Monetizing IP Communications

Telefónica is on a roll. They acquired Jajah, a web-activated, mobile web telephony, and direct number call  service provider, in December 2009. Recently they partnered with Wikipedia. The company Jajah is known for its Latin-American audience in mobile and online services. 

"It's a three-year strategic partnership to make Wikimedia's educational content available on Telefónica Web and mobile portals in the entire Telefónica footprint."

A slight shift in topic, I remember meeting them the first time at an EXPO COMM Mexico conference. The next EXPO COMM is Feb. 23-25, 2010 in Mexico City. Some the hundreds who are exhibiting at EXPO COMM include Aastra Mexico, ACE Marketing Inc., Airlink, America Economia, APAC, APEX, Aquario, Argtek, Argus, Avira, Billion, BM Solutions, Brady, Canieti, Dialexia Communications, Inc., Electelco, Huawei, Sangoma, Taitra, U.S. Embassy, WNI Meixo, Xamai and more. See the floor plan for everyone is situated and consider registering today.

Social networking online has connected me with some of the coolest people in the world. I even met my business partner and my husband through it. I recently asked many industry friends in Barcelona their advice for me and others who are attending GSMA Mobile World Congress Feb. 15-18, 2010. 

Where to go? Where to stay? What to eat? What do do? And more. I received answers from Barcelonians (or at those who live there or near there) who are the creators or team members of Podcast Generator, OohlalaMobile, XtraTelecom, Solaiemes, and DS2.

The following are excerpts of tips and information from each.

"The Fira is very very close to "Plaça D'Espanya!" tThere you can find the Catalonya Barcelona Plaza Hotel, which is a perfect location for you, but expensive (4 stars)."

"Well, the location of your conference is some meters from a metro stop called Espanya (green and red line): this means that you can reserve any hotel you wish if close to the green or the red metro line (Barcelona public transports are good and metro is open till midnight on working days and sunday, till 2AM on friday and doesn't close on saturday)...

Moreover cabs are not expensive."

"I would recommend you, anyway, to not go too far from the center. Assume Plaza the Catalunya as the real center of the city (reachable by any mean of transport - is the beginning of the famous Rambla boulevard), and look for hotels starting from there. (Check always Google maps to be sure about their location)."

"On Feb 13th I'll go to Italy, where I'll stay one month in order to hold my lectures! That's a pity, we could have met for some tapas!

Well, if you are around the center and want to eat a good paella, I recommend you La Fonda, a restaurant where for 18 euros you have a menu with starter+paella+dessert+water/wine+coffee. In the same area (Barrio Gotico - the old part of BCN, where I live) you should try tapas here:

- Bar Celta (try Octopus from Galicia)
- La plata (Try sardines with a small "porrón" of white wine)

You could also go to La Paradeta to try some fresh fish: you choose it and they cook it for you at the moment!

I'm recommending you restaurants where people here really go and eat well, not high-luxury-restaurants-expensive-and-u-eat-nothing. Let me know if you'll go!"

I'm going to this conference for DIDX business development and as press on behalf of our magazine Techistan. Stay in touch with me while there via Twitter and be sure to use phrases like "Mobile World Congress" and "GSMA Parties." I'm taking many interviews, pictures and videos and am looking for innovations, business opportunities and more to share on my blogs, Techistan, and DIDX podcasts.

Just passing on some good news. Chine-Ease enables China Mobile subscribers using international roaming services to be given roaming facilities in China at the cheapest rates possible.

`Chine-Ease´ subscribers will be given a `China Mobile´ number, mapped with their ZONG number; enabling them to have two numbers on one SIM. Now, the China Mobile number will serve as the calling number, when the subscriber is in China. The ZONG number will serve as the calling number when the subscriber is in Pakistan or in any other country.

The calling number is switched automatically, according to the registered network and location while incoming calls can be received on both numbers. 

This service will allow subscribers to avail the cheapest rates on roaming while in China and at the same time have the convenience of carrying their regular ZONG SIM.

