Within walking distance of where I have been staying, there are two kosher shawarma stands across the street from each other.

Both offer outstanding flavours, fresh pita, an array of unlimited salads and toppings, and I have enjoyed each one on different occasions.

One is a classic outdoor spot, a street corner “temporary” structure that was built decades ago; the other is inside a newly renovated shopping mall, with 2 different types of meat offered, food court tables, trays, bright lights and a website.

The outdoor spot charges about 25% less. Both spots have a steady stream of customers from 11:30am until closing, selling out each day.

Clearly, each has staked out its own market, with one targeting those willing to pay the premium for the comfort of indoor seating and the more upscale ambience (if such a phrase can be applied to a shawarma stand).

Years ago, I wrote about differentiation in the coffee business, how some companies have found ways to increase revenues in a commodity industry.

At this time of year in Israel, bakeries have elevated donut making to an art form, such that people will pay more than $10 for a single sufganiya at a premium coffee shop, more than the cost of a dozen at the local grocery store bakery.

Why wouldn’t we expect similar differentiation in the telecom industry?

Over the past few weeks, I have been increasingly disturbed by the normalization of overt antisemitism around the world. While it is easy for some to think this is occurring at the margins of society, former President Trump’s embrace of Kanye West cannot be ignored. Nor can we brush aside the reports of antisemites and Holocaust deniers being welcomed at a Canadian Parliamentary reception.

In the early hours of the morning yesterday, I wrote a 6-part Tweet that I am reproducing here for archival purposes:

As Shimon Fogel, president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs told the Globe and Mail, “It’s disappointing and difficult to understand how these failures of vetting continually occur, and now we have yet another incident that sends a troubling message to the Canadian Jewish community.”

Last week at The Canadian Telecom Summit, Ericsson released a new consumer study claiming “Canadian consumers are ready to bring 5G into the mainstream as four million smartphone users plan to upgrade to 5G services over the next 12-15 months.”

Ericsson ConsumerLab conducted the global consumer study interviewing 49,100 consumers in 37 markets (including 1200 in Canada) between April and July 2022.

The study highlights six key 5G trends, suggesting how communications service providers can respond to the expectations of early adopters as well as the next wave of consumers, driving further 5G adoption:

1. Consumer 5G adoption to be inflation-resilient
2. 5G is being adopted by a new wave of users with higher expectations
3. Perceived 5G availability is emerging as the new satisfaction benchmark
4. 5G is pushing up usage of enhanced video and augmented reality (AR)
5. 5G monetization models are expected to evolve
6. 5G adoption is paving the path to the metaverse

Relevant to the 3rd trend, the study found that 5G population coverage in Canada has reached 75% but only 33% of Canadian 5G users perceive being connected more than 50% of the time.

According to Ericsson Canada,

Six in 10 Canadian survey respondents said they want 5G plans to offer more than just gigabytes. Consumers are looking for more tailored network capabilities like application enhanced connectivity rather than best effort 5G, which has itself improved measurably this year with rollout of Mid-Band spectrum. This demonstrates the new business model opportunities the next wave of 5G presents for service providers by bundling digital services and focusing on quality of service for demanding applications like gaming and extended reality (XR).

This study is reportedly the largest global 5G-related consumer survey in the industry to date, and the largest consumer survey conducted by Ericsson on any topic.

And yesterday, Ericsson released its November Mobility Report [pdf, 2.6MB] that looks back at the growth of the wireless industry in 2022 and reveals key predictions and trends looking toward 2028. Ericsson observed that 5G continues to scale faster than any previous mobile generation: “5G subscription uptake has been faster than that of 4G, with 5G expected to reach 1 billion subscriptions 2 years sooner than 4G.”

Key drivers are said to include the availability of devices from multiple vendors, with prices falling faster than for 4G. North America and North East Asia continue to see strong 5G growth, with 5G subscription penetration in the regions expected to reach about 35 percent by end of 2022.

According to Ericsson, almost 230 Communications Service Providers have launched 5G services, with more than 700 5G smartphone models announced or launched commercially.

Two reports from Ericsson to add to your December reading list.

According to the Globe and Mail, at a meeting of G7 Security Ministers, Canada’s Marco Mendocino said disinformation is ‘one of the most pervasive threats to all our democracies right now’ and more needs to be done to raise awareness and equip Canadians to navigate its dangers.

“He said he supported educating high-school students on how to spot disinformation, as well as fraudulent e-mails and texts and online scams, alongside consumer education.”

Recall, last February, I wrote “Testing Democratic Freedoms”, and asked “Shouldn’t more effort be focused on teaching critical thinking, teaching school kids how to process information online, including checking and verifying ‘news’ and ‘facts’ being shared on social media?”

I referred to an approach that is being used in Finland, and said “Investing in digital literacy in kindergarten and primary schools means playing the long game. But, aren’t critical thinking, and digital literacy, among the most needed skills to better prepare the country for life in the digital information age?”

The Globe article says that Canada plans to host a G7 Summit on the subject next year.

He invited ministers from Britain, the United States, France, Japan, Germany and Italy to come to Canada with “the brightest minds from our countries to figure out how we can get ahead of the curve.”

Canada should look beyond G7 members and include Finland to learn from their experience.

As Twitter begins to restore accounts that had been suspended for sharing misinformation, there is an even greater urgency.

“Vox Populi, Vox Dei”. The voice of the people is the voice of God.

That is how Elon Musk justified his decision to offer “amnesty” to previously suspended Twitter accounts. The new Twitter CEO had posted a poll the day earlier over whether the platform should restore affected accounts.

“Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?”

Seventy two per cent of the responses said “yes”.

It was, of course, a non-scientific poll and with all of the layoffs and staff departures at Twitter, it is hard to imagine how the platform can keep up with user reports of violations of the company’s terms of service in any case.

I have said many times before that I tend toward the views expressed so eloquently in Aaron Sorkin’s “The American President”:

Still, if a social media platform – any social media platform – has terms of service, then it needs to be prepared to enforce them. And it needs to be prepared to respect the legal framework in the countries in which it operates. What happens when a platform doesn’t even try to enforce its own code of conduct?

I’m not convinced Musk’s latest move will help recover some of the billions of dollars of value that evaporated since Musk acquired Twitter.

As an aside, am I the only one thinking of 007 villain Hugo Drax when I read about Elon Musk’s exploits?