Inigo Barker

Interesting banking service launch by Boost Mobile (with fintech Alviere as partner). theverge.com/2022/10/27/2342…. A fairly unusual but not unique play for a US telco (T-Mobile does similar), but it makes sense if there are underbanked customers to target in its mobile base.

Will be interesting to see how M-Pesa will fare in Ethiopia without the first mover advantage it had in Kenya. With mobile phone penetration at ~60%, M-Pesa will be less reliant on agent networks than it was in Kenya. telcotitans.com/vodafonewatc…

B2B payments platform launch by Iliad. In keeping with Iliad's familiar pattern of entering a market as a low cost disruptor. Will be interesting to see how this goes techcrunch.com/2022/09/27/il…

New prepaid tariff range from Verizon. Unusually for a prepaid offer Verizon bundles Disney+ into the highest value plans - as one of the cheaper and more affordable streaming services, this makes sense verizon.com/about/news/redef…

Hyperoptic's Switch Now - users get protection against CPI price hikes and early termination subsidies. An aggressive offer that underlines challenges for operators aiming to pass through higher prices to consumers in markets with aggressive challengers tinyurl.com/yu443dk9

Apple looking to nearly double its advertising work force to ~460. Still a long way behind Google, Meta, Amazon in ad revenue (~USD2bn at Apple in 2021 vs USD209bn at Google, USD115bn at Meta, USD32bn at Amazon) ft.com/content/db21685b-d4dd…

New telco digital bank launch in Singapore. A JV between Singtel and Grab. The thinking is that both can draw on their rich data supplies to develop personalised products but they face an uphill challenge in a well-banked market sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/gr…

Interesting to see what US telcos are telling the FCC they are doing with user data lightreading.com/regulatoryp…

Amazon is closing its telehealth service Amazon Care while it is in the process of buying primary healthcare provider One Medical. Shifting from building a service (plus contracts with employers and insurers) to buying one. ft.com/content/9b7cccf1-6f36…

Orange increasing its commitment to healthcare with its acquisition of Exelus - a year on from acquiring a stake in consumer-facing company telehealth company DabaDoc newsroom.orange.com/enovacom…

Operators will maximise their chances of succeeding in consumer digital healthcare if they design intuitive platforms with transparent pricing analysysmason.com/research/c…

How can telcos price their products in the new inflationary environment? They would do well to look at what Turkish telcos have been doing in recent years analysysmason.com/research/c…

New report exploring current telco consumer IoT propositions. Still relatively early days but interesting to see how things are shaping up and what the potential drivers of success are