A strange thing happened last week. Well, maybe `strange` is a bit strong. It was slightly odd - definitely a little out of the ordinary, but not entirely strange. After all, what could be more ordinary, especially in this country, than a person phoning in an order for a take-away curry?
Mainstream British media networks are still coming to terms with mobile communications as a life-enhancing concept.
Basheera Khan, London correspondent, ITWeb
What constituted the `slightly odd` element was that the person in question had phoned in his order from a train originating in Edinburgh, en route to London, requesting his chicken tikka be delivered to his compartment, on platform 2 at the Peterborough station.
`Strange` came into play when this incident made its way to the regional television news of an evening later that week, complete with dramatised re-enactment of the event and an interview with the restaurant`s deliveryman.
All clear indications that mainstream British media networks are still coming to terms with mobile communications as a life-enhancing concept. Never mind that the mobile service providers seem to be bending over backward to attract new contract customers with any number of value-added services, or that the only physical line provider, BT, is introducing a number of products that cater specifically to the mobile bent most consumers have adopted.
Unfortunately, local Internet service providers seem to suffer from the same malaise affecting the media networks. On the surface, they all offer a standard variety of access packages for the dial-up user, and most have incredibly competitive rates across that range of packages.
Tesconet, the ISP arm of Tesco, the supermarket giant renowned for its remarkably successful online shopping ventures, offers free Internet service provision to members of its loyalty programme, and charges 50p for the start-up pack.
In much the same way of Absa`s ISP offering, users pay for the local call charges, and technical support. The rest, including customised content, mail aliases and Web space, directory services and, of course, massive options for online shopping at a premium, is free.
But aim for a little flexibility in your dial-up access, and chances are you`ll be disappointed. It`s almost impossible to get what I`ve come to think of as `roaming dial-up access` from any of the larger service providers. There are pay-as-you-use options, but they`re significantly more expensive than any other offering.
Phone up the customer care line for advice, and all you`ll get are stonewalls. The basic message to the customer is this: if you want a service that is affordable, flexible and reliable, you`re dreaming. You`ll simply have to put up with a service that doesn`t quite meet your needs, and which leaves a nagging sense of frustration in its wake each time you dial up.
Flipping through the rants page of one of the many computer mags published here, it seems that none of the ISPs can get customer service right. Readers complain bitterly about bumbling service delivery mishaps from AOL to BT, from Tiscali to Yesmate.com. In each of the cases related, it would appear that the fault lay with the ISPs trying to complicate what should be essentially simple service procedures.
I`m not entirely sure why it should be this way: Why these organisations should focus so much attention and energy on re-inventing business procedures that have in the past been proven to work. Why they do not instead focus on rolling out services that can be adapted to suit the ever-varied needs of the customer base.
The obvious answer is short-term gain. But with the British government`s UK Online project - aimed at equipping everyone who`s interested with the skills, hardware and access to get productive in an online world by 2005, one wonders when the tide will turn against these ISPs.
If consumers end up half as educated as the government would like them to be, chances are that ISPs and related businesses will be forced by popular demand to re-evaluate what seems to be their unspoken policy to extract as much hard currency as they can from the currently largely unwitting public. It may not be bloody, but I can definitely smell a revolution in the air.
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