iResign – Steve Jobs quits as Apple CEO

The big news in the world of communications this week was that Steve Jobs resigned as Chief Executive of Apple due to ill health. 
 
His resignation did not come as a major surprise to anyone in the communications industry, and had been expected for quite a while. Steve Jobs has been ill for some time, having suffered from pancreatic cancer and having had a liver transplant. He has become increasingly thin. He has been on medical leave since the 17th January, and so it is believed that the resignation should not have a huge and sudden impact on the company, as they have been getting used to not having Mr Jobs at the helm for some months now.

Steve Jobs will be replaced as Chief Executive by Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook. Mr Jobs will not be leaving Apple completely, but will instead take the title of Chairman, giving a further sense of continuity and stability at the top of Apple. Cook is highly regarded in the industry, and many have speculated that this will actually be good for Apple, as there has been speculation over Steve Jobs’ future with Apple for a long time, and now that speculation has ended and Cook can get on with the job of running Apple properly. 
 
In his letter of resignation, Steve Jobs said: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's chief executive, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as chief executive of Apple.  I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you."
 
Commenting on the news, David Clarke, Director of DBS Telecoms, said: “It is very sad for Apple and for the communications industry as a whole that Steve Jobs has had to stand down due to ill health. We wish him and his family the very best for the future. Steve Jobs is Mr Apple himself – he founded the company, every product launch and innovation has been spearheaded by him, it was his passion and ideas which were behind many of Apple’s most successful products, him knowing what it was that consumers wanted and needed. Nobody will be able to match his knowledge of the market. Let’s not forget that last time he left Apple it declined until he came back. However, I think the difference this time is that he has built an incredibly strong team around him, and preparations will have been made for this day, which has been coming for some time”. 
 
DBS Telecoms is a leading supplier of non-geographic numbers and of virtual local numbers, including London 020 numbers. They also offer a call answering service to companies.

Google Buys Motorola – further expands empire

Google announced on Monday 15^th August that it is to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion – approximately £7.7million. This means that Google will be paying $40 per share for Motorola Mobility – a massive 63% premium. 

Motorola made the world’s first commercial mobile phone in the 1980s, but hasn’t been as big in recent years as some of its main rivals. It split into two companies earlier this year – Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Motorola Mobility designs and makes mobile phones, whilst Motorola Solutions deals with other technologies for corporate and governmental clients. 

Commenting on the deal, Larry Page, CEO of Google, said “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Google is the developer of the Android software system which is already used by a number of other mobile phone companies, so this move has already left them feeling decidedly worried as to where this leaves them. The BBC’s Technology Correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones described the move as “a real wake up call to the rest of the mobile phone industry”. 

By Monday evening there was already speculation that one of the key beneficiaries of the deal would be the Nokia / Microsoft partnership, as companies currently using Android might choose to look elsewhere now. Fuelled by an announcement from the Finnish mobile phone company, analysts started predicting that other mobile phone companies that already have Google’s Android system on their phones may now feel uncomfortable and uncertain that they would not get the same access to Android on their handsets as Motorola, despite reassurances issued by Google on Monday afternoon.  Google was quick to publish messages of support for the deal from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC and LTG, although, as many others have commented, these statements sounded rather lukewarm to say the least. 

There was also speculation that the deal was more about patents than anything else, with Motorola having 17,000 patents and thousands more pending. However, other experts also noted that until now Google only made software in the mobile phone market, and with this move would now be producing the hardware as well as the software, producing not just Android software, but the mobile phones for it to go on as well.

Commenting on the deal, David Clarke, Director of DBS Telecoms said: “Whilst the impact of this deal is still unclear, it is becoming obvious that four giants are emerging in the mobile phone industry – Apple – with their own computers, tablets, mobile phones, software, stores etc., Microsoft/Nokia, Google/Motorola and Blackberry. It is hardly surprising with the rise of the smart phone that Google and Microsoft are wanting to get in on the act – every new set of statistics released shows that more and more people are accessing the internet and emails through their smart phones rather than through traditional computers now, and that trend is only going to continue.”

BT wins appeal against mobile phone companies on 0800, 0845 and 0870 charges

It was reported on Monday that BT could be set to receive a very large sum of money after taking on and beating mobile phone operators over non-geographic number termination rate charges.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled that BT could charge more to mobile networks for connecting non-geographic numbers (NGNs). This includes freephone 0800 numbers, lo-call 0845 numbers and 0870 numbers.

Previously, OFCOM had decided that BT could not raise the amount that it charged O2, 3, Vodaphone and Everything Everywhere (the Orange and T-Mobile joint venture). These firms all charge users more than 8p per minute to use 0845, 0800 and 0870 numbers. BT had appealed this decision, and the tribunal upheld this appeal.

In a ruling that could be worth tens of millions of pounds to the telecoms giant, the Competition Appeals Tribunal ruled that not only could BT charge these mobile operators more, but that they could also recover some charges retrospectively, which were reported in some newspapers to be around £19million from the second quarter of last year. OFCOM has not yet decided how far back these payments should go.

Unless the mobile phone operators lower their rates to their customers to below 8.5p per minute, BT will now be able to charge them higher rates.  The ruling also means that the more mobile providers charge their customers for a freephone 0800 number or 0845 telephone number, the more they must pay to BT. There will therefore be an incentive for mobile providers to lower their tariffs to below 8.5p per minute for 0800 and 0845 numbers.

Mobile providers are said to be considering appealing against the appeal. 

Commenting on the ruling, David Clarke, Director of leading telecoms company DBS said "Obviously we are all still waiting to see what the final outcome of all of this is going to be, but anything which reduces the amount that mobile phone users have to pay to dial and 0800 or 0845 number can only be a good thing. Lower cost calls will encourage more people to phone businesses, thus encouraging more queries and generating more trade, which is what is needed right now. We will be monitoring this with great interest".

DBS adds voice samples to its Extra Features page

DBS Telecoms in Lincolnshire is always looking to improve the products it offers to its customers. As part of this, they have now added a variety of male and female voice samples to its Extra Features pages on its website so that customers can choose what sort of voice they would like as part of their extra features. 
 
This includes female and male voices as sample “call whispers”. Call whispers are short recorded messages which you can have added to your 0800, 0845, 0844 or local number to let you know which number the person on the end of the phone is calling. For example, if your 0800 number is pointing to a mobile or landline phone which you also use for personal calls, then a call whisper can be placed on your 0800 number to say “0800 number business call” so that you know to answer the phone in a professional way rather than a casual way. Likewise, if you have several virtual local numbers, call whispers can be put on them so that you answer the phone with the correct area and know what area you are meant to be in. DBS is currently offering a free 30 day trial on call whispers.
 
Voice recording samples have also been added for the Greeting Message feature, the “Press 1 For Sales” feature, the Voicemail feature and the Call Queuing feature. David Clarke, Director of DBS, said: “I think it’s very important that our customers get a choice of voices for these features, as often it is this voice which is the first port of call for our customers customers. When someone phones them, the first voice they will hear will be that greeting message, or that “Press 1 for Sales” message. It therefore says a lot to their customers about their company, so we want to get this right for our customers”.

DBS also offers a range of other features for its 0800, 0845, 0844 and virtual local numbers, including a call recording feature which allows you to record all your calls, and fax to email numbers which send faxes directly to your email inbox.
 
To listen to the voice samples, visit the DBS Extra Features page.