Awais Malik, Director Segment, Products & International Business, ZONG, while expressing his views said that the new service would particularly benefit people who travel frequently to China and do not want the inconvenience of purchasing local SIMs for making calls .

"Giving our subscribers the best possible rates and a wide range of services is the hallmark of ZONG philosophy. Chine-Ease will help ZONG´s subscribers to stay in touch with their key contacts while traveling in China at much more affordable rates," says Awais Malik.

ZONG has again produced a highly innovative and affordable service for its subscribers. The Chine-Ease tariff is very cost effective, it is even less than half of China roaming tariff being offered by other operators in Pakistan. Moreover, as the calling number is switched automatically there is no inconvenience to the subscriber.

During initial phase the Chine-Ease service has been offered in Beijing, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Xinjiang provinces with plans to expand the service to other parts of China.

My company is Super Technologies, Inc. who run the wholesale DID marketplace DIDX. Many of the DIDX buyer members are mobile operators, MVNOs and other types of mobile-related voice providers. They are leveraging SIP or IAX2 DID to do things like China Mobile is. It's all about monetizing IP communications and making life, work, and play more convenient, successful, profitable and fun. Put those adjectives in any order you like... they spell "Boomshakalaka."

"The Middle East and Africa regions represent some of the highest growth markets for telecommunications, media and technology in the world," said Sudip Nandy, chief executive officer at Aricent. "We are very pleased to add Delta Partners as a new investor in Aricent, and look forward to their expertise and support of our business."

That's a quote from EthiopianReview. The Middle East and Africa is experiencing phenomenal growth in telecommunications market and revenue, more so than other areas of the world with maybe Asia coming in next. 

Throughout the year, I speak to thousands of IP communications companies who use our DIDX service for wholesale direct inward dialing. We have an in-house developed statistics reporting software that is consistently showing growth in numbers, companies, and sales in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Some of the most popular DID phone number areas are Vietnam and Kenya. In fact, Vietnam DID sell the second they are added through API.

Companies like Zain (with mobile roaming enabled in over 23 countries in the Middle East and Africa) become the new telecom giants. MVNOs are popping up all over this area of the world. I know because I talk to them when they complete their "interop and terms" before going active on DIDX.

IPsmarx Calling Card and VoIP Provider clients get two new features to enable: ticket system and email marketing tool. They also invited by the IPsmarx team to participate in Haitian reliefs with them.

The new ticketing solution by IPsmarx will improve the information work flow within your company by establishing a centralized system that can be used to create, update, and resolve customers' issues. This online ticketing system makes it easy for end users to report an issue or make a request. Each ticket that is opened has a unique reference number that allows the customer service and support teams to quickly locate and respond to the ticket. Administrators can easily manage their team using the ticketing system as they will be able to assign tickets to various staff members, set priorities, and view pending tickets.

To enhance their customers' overall experience and to increase productivity and organization within the customers' team, they can add a ticketing system to any of IPsmarx' solutions. 

The IPsmarx Integrated Email Marketing Tool enables service providers to develop email campaigns to offer new services and promotions to their customers. The tool lets customers separate their end-users into various groups in order to send targeted email messages, send customized email campaigns directly from the IPsmarx System, and end-users can safely unsubscribe from the campaign if they choose to. IPsmarx email marketing tool is an intelligent solution to be in touch with customers and reach out to new potential leads in secure and cost efficient manner.

One of my favorite things to showcase about IP communications companies is when they get involved in philanthropic activities. The IPsmarx Team were all deeply saddened by the earthquake devastation in Haiti earlier this month and sent their condolences to all that were affected by this tragedy. On behalf of their clients who provide VoIP services to Haitian communities worldwide, IPsmarx has made a donation to Doctors Without Borders. To find out more about how you can help click here: www.cnn.com/impact.

See you at EXPOCOMM Mexico in Mexico City, Softec 2010 in Lahore, and International CTIA Wireless 2010 in Las Vegas in February and March 2010 or online here, Twitter, Facebook, TelecomYou, Youtube, and Linkedin.

