Indian corruption scandal

More in the press today about the alleged $39B the Indian government "lost" due to corruption in the country's 2G auctions 3 years ago. Although the machinations of the notoriously Byzantine India legal and governmental system are frankly beyond me (it strikes me that such anti-capitalist rumblings by Indian politicians attempt to distract from their long-term failure to set India up for growth), an important question that should be considered is the trade-off for consumers and for overall growth of cheap spectrum licenses. Communications are a proven multiplier for economic growth and on my last visit to India practically everyone was glued to their handset. If the same can happen with data phones in the future then the net effect on an economy the size of India's will far exceed the $39B they "lost" due to corruption. In any case, the supposed loss seems rather arbitrary, since no one in a developed economy would have paid that much for the spectrum on offer, let alone in one where ARPU is under $5. 1.2B people or not... Anyway, just my 2p...

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Differences between Industrial and Digital businesses

Since I'm stuck on a Eurostar crawling through western France I thought I'd use the downtime to share this table I've made on the differences between Industrial and Digital companies across the main business functions. A strange insight into how my mind works... but hopeful a useful summary!

Strategic lessons from Debenhams

Yesterday’s news cycle brought with it the announcement that Debenhams, a staple of the UK high street, was now in the control of its lenders . This kind of news is sad for the employees of Debenhams and certainly for its shareholders, but it is also a good opportunity for reflection. A business that can trace its history back to 1778 may be about to cease trading forever. For leaders in the retail and associated consumer industries, now is a good time to consider what lessons can be learnt from Debenhams and what could be done to seize the opportunity presented by its passing. I’m thinking about the topic of strategic responses to emerging events at the moment because of the seeming inevitability of a recession this year or next, which will doubtless bring with it many similar situations. Before I get started, a disclaimer. I have no inside knowledge of Debenhams, I have never consulted for them, pitched to them or even met anyone in their management team. This post uses Debenham...

Impacts of a handset leasing model on mobile telcos

Following yesterday's post, here's some related thinking on the impacts on operators of handset leasing. Handset sales represent around 25% of operator revenues in a typical European market, but generate only around 5% of margin. It may therefore be the case that the scenario described would lead operators to a more profitable structural model than exists today. Oil companies are consistently and acceptably profitable, despite being (literally in some cases) the ‘dumb pipe’ that operators are so desperate to avoid becoming. One of the reasons for the oil majors sustained profitability is clear focus on their role in the value chain – to supply the fuel that enables transportation, relying primarily on location, then brand and finally product innovation to compete. BP or Shell do not need to subsidise the purchase of a car in order to drive consumption of fuel because consumers are ‘hooked’ on it (it gets them from place to place) and there are many credible car manufacturers an...

Versatile Amphibian

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