Do you have a Happy Pipe?
I have heard about lots of different pipes; bit pipe, dumb pipe, smart pipe, fat pipe; but "Happy Pipe"? It sounds like a marriage of Telecom and McDonalds. The $1.99 all you can eat Happy Pipe meal. Do you want to have a side of free SMS with your meal?
It turns out that the happy pipe is the view of the pipe as seen by the content and application providers. Google just wants to see in the pipe an image of a happy subscriber consuming their services. What then makes this happy subscriber that Google wants to have as they go about their mission of moving more advertising to on-line media from off-line world?
Simplicity:
Using mobile services on your handset must be easy. We have not expected subscribers to configure their phones for voice calls, so why do we expect them to do it for data calls? Automatic device detection and configuration must be used more extensively than it is used today. Granted some methods of configuring the handset required the subscriber to actively accept a configuration from the operator - but this part of the problem has perhaps more to do with educating the subscriber than anything else. One solution would be to load the settings from the SIM at the point of sale in the presence of a salesperson. However, the handset manufacturers are lagging in their support of this method.
Configuration is the first step. After that the services must be easy to find and easy to use. Having used quite some number of handsets I am amazed at the variety of user interfaces implemented. If cars had as much variety you would be expected to know how to control the direction of the car using not only a steering wheel, but a joystick, dual drive motors (one for each side of the car), clutch-braking, hand-levers - likely as many methods as car manufacturers. Thank you auto industry for standardizing on the steering wheel. The only uniform and consistent method of accessing services I have seen that works on all handsets is the use of SIM based text menus. It does not need to be complicated to work.
Personal:
I love sports of all kinds. I really could not care less about the Eurovision Song Contest. Make my experience immerse me in Barcelona, Red Sox and Stuvsta IF. I do not want offers about the 2009 contest winner's song as a ringtone - but a Sox background - bring it on! The area available for interacting with me on my end of the pipe is limited. Let me decide what I want to see and do. And let the next person decide for their self as well. Remember that it is my phone and that I want it to be a reflection of me. The more personal I can make my choices the greater the chances that I will improve my impression of simplicity.
Clear costs:
Ensure that we know what it costs. What is "it"? Everything you as an operator or as a content provider sell me. The shock of the first bill (first data subscription, first trip aboard or the double whammy of a first data usage aboard) has caused many a subscriber to recoil in fear and drastically reduce their usage - even beyond the point that they would have felt comfortable paying. I will be happy when the costs are in line with my expectations. Most subscribers will quietly moan and pay, and then when the opportunity arises take their business somewhere else. A silent subscriber is probably not a happy subscriber.
Three quite simple things to address to make me a happy subscriber. The operator is well positioned to make me happy as they are the only ones that see who I am, what I am using and how I am using it. However, while they may have the tools for creating this "Happy Pipe", one cannot make them solely responsible. Handset manufacturers must make their interfaces simpler and consistent. Content / Application providers must make available the services I am interested in and work more closely with my operator to ensure that it stays simple and that I know how much it really costs in total.
If delivering a "Happy Pipe" means that at last I, as a mobile subscriber, am in the center of attention as a consumer I am all for it. As a happy subscriber I will be more willing to sample your new services - "Thanks, I'll take that side order of Facebook."