Vocati Communications, a DIDX partner, provides one of the few communications channels that are live right now in Haiti. Andres Acero and/or Bill McCarthy who in Haiti now will be interviewed by CBS co-anchor concerning these efforts. I am asking you to collaborate with Vocati to bring peace, stability, and life repair back to the Haitans. We are especially looking for donations in IP communications area.

How? Email haiti@vocaticommunications now, and share how you can help. Some of the ways that companies are offering to help include pipe cuts on cards, termination donations, Haiti DID donations, financial contributions, publicity by owners of high-profile media online. 

For example, B*evolved donated cellular phones and ATA devices to send to Haiti.  Vocati is organizing now to get people in Haiti to manage this equipment once it arrives in country. 

Many of the efforts from people like you and me with Vocati Communications will be noted to the public on Vocati blog and on the news interview on CBS.

Vocati Communications has organized their clients who own and operate Calling Card Companies who have agreed to reduce their rates during this time.  As Vocati Communications is now connecting calls in Haiti and has reserved channels for these calls, we have put together this group of retailers to sign up people who are in need of calling Haiti.

Anyone wishing to purchase a reduced rate calling card can access this group by calling toll free 888-851-7055 to be connected to a special operator.  This operator will facilitate the purchase and setup of these calling cards.
 
It should also be noted that Vocati Communications is also reducing their rates to Haiti in response to this effort.  Vocati is currently working with their customers to get donated time and funding, in part, for those people within to call Haiti at these reduced rates.
 
Any and all profit (if any) from these efforts will be donated to the Vocati Communications Haiti effort for long term communications.

For Spanish speakers, listen to Andres share other Vocati Communications' caring efforts in the past few years on DIDX podcast.

But don't believe me. I interviewed Steven Johnson, a president of Ingate Systems, the group who is producing the SIP Trunk Summit for your satisfaction.

It is scheduled at ITEXPO January 20-22, 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. Listen to Steve talk about it on the DIDX podcast. Read the transcript of his talk with me.

You'll meet reps like Graham Francis from TheSIPSchool and also those from Avaya, Digium, Ingate itself, ShoreTel, VOIPSA, Bandwidth.com, Dialogic,  Cbeyond, Mitel NetSolutions, The SIP School, Intertex Data, DataAB, and the SIP Forum. Participate in the complete sessions and get one valuable SIP certificate. There is also a SIP Trunk Bootcamp. 

Sign up today at http://www.itexpo.com. The SIP Trunk Summit is free with any pass you register for.

Featured this season:

• Step-by-step, interactive sessions to illustrate the what, why and how
  of SIP trunking architecture
• Sessions on legacy PBX/PSTN and SIP trunks
• Case studies on ROI; the value proposition of SIP trunks
• SIP Forum SIPconnect workshop
• SIP Trunk Boot Camp for "Basic Training" on SIP trunk installations

Security sessions with VOIPSA will discuss VoIP and SIP trunk security.

LIVE DEMOS of participants setting up a secure SIP trunk live, on-site will showcase how easy it can be to deploy SIP trunks.
 

I spied the title of A. Michael Noll's "A 3D TV Bubble is emerging" and frankly, it sent me researching the web and thinking about my own fascination with 3D (or even 4D.

One Sunday late afternoon, I paid to see Avatar by myself. I liked it. I loved the aesthetics of the scenery, backgrounds, living creatures and the interesting appearances of the avatars. I thought the movie itself was predictable. I would rather watch the Matrix series or even Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs again and learn something new than to watch Avatar again.

The author of the article in my email stated that Sony seemed to be betting its future on 3D at the CES show. He says, "All this interest in 3D will be just another bubble." CES participants shared a belief that 3DTV would definitely be one of the top five tech trends for 2010.

An hour before I read the article, I bought a copy of Coraline whih includes 2D and 3D versions with four pairs of glasses plus the digital version for my four-year-old grand-daughter. This is because she wore out the older digital only copy. She was begging Mom to read and re-read A Wrinkle in Time in place of it as her second favorite media.

Producing 3D (three-dimensional) television can be expensive both in money and time. It uses some 3D presentation process and also a 3D display - a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field. 

