Philippine Business Magazine: Volume 8 No. 5 - Technology
It’s a Mobile World
The Internet is literally now in one’s hand
Interview By Delma L. Peyra

All the more significant with the country’s low PC penetration and the Filipinos’ unique brand of communicating, the mobile phone will even take communications to a new level. Already the country is hooking up to mobile entertainment and mobile e-commerce. Robert Etteborn, President & CEO of Ericsson Philippines explains in this interview that “making it simple” will make mobile Internet technology tick with consumers. He also clarifies technology buzzwords such as GPRS, 3G, and Bluetooth.

Why is Ericsson focusing on mobile internet solutions?
We are in the telecom business. And for the last 10 to 15 years, we have emphasized on wireless communications. Ericsson strongly believes that what you do sitting on your desk – browsing the web, sending e-mail – will be possible to do with mobility. Instead of having a PC to carry with you when you’re on the bus or in the car – you have your mobile telephone. With your mobile telephone, you can do the same things as you do with your PC. We strongly believe that this is definitely the future. This is what we call mobile internet – that’s why we’re focusing on this.

This is a worldwide phenomenon of course.
Absolutely. It’s a worldwide thing. But I would like to stress that it’s definitely a Filipino thing, or will be soon what we might call a major success in the Philippines.

Why will this be so?
There are special reasons and one is that already today the SMS country of the world is the Philippines. The volume of SMS has so far exceeded 100 million a day. Also, Filipinos love entertainment, talking, chatting. They like to have information and they have learned to use the facilities possible today like SMS in the standard networks. So if services like these come up, there’s no question that this will be a success in the Philippines.

Do we have these already? What about Globe Telecom’s MyGlobe Services and Smart’s Smart Zed? Are they already using the full-blown WAP technology, or are they using intermediate technologies?
These applications are done in what we call the 2G networks. But what’s the difference between 2G, some people say 2.5G, and 3G? The main difference is that with 3G, you can do things much, much faster. A problem today is that everything takes a long time. The access takes long, transmission time takes long. But these problems will be overcome when we reach 3G.

With 2.5G today, we have GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) which can be considered a step towards 3G. That has not taken off in this country, simply because people have no knowledge about it yet.

It’s also because one, that up until today, it’s not so simple. And if it’s going to be a success – it has to be simple. To access and use those applications and facilities today, you have to press 10 to 15 buttons and you have to learn these. And there’s a resistance even there. When things like one-button press becomes available, to access the World Wide Web, then it can be a hit. Ericsson has actually produced a telephone, which has a one-button press to go to a web browser. This phone is enabled to do things like talk and it’s also a PC. It’s tri-band, uses GPRS, and its speed is high.

GPRS will take off when we have the right terminals and the right marketing. This will take off in a half-year’s time.

What about pricing and affordability issues that affect marketing in the local market?
The operators will probably change the way they charge calls. Today, we are charged on airtime. If you talk for two minutes, you are charged so-and-so much pesos. What you will be charged in the future is content. Not many people would like to download a book with 400 pages. But things that people like to download like e-mail, short messages, multimedia messages – these will be done in a shorter time with the increased speed. Most likely the operators will not charge content until speed is fast. Furthermore, when it comes to terminals, when all things are in place, that is a volume mass market – there will be heavy competition that will magically push down prices.

Will this be as big as the success of SMS?
GPRS is just the start of this multimedia era of telecom mobility, and that will only be halfway through its success. The real thing will come with 3G, when it is implemented. When it will eventually happen, I really don’t know. That depends on when the authorities give out the licenses or frequencies to the operators. And as far as I understand, that is now under discussion in the National Telecommunications Commission.

How does Ericsson help local businesses?
Our philosophy is that we must work together with local companies. Here, we work together with local software companies so they can come up with solutions and applications given our infrastructure and our products. Together, we offer our clients such as Globe, Smart, and other operators applications and solutions. Similar to what Smart Zed offers, we provide applications such as games, entertainment, banking solutions, and information.

