You might already aware of many pessimistic views about internet penetration in Indonesia, compared to Malaysia, Filipina or even small country like Singapore, somehow underestimated. You might also find that most Indonesian preferred into mobile primitive features like SMS and insignificant ring back tones than the border-less world wide web. It also took more than 5 years for big boy like Yahoo to eventually decided to explore more opportunities to go deep with millions of its Indonesian users by established more partnership with local players. With Indonesia current market development of mobile connectivity competition and local infrastructure availability, shall turn those pessimistic views.

SInce the end of 2007, the mobile industry had reached 100 million subscribers via various MNO (Mobile Network Operator) and FWA (Fixed Wireless Access). However it believed that the number doesn’t respectfully correspond to the usage of today’s technology (HSDPA, mobile web), until a leading mobile browser maker, Opera, released reports that SouthEast Asia is leading in mobile web usage and growth.

It reported that Indonesia ranks first in SouthEast Asia (and second worldwide) in usage with almost 330% user growth and 827% page view growth in 2008. Followed by Malaysia with 462.6%  user growth and 474.5% page view growth. Obviously, more Indonesian mobile subscribers are using their phone to go online today.

In many of Southeast Asian countries the mobile Web exists not because it complements existing means of access, but rather because it replaces them. Page view growth and pages per user are an interesting metric to see how much people use Opera Mini to browse the Web. It is interesting to note that page views per user in Indonesia and the Philippines are significantly higher than the worldwide numbers. In fact page views grew more than 1120% in the Philippines this year.

The report geographic focus is on Southeast Asia, where we see Google as the dominant player in the search engine space and Friendster as the premier social-networking site, with hi5 coming in second. Nokia is dominant in the region, with brands like Sony Ericsson and Huawei competing for a distant second place. Here’s the highlight.

• Indonesia and Malaysia lead the way for mobile Web adoption, followed by Thailand and Brunei.
• Indonesia leads the top 9 countries in page views, with each user browsing 358 pages on average in October 2008, well above the global average.
• Growth rates are soaring: Malaysia leads the top 9 with 462.6% growth in users this year, followed by the Philippines (396.4% growth) and Indonesia (329.5% growth.
• In Southeast Asia, among mobile Web users, Google is the dominant player in the search engine space, with Yahoo and Live Search vying for second place.
• Friendster is the premier social-networking site in the region, with hi5 coming in second.
• Nokia is dominant in the region, with brands like Sony Ericsson and Huawei competing for a distant second place.

On top sites rank by Indonesian unique users, Facebook made a big jump entering the list this month. The report also predicted about Facebook beat Friendster in the near future, “It will be interesting to see if Facebook will affect the dominance of Friendster in Indonesia”. Here’s the complete top sites viewed via  mobile:

1. friendster.com
2. google.com
3. gamejump.com (back on the list)
4. facebook.com (new)
5. yahoo.com (back on the list)
6. waptrick.com (new)
7. peperonity.com (down from 4)
8. wikipedia.org (down from 5)
9. getjar.com (back on the list)
10. gratisindo.com (down from 6)

and here is the top handsets for October 2008 (which use the Opera Browser):

1. Nokia 6600
2. Nokia N70
3. Nokia 3230
4. Nokia 7610
5. Nokia N73
6. Nokia 6300
7. Sony Ericsson W200i
8. Nokia 5310
9. Sony Ericsson K750i
10. Sony Ericsson K510i

It seems (Indonesia) mobile industry really helps bridging the gap of internet infrastructure thus accelerates nation-wide internet penetration (at least Opera enjoys it). I wonder if Blackberry will be listed in top handsets list by the end of 2008, noted that all major GSM operators offers Blackberry with affordable monthly plan connection package.

These development gave new insight of opportunities in mobile web, conventional web and mobile application. Simply develop “m” as your subdomain will extend your audience to mobile web users. You don’t even have to develop a special java application to comply the web communication model, most recognized format for mobile web is XHTML which took an article of web standards. Have you xhtml-ized your site?

For me, I prefer desktop/notebook view, using Sony Ericsson G502 as modem (traveling) or  view directly via NetFront Browser (pre-installed) with HSDPA connection. Quite fast!

It has increasingly became apparent that social networks are here to stay. Granted, there are a lot of unsuccessful followers in the field, but the giants of social networks like Twitter and Facebook continue to stay abreast for the foreseeable future, come low or high tide.

What does it mean for a business owner like you ? In this post, I’m going to talk about three companies who use social network as a way to maintain close communication with their customer; and about my experience as their products’ user.

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First, some explanations are due. The three companies are :

1. Digsby

Digsby is a recently popular chat program that tries to incorporate all your usual chat platform in one software. They are aiming to be a swiss-army knife of instant-messenger applications, – so to speak. At the time of this blog posting, you can use it to chat with your Yahoo ID, MSN Live, GTalk, Facebook Chat, AIM, – and even updating your social networks status in Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. Their Twitter page can be viewed here.

2. Flock

Flock basically is a Firefox equipped with a custom-built add-ons, making it a browser where you can instantly get signed-in in your various social networks and engage in their activities. There is even a built-in blog editor where you can write a blog post without going to your blog platform website. For the newest version of Flock and its features, you can visit its website.

3. Evernote

If you are anything like me, you will feel the need of organizing various notes or snippets of text files that you jotted down whenever you think of something. Standard methods of filing in Windows folder just don’t seem to be enough as it can get wildly confusing after a couple of weeks or so. Here’s where Evernote figures. An organizer software where you can store practically anything, it will also give you a free online account ( with some limitations ) where you can back up your important notes. A couple of months ago, I wrote a short review of Evernote and what it can do that you can read here. Alternatively, you can visit their website.

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What those three otherwise-very-different companies have in common is : They all use Twitter to communicate with their users. By this I mean, they create a special Twitter account where they then use to scan various issues other users may have about their products; and replying whenever necessary.

Now, as a user of their products, I can think of at least 3 ( three ) reasons why I will continue to use their products. Bear with me as I get to the following points :

1. Because they are companies who care about their customers

Some of you may argue this point, stating that of course any company will care about its customers, that’s where the money comes from. Indeed. But a company who cares enough to dedicate time and ( in some cases ) a special staff to communicate with their customer using a supposedly-intangible media as Twitter ? I am impressed.

2. Because of the speed of their response

Let’s admit it. Complaining, – or even just asking, about a feature of a product you just recently acquired is most of the times frustrating. Those dreaded automated phone systems or faxing proof of purchase almost always spends more time than necessary. On the contrary, the three companies I mentioned respond to their users’ complaints and enquiries almost instantly, – sometimes even under a couple of minutes.

3. Because I am dealing with companies who update themselves on new developments of technology

To average people you meet in the streets, Web 2.0 raises more questions than it answers. This means that as a technology, it is still relatively new. Not in the term of age, mind you; but in the sense that more people don’t know about it than those who do. All it implies is that Digsby, Flock and Evernote are companies who make it a point to keep on updating themselves of new technology. I surely can’t complain about company who has that characteristics.

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Let’s stop here and consider my experience as the customer of the three companies and why I’ll be a repeat user of their products. Do you want a loyal, repeat customer who buys your product more than once ? How about five ? Or a hundred, even thousands of them ?

Depending on the nature of the business, now may be the right time to take a plunge to the lake of Social Networking. Sink or swim, it’s your choice…