Telefónica (who recently acquired Jajah) and Philips were testing 3D IPTV without glasses as early as 2008. 

Rebecca Kurlak, author of the report "Blame Blu-Ray for the IPTV Uptick," said at the Digital Living Room Conference,  "Ten percent of the 2009 box office sales were attributed to 3D movies." 

Nearly all Blu-ray players are made with IP connectivity as part of the design and capabilities. 

One of those commenting on a oystiq blog post about xbox 360 IPTV support said, " I'm likely to adopt a 3D television sometime in the next two years if carriers start to allow subscription to stuff like the newly announced ESPN 3D, History Channel 3D etc. Now that the Blu-Ray profile is being updated with 3-D support and most new HDTVs coming to market will be 3-D capable I'm really considering another upgrade even though I just upgraded in late 2008/early 2009."

Put on your glasses or ... not, kids. Coraline's bored until she finds a secret door that leads into a world nothing like her own.

My company works with thousands of IP communications companies, CLECs, incumbents, wireless operators and entrepreneurs from as many as 170 nations right now through our DIDX and Techistan services. Today I was able to peek at another interesting experiment with fax over IP. 

From a voip solution developer in the industry who helps DIDX buyers implement the DIDX API: "We just sent a 23 page fax, sent from a Comcast
landline to a Canadian number, received in one of our new wholesale client's servers through PRI.

Then we sent to a secondary PBX where the WebGUI is, via IAX.

Those are some of the area codes that a new DIDX seller will have available. As soon as we finish, I'll see to upload some of the DIDs to DIDx.

BTW, I sent the fax 3 consecutive times, all twenty-three pages went through

I guess this proves wrong the comments about T.38. Also, the GIF thumbnail
is actually animated; you'll see it change the pages if you open it in a
browser. Enjoy, Suzanne!"

I did and I am. Contact http://comtel-networks.net for installing fax solution business for your Asterisk phone system.

See you all at ITEXPO Jan. 20-22, 2009!

The happening event and place in time is INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference and EXPO - January 21st - 22nd in Miami Beach.
 
I hope to highlight a different company every few days who will be exhibiting, presenting or sponsoring. Seawolf Technologies is my choice today. I met Margaret Morrissey, their Director of Sales and Marketing a few years ago, always I'm impressed with her sincere focus on her clients and their success. They will be at booth 524! 
 
Seawolf Technologies can get you into the lucrative VoIP phone business with a turnkey solution with your own brand name and style. At their booth, you will be able to participate in a demo of XRainbow, their SIP based Softswitch offering with a total billing management system.
 
XRainbow offers:
 
·         Reliable built on stable Apache/Linux environment.
·         Compatible based on Radius protocol - virtually works with any gatekeeper!
·         Low Cost is highly affordable & cuts cost to enter this lucrative VoIP market.
·         Scalable you can scale up quickly - designed for small & large companies alike.
·         Versatile offers both billing and routing solutions!
 
 
Seawolf Technologies provides SIP based Softswitch offering a turnkey solution since 1999 (same year as my company) at http://www.seawolftech.com/services/xrainbow/. 
 
Again, visit their booth and ask about their new hosted IP PBX.
 
Miami Beach, Florida Jan. 20-22, 2010, see you there.
 
In the meantime, contact Margaret Morrissey, Director Sales & Marketing, at Seawolf Technologies Inc. ... their website ... http://www.seawolftech.com
Tel: 1-516-393-2150 x230
Fax: 1-516-393-2153
Email: margaret at seawolftech.com 

Maybe not, but ...

On November 3, 2008, I noted that out of five of my best girl friends, three had gotten rid of their landline phones. One was using Verizon on a Blackberry Curve. One was using T-Mobile. Another AT&T on a Nokia E61i like I was. The first was not interested yet in using mobile VoIP. I wanted to check out her Blackberry to see if it was capable even, never got to it. The second two were using Truphone, Fring, and checking out Nimbuzz since my blog post at suzanne.supertec.com of comparing mobile VoIP in October 2008.

