The purpose of this CXTech Week 36 2024 newsletter is to highlight, with commentary, some of the news stories in CXTech this week. What is CXTech?  The C stands for Connectivity, Communications, Collaboration, Conversation, Customer; X for Experience because that’s what matters; and Tech because the focus is enablers.

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Covered this week:

• The Problem with some industry fora
• Podcast 91: Truth in Telecoms, Robert Vis and vCon Vinnie
• Podcast 90: TADSummit Innovators, Dinesh Saparamadu, hSenid Mobile
• Pre-TADHack Sessions on 17th (TNID by TSG Global) and 18th (vCon by Strolid) September
• TADHack Sri Lanka
• People, Gossip, and Frivolous Stuff

The Problem with some industry fora

The interview with Robert Vis, founder and CEO of Bird, motivated me to write this post on the net negative contribution of some industry fora. I’ve run TADS for 11 years, delivered only events, TADSummit and TADHack, they are a chance for the industry to meet with no BS, and for developers to learn the latest in programmable communications.

Bird is part of  the ITU and GSMA, not the MEF. GSMA has its strengths, but should avoid the web stuff. OneAPI and Camara are examples of work the GSMA should avoid.  Let me explain.

GSMA and OneAPI missed a 10-15% revenue bump

hSenid Mobile is the force behind ideamart, mspace, and BDapps. Ideamart was launched in 2013, they created a country-wide innovation ecosystem. Contributing 10-15% of carrier revenues through customer / developer created applications. They did the same in Bangladesh.

Why haven’t they deployed more broadly given this success? The answer is OneAPI, most carriers follow the GSMA party line, chose the GSMA recommended standard and failed. The was not a complete solution. Many industry bodies, e.g. TMF (TeleManagement Forum) and brand name consultancies endorsed OneAPI without relevant expertise.

I’ve introduced hSenid Mobile to many carriers around the world, one example is in a large African country that is similar to Sri Lanka on a number of measures. The country has a vibrant developer ecosystem, we’ve run TADHacks there.

Politics blocked hSenid, because they were not OneAPI. The carriers’ attempts to innovate with OneAPI failed because it is not easy (no code), secure (rapid response to fraud), or adequately supported (multi-level country-wide engagement).

Camara is OneAPI 2.0. It continues to lack the keys to success that hSenid Mobile delivers. The continued success of ideamart, mspace, and BDapps has surprised and delighted everyone involved.  The evolution of these platforms using the data and insight available shows the potential for many more decades of success. Here is a TADSummit Innovators podcast with Dinesh Saparamadu, founder and CEO of hSenid Mobile.

Here is a specific example of the net negative contribution of an industry fora. GSMA OneAPI caused the majority of carriers to miss out on 10-15 % of new revenues and position them for future growth with an engaged local developer community. It also gave me experience of being ignored by the establishment of the telecom industry, yet proven right. You’d think the GSMA would have learned from this. They did not and repeat the same mistake with Camara.

Mobile Ecosystem Forum – Note Bird does not fund such behavior

Founded in 2000, with a board that includes some executives that endorsed the failed OneAPI, and ignored my advice over one decade ago. And continue to ignore my advice on Camara, and the mess going on in SMS at the moment. Here are some examples of MEF’s net negative contributions:

• Hit job on Rick Joyce by Eric Priezkalns of Commsrisk that is now funded by MEF. Eric accused Rick of a xenophobic dog whistle. I’ve followed Eric for many years and was surprised by his analysis. Rick has the highest security clearance, Eric does not. Also see Latham & Watkins FCC filing that appears cut from the same script as Eric’s claim of a xenophobic dog whistle. Bottom line, TCR does not work, my SMS spam folder proves that; and political messaging is under the control of a foreign entity.
• Victim blaming of Puja Amin for daring to stand up for herself. The behavior of some in our industry left me frankly disgusted. She was kicked off a MEF panel as a partner at her law firm pointed out the silly Latham Watkins FCC filing. Some MEF members’ concern was not her being kicked of the panel, rather her protest looked fake. How the protest looked is irrelevant, Puja was kicked off a panel, and Dario Betti lied.
• The mess of AIT (Artificially Inflated Traffic) and fraud has brands walking away from SMS, while the fraudsters are part of the MEF. There are solutions to this situation, as I’ve published on The Definitive Truth in A2P SMS.
• Robert Gerstmann, chairman of MEF, telling members to ignore my work, with the accusation it’s a social media campaign. Check out the Messaging Monopolies, and The Definitive Truth in A2P SMS. It’s all based on facts, my track record is being right when the industry is wrong.
• Robert Vis shared, MEF tried to force membership as a requirement for carrier connections.