The Filipino companies do their local adaptation because what we have are the basics. If we must apply technology here – it must be for the Filipino, which may not work in Indonesia or China. Similarly Ericsson China works with Chinese local companies. In Thailand we work with Thai companies – this is how we operate worldwide.

Mobile gaming and mobile entertainment are hot sectors. Can you discuss further their business potentials?
It’s recognized worldwide that the people who love entertainment, who love to have fun are the Filipinos. These applications that we have been talking about enable Filipinos to make mobile communications easier, more accessible and to enjoy life even better. And if Ericsson can be a help to do these, we are more than happy to do so.

In two years’ time, as an example, on your mobile device you will have a PC, a telephone, and a video camera – all in one. So you can send a picture through your mobile, when you’re on a trip to Cebu, having a good time at the beach. And you can tell your family and your friends, “Hey I’m having a good time.” You take a picture of yourself, press some buttons, and via the system you can look at your picture on your friend’s telephone.

On the business prospects of mobile shopping, will people here be buying goods via their cellphones? It seems there are very few Filipinos who do e-commerce even via their PCs.
That’s probably because there are not too many Filipinos who have their own PCs. I think the penetration is not more than 1.2%-1.3% of the population and out of the 1.3%, more than half of the PCs are owned by enterprises. They are not private and not in homes. This is why there is not much e-commerce today on your PC. But with at least seven million Filipinos now having cellphones, in the future if you tell them “why don’t you book your tickets to the cinema” – it can be done, and that’s some kind of e-commerce. But I also observe, and I must admit after having been here for two years – Filipinos love going to malls to shop.

What about Ericsson’s well publicized futuristic “concept phone”? Will it be manufactured eventually?
The pictures of it that you see, that’s what approximately it’s going to look like. If this will be green or blue, smaller or bigger screen, we don’t know yet for sure because it’s in the development stage. It will enable us to do a lot of things easily – you press one button and you’re on the World Wide Web. And you look and find out, that “Oh, my pension funds in the States are going down” or something. Right now, you have an extra device that you insert on the phone, but in two to three years’ time, everything will be built in.

How do you address cross-border challenges in terms of infrastructure and ease of communication?
It will be addressed in the same way as we are addressing it today. The DSL system allows for multiple, international roaming. The technology is not the problem because the technology is there. You can put together all the DSL networks together from a technology point of view so you can be in one country and send messages to someone in another country.

However, since we have different operators – it’s a commercial thing as well. If I utilize Globe Telecom’s network when I’m here but I have a SIM card from SingTel Singapore, Globe wants some kind of revenues in utilizing their network as well. But most operators today worldwide have commercial arrangements with each other so cross-border mobile communication can be done from a commercial point-of-view. If I go to China today or Sweden or the U.S., I don’t have to change cards – the mobile has this roaming thing – it automatically searches an operator which has a deal or an agreement with say, my Globe mobile. And I can do all the same things I can do here.

A lot of people are curious with the Bluetooth phone. What are your plans on this?
You were describing a headset. That’s one application of the Bluetooth technology. With it you can move around in the office without holding your phone all the time or having your phone on your pocket, on your desk. However, this is only one application of the Bluetooth. Another one is when your PC using Bluetooth can transmit information to your mobile phone and vice versa. You can also do this machine-to-machine. Another application is when you go home and instead of having a key to your door, you have a Bluetooth application. You press a code in your mobile phone, and the door will open. There are a lot more applications of the Bluetooth. It’s not the headset, it’s the technology.

What do you like best working as CEO of Ericsson Philippines?
I love the Philippines. I love Asia. I’ve worked in Asia for the past 14 years. I’ve been in the Philippines for two years. For me, there are two things that I like to be my legacy in this country. One, I want to be part of the development in the country of wireless communications and two, I’d like to see Ericsson as the major player in this field.