Today, I am reading Yankee Group's 2010 predictions From Crisis to Opportunity. Number one states, "Cord-cutting will double yet again in 2010. Consumers will continue to drop land-line phone service in favor of mobile, and mobile broadband replacement will accelerate."

Annual reviews of DIDX statistics, show a larger and larger percentage of new members to buy and/or sell DID phone numbers who were wireless operators, MVNOs, etc. 

In the July 15, 2009 interview by TMC with me Suzanne Bowen, the word "mobile" was mentioned at least four times. 

1. RT: What's the strongest segment in the communications industry?

DM and SB: With Dee's background in medical informatics, she believes very much that software-driven unified communications, especially with wireless applications, are the communications industry winners. This is as opposed to traditional hardware-centric products. Why are smartphones from Nokia (News - Alert) and the iPhone so popular? Suzanne believes that people, in general, need to save time and money in as mobile and flexible a manner as possible. Any service or software or research that contributes to making communications simpler, more practical, flexible, mobile, more easily accessible by anyone, anywhere, anytime is assured of a strong position in the industry today.

2. RT: What device or devices do you use, and what do you wish you used?
 
DM and SB: Depends on what you mean by devices, but ... I Suzanne use an Linux Ubuntu (News - Alert) Asus netbook and Nokia e61i in any situation where I have to be extremely mobile. I use my Nokia and my Toshiba Portege R600-S4202 laptop otherwise. I'm also spoiled by my classic iPod for listening to music and Geekspeak.org, Voip Users Conference, and FreshAir podcasts. I have many other gadgets that I use occasionally and am open to trying as I have time.

3. RT: I understand you are exhibiting Sept. 1 to 3 at ITEXPO West in Los Angeles. What will you show there? Describe the companies or people who should come to your exhibit.
 
DM and SB: The DIDXchange booth will include suppliers and clients of DIDX who will share with booth visitors in English Russian, and Spanish how consumers, SMBs, government agencies, wholesale carriers, mobile operators and more can leverage direct inward dialing for increase revenue, market, mash-up businesses as well as decrease of customer churn. We will be ready to help entrepreneurs rebrand a local presence virtual phone number business that we host. Our DIDX members will be at the booth to give live testimonials (praise) and case studies (the good, the bad, and the ugly). Booth visitors will be to start selling DID (phone numbers), buying DID phone numbers from 60 countries, sign up for services or to start a business immediately and even get a free Ohio, USA phone number to start using right away.

We have some very talented people in Northwest Florida, and Sarah Cook is one of them. She recently sent me this message with her resume, and hmm... yes, it is a bit un-orthodox but sometimes I am known for that... but I'm going to share her resume with you in the hopes that she will be hired! And no, I will not do this again on my blog. (It is quite common nowadays that trustworthy and smart people work remotely from their home, Panera, or other wifi spot. I think she would be perfect for some IP communications company who needs her skills.)

"As you can see, I've been in restaurant work for awhile in a management role. That was supposed to be a little sabbatical I took from a "real" job! I was just going to wait tables or tend bar and, within a couple months of doing that, I was promoted to shift lead then to management. My strengths definitely lie in personnel/project management. I have managed people in multiple industries and that is where I end up being more efficient. I always tend to be the "go to" worker for my employer. I am looking to get back into a more "professional" role like I was doing in management and project management. I am open to hearing ideas about any industry. I'm an excellent office manager as well. I also have no problems traveling as much as necessary or commuting. Also, I would be open to relocating for the right position. *I would prefer to stay in Pensacola since this is home, however I am certainly not opposed to discussing relocation for a better, challenging career. Thank you again for your help and I hope to hear from you soon! Have a great day!"

 

sayzabee@gmail.com

(I removed the phone number for privacy sake for her to choose later with contact.)

Sarah S. Cook

 

Highlights

 

* Project Manager of 600 plus station installation at Saufley Field, Florida after Hurricane Ivan

* Concept originator and team leader for Hurricane Katrina relief at Q.S.I.