MEF’s 24 year history has made in self-focused. It is not acting for the benefit of mobile customers or carriers, rather its current paying sponsors.

CPaaSaa – endorsing thievery and ignoring history

CPaaSaa founder, Rob Kurver, is a serial crook. Kicked out of the CCA (Cloud Communications Alliance) for double invoicing expenses to CCA and its members. This comes directly from the CCA chairman. He cheated my friend Luis Borges and APIDays, see Skype chat below. Rob was taken to a Dutch court and ordered by the judge to pay money owed. After this experience with the Kurvers, Luis decided to move on from the industry, we lost a successful serial entrepreneur.

Rob’s mental issue is he believes he does not receive his fair share, and resorts to theft. I mentioned these facts to Kevin.

I had some organizations ask me to ‘move the furniture around in my mind’ about Camara. I explained there is no need for a QoS API as fixed and enterprise networks show provisioning works. Also an API requires an app with all the support issues. Given the limited market of P5G (Private 5G) the network API vendor will need to build the app. I advise the organizations to just build the app if they think there’s a need several years ago, and not use industry hype to bankrupt yet more developers.

When Vonage is spun as a success, let’s remember Vonage suffered a 7% year-on-year decline in revenues to SEK3.8bn ($361m). Back in Q1 2022 Vonage’s total revenue was $359M, almost the same. In 2020/2021/2022 programmable communications was growing at 30+%. It has been written down several times, by $4B. QoS network APIs are not yet deployed, developers are not requesting them, the spin (lying) must stop.

Net Negative Contribution

Some industry fora deliver net negative value as they are not held to account. GSMA pushed OneAPI that resulted in most carriers missing new innovation revenues of 10-15%, and creating a vibrant local innovation ecosystem.

SMS is in decline as fraud goes unchecked, the MEF codes of conduct are ignored by some members. CPaaSaa was founded by a serial crook, who cheated my friend and the CCA.

The only criticism TADS receives is, “Johnny in noisy.” Yes, he is, and he’s also honest and correct most of the time. The industry needs to re-evaluate its moral compass. If Bird can be successful without MEF, then so can you.

Podcast 91: Truth in Telecoms, Robert Vis and vCon Vinnie

We kick off with how Johnny was beaten up with patents after The Vis stated, Patents are for the weak. He looks in a bad way.

Johnny has a new nickname for the CEO of STROLID, “vCon Vinnie,” he’s investing in vCon and providing its first vertical application. He has a critical role in making vCon happen.

Over the next couple of months there are quite a few events including vCon. The annual TADSummit and TADHack which includes vCon since its inception. We worked with Thomas and several thought leaders in conversation intelligence on the first vCon white paper back in 2022.

It’s exciting to see the vCon momentum growing fast. TADSummit continues to be where programmable communications innovations receive their first exposure.

The first short is “Google, Apple and RCS will be the end of the SMS industry” Robert makes the point that the legacy SMS aggregation industry will shift to one dominated by Apple and Google overnight. And in that shift TCR and many of the currently dominant SMS brands will no longer existing. The timing of that shift depends on many factors, what Apple does with RBM (Rich Business Messaging), how brands react, pricing, how consumers react, and how scams take advantage of RBS.

Johnny reviews the sales process TCR is going through to private equity investors. How the TCR deck misrepresents its origins, for example CTIA awarded the contract to iConectiv. However, AT&T had a consulting contract with BUC Mobile, and once it adopted that, the other carriers followed suit. As explained in the Messaging Monopolies.

