务的又一个沸点？我们拭目以待。
中国固网运营商3G业务收入将快速上升
| 2006/09/18 |
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iResearch艾瑞市场咨询从Norson基于中国3G业务的研究发现，固网运营商在未来3G市场中的用户发展、ARPU值将呈现快速上升的趋势。预 计2007年年中3G牌照发放，固网运营商同时开始建网，由于初期网络建设的巨大投资和移动业务运营经验的缺乏，预计固网运营商3G用户渗透率为5%左 右，收入将达到0.13亿元人民币。 |
WiMax will not be deployed in China – top MII official
Beijing. September 5. INTERFAX-CHINA – WiMax will not be deployed in China due to the lack of operating spectrum, Deputy Director of the Radio Regulation Bureau of the Ministry of Information Industry Xie Feibo said.
“I am regretful to say we cannot deploy [WiMax] because the government has already allocated the spectrum to a C-band satellite transmission system that is almost completed and will be launched in the first half of next year,” Xie said at a conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
To date, there is no technical means to simultaneously operate both the satellite communications system and WiMax, but China would continue research on a workaround, said Xie.
Xie said it was very unlikely the government would approve bandwidth in the spectrum presently allocated for 3G, which would make WiMax the fourth standard to operate in that spectrum.
Developers must take the government’s future spectrum allocation planning into account and Xie urged domestic developers to contact the ministry and begin dialogue about technology plans for 10 years from now to allow ideas and opinions to be incorporated into allocation plans.
“Equipment, from the initial discovery to commercialization to deployment, requires more than 10 years. If they wait until they are at the deployment stage to contact us about spectrum, this creates a very big problem for the national plan,” said Xie.
One western telecom expert, who declined to be named, told Interfax he thought the policy was “nonsense.”
“The industry is changing so fast. How can anyone know what technology will be around 10 years from now?” asked the expert following Xie’s statement at the Wireless China 2006 Industry Summit.
Spectrum allocation is very important for the government and allocation planning is done well in advance. The core spectrum for 3G was allocated in 1992, a time when the technology was not yet known as 3G and few in China had heard of it, said Xie.
Chinese Wireless Tech Companies Should Start Selling Soybeans
This is a very important news for us, this is absolutely very bad news.
By Perry Wu In 2002, the Chief Technology Officer at my company in Beijing was complaining that he was constantly receiving wireless text messages (SMS) from Sohu.com (SOHU), and phone calls to Sohu.com and China Mobile (CHL) to end the messages resulted in nothing happening. Worst, he was being charged a small monthly fee to receive these unwanted messages. Last week China Mobile finally added more consumer-friendly features to its services. Beginning July 10, for any new subscriptions to Wireless Value-Added Services (WVAS) including short messaging services (SMS), multimedia messaging services (MMS), and wireless application protocol (WAP), China Mobile will send out two reminder notices to the customers prior to charging subscription fees in the customers’ monthly mobile phone bills. Customers will also get a free trial period of 11 to 41 days. If only these safeguards existed four years ago for my colleague in the Kafka ordeal. So what effect did China Mobile’s announcement have on WVAS providers? Companies like Tom.com (TOMO) rightfully saw their stock plummet by about 20%, KongZhong (KONG) had an 11% slump and Sohu.com dropped almost 9%. Fast forward through five years of wireless mayhem in China and a few things should now be abundantly clear. WVAS providers in China will always get the short end of the stick. They are in a losing battle with China Mobile and China Unicom, two behemoths who can and will provide the same services as the WVAS firms. Witness China Mobile’s announcement last month that it is going to launch its own instant communication software and will not add similar service provider services in the future. According to China Mobile’s notice, it will not only stop increasing service providers in the online chat sector, but it will also end the wireless services of existing service providers such as Tencent and Microsoft’s (MSFT) MSN at the end of this year. All China Mobile needs to do is flip a switch, and Tencent’s mobile aspirations can disappear. As I have mentioned multiple times over the last four years, portals like Tom.com, Sohu.com, Sina.com (SINA), and Netease.com (NTES) kept their stock prices artificially high by promoting all the great WVAS offerings available to their users. After only a few quarters, investors saw that money was not being made in the wireless sector. But because only public relations firms and back-pocket analysts provide most of the China Internet sector guidance, everything is poorly skewed for international investors hoping to gain an objective eye into the hijinx of the China technology establishment. During a conference call with investors in the summer of 2003, Sohu’s CFO Derek Palaschuk calmly proclaimed, more than once, that getting SMS-related money from China Mobile was never a problem. However a report in China’s 21st Century Business Herald in September 2003 showed cracks in that assertion. The newspaper said the China Mobile debt includes RMB50 owed to NetEase.com, more than RMB40 million to Sohu.com and about RMB50 million to Sina.com. The writing was on the wall 3 years ago that it would be a great problem getting over the receivable problem. Finally, a reader wrote to me a few months ago and asked, “If you say the prospects for WVAS companies is so grim in China, what do you suggest they do instead?” I suggest they sell soybeans, rice, or put all their brains towards developing a cleaner way to fuel cars. With the current monopoly of telecoms in China and the way they regulate the industry, the best way to utilize an office full of intelligent, creative, and ambitious employees to create something of lasting value is to focus on paths that will not quickly terminate in dead-ends. About the author: Perry Wu is a writer and correspondent for ChinaTechNews.com and can be reached here at the site by visiting www.chinatechnews.com/contact.php. Perry Wu does not hold any positions, long or short, on any of the Chinese or American company securities mentioned in this article. |
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China 3G Net Overview
3G Net is China’s NO. #1 wireless portal. A lot of contents and service are very innovative and up to now, I didn’t see any US wireless user has the similar exposure to such websites.
http://www.3g.net.cn/new/index.aspx
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