* Management experience in multiple industries

* Instrumental in opening new restaurant concept from the ground up

 

 

Work History

 

2009 -2009 Scenic Hills Country Club & Golf Course

Events & Beverage Manager

* Coordinate all banquet, events, weddings and golf tournaments

* Ordering of all beer, liquor, wine and bar supplies (paper goods, fruit, etc)

* Schedule staff for bar, restaurant, beverage cart and banquet events

* Plan entire events within the clients' budgets

 

2008 - 2009 Tequila Mexico, Pensacola, Florida

General Manager

* Recruit, train and schedule full staff of over 50 employees

* Handle weekly inventory and vendor relations to ensure cost-effective purchasing

* Purchase all food products, liquor, wine, small wares, dry goods

* Ensure the integrity of restaurant operations through excellent customer relations

 

2007 - 2007 Pensacola Blues Café, Pensacola, Florida

Bartender

* Create wine and beer list for new restaurant

* Assisted in initial opening of new restaurant

* Book nightly entertainment

 

 

2007 - 2007 The Gutter Lounge, Pensacola, Florida

Bartender

* Serve and stock all beer, wine and liquor

* Clean and inspect entire bar at the end of each shift

* Responsible for all cash of a high volume bar

 

2006 - 2007 Copeland's Of New Orleans, Pensacola, Florida

Bartender / Front of House Manager

* Responsible for all cash in high volume restaurant

* Clean and inspect entire restaurant at the end of each shift

* Run reports, prepare labor estimates, make deposits daily

* Prepare labor percentages for review by corporate

* Weekly inventory of front of house supplies

* Write schedule for all front of house employees

2006 - 2006 New Market Steakhouse, Pensacola, Florida

Bartender / Shift Manager

* Responsible for cash in high volume restaurant

* Clean and inspect entire restaurant at the end of each shift

* Check out all employees at the end of shift

 

 

 

2005 Workplace Solutions, Pensacola, Florida

Sales / Project Manager

* Solicit new clients

* Perform field measurements for new installations

* Schedule installations

* Prepare budgetary figures for government submission

* Manage installation crews

* Prepare preliminary sketches for new projects

 

2002 - 2005 Quality Systems Installation, Inc. Pensacola, Florida

Project Manager

* Oversee office furniture installations

* Manage all accounts payable/receivable and human resources

* Manage installation crews

* Travel to represent QSI at industry conferences

* Quote jobs for private and government sector

* Complete punch lists

* Perform inspections of job sites

* Design and implement advertising and website to brand company image

* Schedule installations, shipments, meetings, vendor deliveries, etc

 

2000 - 2002 Dan Helms & Company, Pensacola, Florida

Office Manager / Property Appraiser and Real Estate Assistant

* Supply Procurement

* Delivery of completed appraisals

* Photographer of comparable homes on market

* Accounts Payable and Receivable

 

References

Brett Goller US Food Service 850.346.0075 - professional acquaintance

 

Don Astin InstallNET Atlanta 404.557.1104 - professional acquaintance

 

John Henley Stetson University 850.232.5749 - personal friend & coworker & co-manager

 

Chef Eric Troup Georgestone Technical 850.554.5522 - former coworker and co-manager

This is the way to get things done in a digital world. (They used Dim Dim, Qik, and Camstudio.)

CIO: I've asked Graphic Editor to create a banner for the top area of our page last week, but I just noticed that you gave us detailed directions. I have forwarded this to him today. Meanwhile, is this one okay that Graphic Editor made?

Web Page Developer: The only thing missing on this banner is the clickTag code. Please see instruction for flash ads below.

*If you plan to send Flash files: please do not embed any URL for any flash creatives. 
We require that Flash files contain the clickTAG function so that we can track clicks.  There are two easy ways in which you can do this in the file's actions panel.  Simply choose one of these versions and cut and paste it into the actions panel in your actions layer in the timeline.  The syntax is as follows and the code must match exactly as shown here (all punctuation and upper or lower case included):
         
This is the simplest one to implement.  Simply create a new layer on your timeline called actions. Then in both the first and last frame of the movie cut and paste the following into the actions panel:
 
on (release) {
 
getURL (clickTAG);
 
}
 
OR
 
If you prefer to use a button instance name in the properties panel use this code:
 
Your-Button-Instance-Name.onPress = function ()
 
{
 
getURL (clickTAG);
 
 
};
 
Just a quick note about using buttons in your Flash file.  I find it easiest to create the flash animation first and then when it is all set create an invisible button (a button with just a hit state) over the whole stage at the highest layer.  Make sure the button shows throughout the whole movie (i.e. first and last frame).  This will be the button that utilizes your click tag function above.  As well make sure your action with the clickTag function for the button appears throughout the whole movie.
 
