Cellular Net of Things (CNoT)
You know that I think that cellular companies are, by and large, ineptly managed. The entire industry seems to be firmly in the control of MBAs and financiers. And, you know that I don’t hold them in high regard.
If I owned a cellular company or was president of one there are so many things I would like to do to grow my business. I just bubble with all of the missed opportunities.
The first thing I would do is to sell people multiple phone numbers. One number for personal use, and another for business. It’s pure profit. And, it would be a compelling feature for so many users. Wouldn’t you love to be able to turn off business calls in the evening?
I would lobby every laptop manufacturer to add a SIM slot to laptops. Laptops should be always connected. For me as a cellular company it would be a lot more data. I would keep the monthly fee minimal, since the money is in the data.
I would lobby Apple to put two SIM slots into their phones. I don’t want international travelers to take my SIM out of their phone while traveling (as most do.) And, I would love for work to give people one SIM and for home to have another SIM.
I would price “connected things” super cheap on a monthly basis, like free or perhaps $1. I want everything to be connected to my network. Even if these things use small amounts of data, I am getting that usage and I want everything connected to my network. There is no real cost to having something connected. So I would want every security system, every car, every fire alarm, every “help I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” pendant, every stoplight, every variable message road sign, every appliance connected.
Some might say that home automation and home appliances will just connect to WiFi. But I would argue that if there was a negligible monthly fee, that most users would choose cellular simply because they don’t need to configure it and maintain it.
Wouldn’t you like your laptop to always be connected to the internet without fiddling with Wifi settings at every coffee shop or client you visit?