About Me 0118: Being Right or Making Money

Like an old dog with no new tricks, European wireless carriers are resurrecting a failed wireline move and trying to extract more money from the likes of Google, Apple and other web and mobile companies providing content over their wireless pipes. According to a report in Bloomberg, European carriers such as France Telecom SA, Telecom Italia SA and Vodafone Group Plc are pushing for new deals to get content providers to pay for their usage. The operators say the costs of building out their networks to handle growth in data traffic is outpacing data revenues, compromising their business models.

This is really about operators being upset over the Googles and Apples of the world profiting off the pipes the operators have built. Instead of realizing they are about providing access or building awesome content of their own, they sit at the table begging for a chunk of profits from companies which have built something on top of the operator’s networks. When begging doesn’t work, they threaten to stifle access and innovation. The carriers are like old dogs that can’t learn a new trick. Unfortunately, right now, the only trick they have is peeing on your rug.

Ed Whitacre, AT&T’s former CEO, tried to play this card a number of years ago on the wireline side, pushing for content providers to pay a quality of service tariff. The plan didn’t go through, but it showed some of the vacuous thinking of operators. That wireless carriers in Europe are looking at flogging the same idea shows they’re either dumb or really bold. Either way, it smacks of desperation.

What the carriers don’t understand is that they provide access. Yes, mobile data usage is soaring but that’s the business the carriers are in. They rely on Google and others to get people to buy their data plans and their phones. Without great services, why would people want to pony up for a smartphone or a data plan? It was great just a couple of years ago when data revenue helped offset declining margins on voice. But now that data is exploding, it’s put the carriers in a tough position.

However, trying to get money from content providers is not the way to go. The carriers are already charging users for data, and are in the midst of changing their pricing plans to reflect the very real flood of traffic caused by user demand. Right now, their wireless businesses are still very profitable; for example, Verizon reported operating income on its wireless business of 29.9 percent. It’s preferable that the operators look at tweaking that model to manage traffic and revenue. We’ve advocated innovative pricing for data plans and dynamic pricing, which makes more sense in a world with limited bandwidth and spectrum. They shouldn’t try to build a double-sided market by dipping into the revenue of companies, who have legitimately created valuable services on top of their networks. A flour mill owner can’t approach the baker for a cut of his bread revenue. This would stifle innovation and potentially undermine the dynamism in the mobile world. Will popular app makers have to worry about paying as well if their apps are consuming bandwidth?

If the wireless operators are peeved at Google and others making money off their pipes — and they are no doubt mad — they should build their own services that appeal to users. Otherwise, the carriers shouldn’t argue that they’re more than dumb pipes. The carriers may think they’re getting out early on charging content providers and may have more leverage than their wired counterparts. But pushing an unpopular model again doesn’t reflect bold thinking; it really shows that the idea cupboard is bare. Let’s hope their American wireless counterparts don’t try the same trick here.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

4G State of the Union

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Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user abbynormy

From the diaries by Erick

Investing in math and science is the way to solve the economy. A great idea. And somehow liberals have co-opted it to make it sound like their own.

Today’s Los Angeles Times for instance contains an article entitled, “Fixing the Economy the Scientific Way,” arguing that the federal government must spend more money on math and science education. They point to the fact that over the last 40 years the government’s support of science has declined 60% as a portion of GDP. They then argue that Republicans will only make the problem worse, pointing to their pledge to reduce federal spending on nondefense-related science research to pre-stimulus levels.

There is a lot wrong with this argument. For instance, given that the stimulus was a one-off, emergency spending measure, I’m not sure you can call a return to pre-stimulus investment a “reduction.” If we simply kept all stimulus programs intact forever and ever it would be akin to adding $800 billion to our deficit annually, not exactly a financially or politically sound proposition.

The bigger problem is that liberals’ argument ignores the reason governmental support of science funding has been declining relative to GDP. The problem is that the government over the last four decades has been forced to spend on other things. Our mandatory spending, on such things as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, has been driven upwards, leaving less and less to be spent on discretionary budget items. Moreover it is not going to get better without major changes. The CBO predicts that “federal spending on major mandatory health care programs will grow from roughly 5 percent today to about 10 percent in 2035 and will continue to increase thereafter. “

As the following chart from the Heritage Foundation shows, the increase in costs of entitlements and anti-poverty programs are forcing reductions elsewhere.

If we want to increase our investment and math and science as a pathway to future prosperity we must understand one thing: we are not working with unlimited funds. We can’t simply increase science investment because it is a good idea. A budget requires prioritization. Making math and science a priority means making something else less of a priority.

Sadly, prioritization is even difficult given that our budget is being tyrannized by entitlement spending. Now, and especially in the future, these programs are taking up such a large slice of the budgetary pie that there simply isn’t enough money to pay for core government functions, much less science grants. That is why fiscal conservatism, through principled spending, is the true path toward promoting scientific advancement.

For an example as to why, look no further than Texas. Doing research for this post, I googled “math and science investment” in an attempt to find long term trends in how much the government spent. To my surprise one of the top returns was an article entitled “Perry announces math and science investment.” The Perry the article is referring to is the Republican governor of Texas, Rick Perry. As it turns out, in 2009, right in the heart of the recession, Texas announced it was investing $160 million to expand Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math academies. But how!?! After all, Texas doesn’t have an income tax and has one of the nation’s lowest overall tax burdens. Yet through shrewd spending and their ability to attract businesses to the state, Texas has weathered the economic storm better than most, even managing to maintain an $8 billion “rainy day “ fund. This financial flexibility, accomplished by keeping government spending relatively low, is what enabled them to increase their science and math spending in response to a need. The federal government lacks that flexibility.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that solving our economic issues are as simple as giving more money to math and science. It would be a good start and a great investment. But Medicare and Social Security, programs liberals love, are stopping us from doing so.

by Brandon Greife, Political Director of the College Republican National Committee

http://speakout.crnc.org/blog/2010/12/28/investing-in-math-and-sciences-first-requires-entitlement-reform/

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About Me 0118

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Being Right or Making Money

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