>> When you send the creative to us just let us know what the URL should be and we will synchronize the clickTAG to direct to that URL.
 
Please make sure it is a clickable button that will get the proper URL. We can accept files up to 100kb; however we prefer the file to be as
optimized as possible for page load purposes.  Ideally file size should stay 40kb and below.

Graphic Editor: I have tried this a million times, but i dont know why I cant create a link with button. I just made a video of my procedure of linking a button, I'll be glad if you watch the video (please click the link below) and let me know where I am mistaken. Thankx

Web Developer: Let's do screen sharing.

Graphic Editor: That was great. Success this time! please see attached and let me know if it is ok.

Web Developer: Big Ten-Four. Over and out.

On December 10, 2009, the Wall Street Journal published an article that "Malaysia-based MOL Global Pte. Ltd. has agreed to acquire all of Friendster Inc. ... MOL Global is an affiliate of unlisted MOL AccessPortal Berhad, a company that operates and develops payment systems. MOL's main shareholder is Berjaya Corp. (3395.KU) Chairman Vincent Tan"

Want to hear more?

Friendster aims to make other social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut, and Tagged look like "a day at Grandma's knitting sweaters and doing word searches." It is more about "connecting smiles." 

I have a friend named Iris in Singapore who chatted with me on Google Talk about how much fun she thinks Friendster is. She mentioned last week that she thought a Singaporean or Malaysian company would probably buy it out, it is so popular in those two areas. She is an online wholesale jewelry seller.

So I started researching Friendster...

Friendster representatives stated in their PR video that the redesign has a goal to put more emphasis on what is important, simplicity, fun and personal meaningfulness. Friendster showed a sneak peak of their new website setup, kind of a mix of the best of MySpace and Facebook. The characters in the video all have an Asian appearance. They are holding a Mac laptop. (Interesting. I always notice things like that.)

Friendster started up in 2001 (two years after our Super Technologies did), but it has raised $45 million plus in venture capital as of December, on some certain day in  2009. It is most popular in the the APEC (Asian Economic Pacific) region with over 90% of its membership based in Asia.
 
(Consider attending PTC, Pacific Telecommunications Conference, January 17-20, 2010 in Hawaii to meet some of its business users. Our company's DIDX and Techistan are media partners. I'll be there and also at ITEXPO scheduled Jan. 20-22, 2010 in Miami same week as media partner, exhibitor and presenter. Don't ask me how, but I have already arranged it. Would not miss either one. )

The top ten countries visiting Friendster as of December 2009 according to Alexa are Philippines, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Indonesia, Qatar, South Korea, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. The top 10 countries accessing Friendster, according to the same site, as of May 2009 were the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, the United States, Singapore, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and India. USA, China, Japan and India dropped off the list. Where did they go? That's another story line.

We again used Alexa to do a traffic rank comparison for the last month, on December 10, 2009, among Myspace, Facebook, Hi5, Orkut and Friendster. Traffic rank from highest to lowest is Facebook steady and at the top, MySpace, Hi5 steady, Orkut next but steady with Hi5 in the last 15 days, and Friendster last with small fluctuations in the last quarter.

The site is available in English, Tagalog, Malay, Vietnamese, Thai, Bahasa (Indonesian), Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Spanish.

Its headquarters are in Sydney, Australia and Mountan View, California. They have over 115 million registered users and over 61 million unique visitors.

It's new CEO as of 2008 is Richard Kimber. He was head of Google's Southeast Asia sales region. Potential buyers for Friendster have been a company goal starting the summer of 2009.