Johnny highlights the future is: vCon, Bird, carriers taking control of messaging as explained in the Truth in A2P Messaging, and TADSummit which shares the truth.

Next short is, SMS Firewall = Money Laundering. As The Vis says, “It’s the biggest corruption in the world.” There is broad agreement from the industry on this point. Unfortunately, lots of dodgy companies got into SMS firewalls.

Here is a link on Mobile Ecosystem Forum member VOX SOLUTIONS AIT (Artificially Inflated Traffic) activities.

Vox Solutions is a signatory of the MEF Business SMS Code of Conduct. Clearly the MEF’s code of conduct has no teeth, as signatories can apparently flout the code of conduct.

Truth in A2P Messaging shows how the AIT problem can be solved. However, Johnny has maintained it will not be stopped. And I’m growing increasingly disillusioned that the MEF will never do what is right for carriers, consumers, businesses, and brands; only its sponsors.

Next short was “The hard but morally right decision to stop automatic onboarding.” This is critical to stopping spam, yet many aggregators sill allow automatic onboard of synthetic identities as it generates revenue, and spams Grandma. This is another example of how MEF acts for its sponsors, not carriers, consumers, and businesses, by aiding spam crapifying the PSTN through turning a blind eye.

The next short was for Johnny, “The really hard thing is to disrupt your own business, disbelieve your beliefs.” You can see Johnny sobbing after that one, were Tyntec moved from being a gold standard in the industry, to yet another SMS aggregator.

The conversation moved back to how Twilio invested in Syniverse and Zipwhip to make money from spamming. And finally T-Mobile had enough of the spam and moved away from Syniverse / Twilio to Infobip. Now, Infobip was a SMS Firewall provider, but its IPO preparations have encouraged it to start to move away from that part of the business. Though its part the Camara mess.

This short is funny on all Sinch’s login screens, “Sinch integration, and the big consolidation.” Robert’s view is consolidation will happen, and he’s not going to be part of that, full stop! In that broad consolidation, regulation is likely to raise its head as the Messaging Monopolies become one or two big global conglomerates.

Sparkpost is a critical part of Bird’s current and future business. Its the largest B2B email company. It gives reach (most Fortune 5000 companies) and integration with many enterprise processes, particularly linked to websites. It is one of the reasons Bird’s CRM focus is scaling so fast. “Why SparkPost Matters“

Last but not least is the short, “Highest EBITDA in the industry?” Robert shared impressive numbers. He’s re-engineered his business, realizing the end game is coming to SMS, and building a new era of CRM, using applications as the integration layer.

Here’s the full 90 minute video, it’s well worth your time..

“Don’t speak against the echo chamber” is a philosophy of cowards, and its destroying our industry. In the post, “The Problem with some industry fora” I review some of the problems.

hSenid Mobile is the force behind ideamart, mspace, and BDapps. Ideamart was launched in 2013, they created a country-wide innovation ecosystem. Contributing 10-15% of carrier revenues through customer / developer created applications. It’s an amazing success, and promoted at TADSummit in 2014.

Why haven’t they deployed more broadly given this success? The answer is OneAPI, most carriers follow the GSMA party line. Many industry bodies, e.g. TMF (TeleManagement Forum) and brand name consultancies endorsed OneAPI. They caused most of the industry to miss a 10-15% revenue bump. You’d think someone would be held accountable?

Podcast 90: TADSummit Innovators, Dinesh Saparamadu, hSenid Mobile, reviews their success in more detail. Idea Apps are by far the more popular method in Ideamart. There’s so much wrapped around ideamart, including country-wide engagement across developer and innovator communities, internet centers, universities, schools, groups empowering underrepresented segments of society, and so much more. Fraud management and governance are inherent in the platform, and actively managed. Easy is key for people to create locally relevant apps.

Google / Apple have their app stores, yet there remains lots of opportunity for building locally focused apps.

