Timing is everything in technology, and it's definitely an issue for Bango.net. The Cambridge-based company's name sounds a bit nostalgic now, redolent of those cheery days when companies threw millions of dollars at catchy URLs in a bid to build their brands. At the same time, the company's service, which makes it easier for consumers to access content via their mobile phones, is ahead of its time: there's still not that much content out there. It seems a long bet.
Yet when I meet with the company's founders, CEO Ray Anderson and alliances and marketing VP Anil Malhotra, the company's gamble starts to make more sense. Mr. Anderson and Mr. Malhotra have solid tech-insider credentials. They met at Unix GUI pioneer IXI, which was bought by U.S. Unix player The Santa Cruz Operation (now called Tarantella). Their new venture is small--only 14 employees--and perfectly formed. They initially funded the business with a seed round from friends and family, eventually taking 2.8 million euros from a group of investors including ETCapital, Herald Ventures, Close Brothers Group, and Credit Lyonnais.
The company is addressing a real problem. We all know that it can be a pain typing in a long URL to access an article on a Web site, even one as good as the Herring's. Now imagine that you're surfing the Web, or some cut-down text version of it, from a mobile phone or handheld device. Chances are that the input device will be harder to use than a normal-size keyboard, which means that you'll be scratching out 30 letters in Graffiti or, even worse, using alphanumerics on your mobile's telephone keypad and quickly going nuts. Instead, Bango.net allows you to simply enter a number. Consumers know how to enter numbers into mobile phones--they do that every day.
If you haven't used many wireless applications, this may seem like an imaginary problem. Yet 119 telephone operators use Bango.net's technology to simplify access to their content, and the Vodafone Group, Telefonica, and BT partnered with the startup. The application is potentially lucrative because many companies want to point people to specific content. For example, you could be standing in front of a poster on the Tube, and see a promotional offer you like. Dial the company's server, enter the Bango number printed on the poster, and the virtual and physical worlds are linked in interesting ways.
Bango.net's software also acts as a mobile toll booth, preventing access until the consumer agrees to pay. This process creates a layer of abstraction above all the different payment methods, such as credit cards or telephone company billing, that will eventually compete for our mobile dimes.
Bango.net is addressing the same kind of issues--simplified navigation and micropayments for small pieces of content--that have emerged on the Internet. Early implementations of the wireless application protocol (WAP) may have earned scorn from the British media, but next-generation mobile data applications should improve on that and explore the sort of territory mapped out so effectively by NTT DoCoMo's i-Mode. The only question is when. As Mr. Anderson puts it, "The mobile world is a desert right now." Mobile content needs investment and playful creativity to take off, and both are in short supply.
However, there are some indicators that mobile data is starting to pick up. Glamorous ads on British television hawk next-generation phones with color screens. Pornography, an early indicator that money can be made, has already appeared in the form of risque messaging dialogues and grayscale nudie pictures, and this kind of content will no doubt proliferate as color screens take off. Consumers are sending short message service (SMS) messages in the millions when prompted by marketing campaigns or television shows. Something is about to happen. All eyes are on the sales of color phones at Christmas and the rollout of next-generation networks such as Hutchinson's 3G network (slated for January). In the meantime, Bango.net, like the rest of us, must watch its burn, take a number--and wait.