The current Camara BS (reincarnation of OneAPI) does not compare to what ideamart, mspace, and BDapps deliver to their countries. Last year Unifonic explained their country by country focus at TADSummit, and we saw this year Deutsche Telekom win VirtualQ away from Twilio through taking a country focus. Note this win had nothing to do with Ericsson / Vonage, rather Signalwire. TADSummit is where you’ll meet successful innovations before they are contributing 10-15% of telcos revenue.

TADSummit has presented successes throughout its decade+ history. TADSummit (22-23 Oct) is the only place to meet real innovators. Ignoring TADSummit will ensure your decline, look at OneAPI and its awful reincarnation Camara.

SMS is in decline as fraud goes unchecked thanks to MEF covering up its sponsors’ misbehaviors, as mentioned by Robert Vis. We have podcast on the net negative contributions of industry fora above. Industry fora must be held accountable for their BS. Telecoms no longer has the fat on the bones to tolerate such incompetence.

Podcast 90: TADSummit Innovators, Dinesh Saparamadu, hSenid Mobile

hSenid Mobile, founded in 1997, has been in the VAS (Value Add Service) / programmable telecoms space throughout its history. In 2013 they launched with Dialog Axiata an innovation ecosystem called Ideamart. I consider Ideamart to be the most successful telecom innovation ecosystems in the world. Accounting for 10-15 % of Dialog Axiata’s revenue.

Some of the early Ideamart evangelists have gone on to work for Google and Amazon across Asia. Like Shafraz Rahim, who has also presented at TADSummit, when he worked for Dialog.

Here is Dialog Axiata and hSenid Mobile presenting at TADSummit in 2014. Check out the About Us section of Ideamart. See how they position what they do, Idea Apps and Idea Pro. Back in 2014 they were focused on no code, templates (easy to use web pages), so a small business owner could run simple SMS campaigns, or create a temporary app for a event.

Idea Apps are by far the more popular method in Ideamart. There’s so much wrapped around ideamart, including country-wide engagement across developer and innovator communities, internet centers, universities, schools, groups empowering underrepresented segments of society, and so much more. Fraud management and governance is inherent in the platform, and actively managed. Easy is key for people to create locally relevant apps. Google / Apple have their app stores, yet there remains lots of opportunity for building apps for Sri Lanka and regions within the country.

While P2P has moved to Whatsapp and Viber, ideamart has kept A2P SMS relevant, safe, and secure for consumers and businesses.

The current Camara BS (reincarnation of OneAPI) does not compare to what ideamart, mspace, and BDapps deliver to their countries. Last year Unifonic explained their country by country focus at TADSummit, and we saw this year Deutsche Telekom win Virtual Q away from Twilio through taking a country focus. Note this win had nothing to do with Ericsson / Vonage, rather Signalwire For telcos the wins are local, not global, down to regions within your countries of operations.

However, the reason there are not many more deployments of Ideamart around the world is the GSMA’s drive behind OneAPI. I witnessed carriers evaluate hSenid Mobile, and reject them because it was not OneAPI. Even though hSenid Mobile had multiple proven successes, and a complete solution / recipe to build country-wide innovation ecosystem.

The GSMA should be thoroughly ashamed of forcing carriers to miss this innovation opportunity. I cover this in more detail in “The Problem with some industry fora.” As this is a systemic issue within telecoms, API standards are the worst thing you can do. Easy is what matters.

The continued success of idearmart has surprised and delighted everyone involved. They’ve learned much through the years of experimentation, such as the complexity for WebRTC, the continued popularity of ‘joke of the day’ and information services.

There is carrier interest in Camara around Asia, but not ‘yet’ developer interest. Singapore is taking a lead as they have 5GSA nationally deployed. It’s a uniquely small and dense country. South Korea is also taking a lead in building a competence in Camara, but does not have 5GSA nationally deployed, which is critical for 5G Network QoS APIs to work.

The future of ideamart is taking advantage of the dominance of the plumbing layer (transport) and services (Apps) from 10 years of operations and building out customer insight, analytics, and productivity use cases.

For example, there are ideamart applications linked to highly localized gig or temporary workers. Better matching supply with demand of the right skilled workers, at the right place, at the right time; maximizing productivity. Simple scheduling, process automations, and agent functions that to not require expensive enterprise software, rather easy apps and templates that work over SMS.

Please sign up for TADSummit, 22-23 Oct, Dinesh will be presenting on their latest developments and achievements with ideamart, mspace, and BDapps.

Remember OneAPI and it’s reincarnation Camara has wasted a decade for some telcos, while a few, have achieve world-leading results by NOT listening to the GSMA, rather listening to hSenid Mobile.

Pre-TADHack Sessions on 17th (TNID by TSG Global) and 18th (vCon by Strolid)

The thing I love about working with developers is their zero tolerance of BS, and their ability to get to the root of a problem when spin tries to cover something up.

TADHack 2024 runs 19-20 October. Before then we are running pre-TADHack sessions both live and recorded. This is a chance to learn about TNID (by TSG Global) and vCon (by STROLID)

• vCon session will introduce Virtualized Conversations, and run through the vCon set-up.
• TNID session will explain TNID’s vision, plans, timelines, introduce the API, and how TNID are hoping some TADHackers will help with future TNID projects.

Thank you to the TADHack 2024 sponsors STROLID (vCon) and TSG Global (TNID) for making this possible.

• vCon (STROLID) is the global standard for conversations. This is going to be massive, it’s an important skill to develop.
• TNID (TSG Global) puts you in control of your personal, self-owned digital identity. They’re looking for help on the front-end experience. TNID potentially solves the robocalling and SPAM SMS problem, it’s going to be as big as vCon.

Just send an email to info@tadhack.com and I’ll send to you the dial-in details for the Pre-TADHack Sessions.

We recently had a chat with Suraj Shivakumar about his summer internship with jambonz adding vCon to this open source project. Suraj was a vCon winner at TADHack Open in March, and from that win got a summer internship. Not only can you win cash prizes at TADHack, but also internships working on high profile open source projects.

Contributing to open source projects is a great way to build a reputation, have an impact, and looks great on your resume.

Quoting Dave Horton, “TADHack is an excellent source of talent for open source projects, who come trained on the latest in programmable communications.” Dave considers this his ‘secret sauce’. Check out this YT Short from Dave.

Best Regards, Alan Quayle, Founder TADHack
Sign up to the TADHack email list here

TADHack Sri Lanka

Always the most beautiful TADHack logos.

People, Gossip, and Frivolous Stuff

After nine wonderful years at OpenCloud, Metaswitch and Microsoft, Carlos Torrenti is happy to share that he’s starting a new position as Cloud Presales Architect at Rakuten Symphony. I’ve known Carlos throughout that time, and back to CSC.

 Mike Dauphinais is now Program Manager at DT Services and Consulting. I’ve known Mike since his time a Voxbone.

Sia Braimi is now Operating Office Manager for the Board of Europe at Deutsche Telekom.

Hugh Goldstein is returning to Ecosmob Technologies as Director of Business Development, North America. I’ve known Hugh for over one decade, since his time with Voxbone.

James Steadman is now Global Head of Customer Platform Strategy at Oracle. I’ve known James since his time at Ubiquity, 20 years ago!

Ron Elwell has rejoined Swoop as CEO and co-founder. I’ve known Ron all the way back to Octave Communications.

Jeremy Johnson has joined Nutanix as APJ Leader of our Managed Service Provider (MSP) business. I’ve known Jeremy for well over a decade, since his time at NSN.

Raul Goycoolea Seoane is now Chief Corporate Enterprise & Data Architect at Coppel. I’ve know Raul since his first time with Oracle, well over one decade ago.

Nirajkumar Singh will be rejoining Experian in the Business Operations team (Cyber Fusion Centre).

Serdar Alemdar is an Advisor to the President at Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi / Middle East Technical University. I’ve known Serdar for over 15 years.

Matt Barnett is now  Director, Business Development at Microsoft.

Nirmal Savinda is now Vice President at UCSC ISACA Student Group

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