[Asterisk-Dev] Re: OT - Regulatory hurdles for Zaptel and Japanese PRI

[Benjamin on Asterisk Mailing Lists]

On 08 Sep 2004 18:22:00 -0600, Steve Murphy <murf at e-tools.com> wrote:
> What about a software configuration, instead of a "closed" or "CVS head"
> version. License a combination of certain versions of each of the files
> involved in the release. Running newer/different versions of these files
> in a system attached to J1 would be illegal, until they are approved.

As I mentioned before, it's all a matter of how the type approval
folks with *perceive* the situation. If they think that they have
reasons to be worried that people will run non-approved derivatives of
the drivers and create problems for NTT, then our chances are small.
If they are satisfied that approval will not make it easier for that
to happen, then our chances are good.

> <shrug> what can you do? OK, sell the J1 at $5k in Japan. If that's what
> the Japanese want, then that's what they get, I guess.

Well, many Japanese companies wouldn't consider a J1 zaptel card
anyway, simply because it's not sold by NTT nor NEC. So, I guess you
might say that those companies probably deserve to be ripped off. In
the long term this is bound to change though.

Then there are many foreign companies in Japan who don't appreciate it
when they have to pay 10 or 20 or 50 times more than what they are
used to, especially if they are not getting any added value in return.
Do those companies deserve to be ripped off simply because they chose
to do business in Japan? I don't think so.

There are also smaller Japanese companies and Japanese startups who
are more cost conscious these days and willing to purchase competitive
products, even if they are of foreign origin without a world's top 50
brands sticker. Do they deserve to be ripped off just because they're
Japanese? I don't think so.

> Hey, can I start selling cards there, too? ;^)

:-) Of course you can. And you can even make your own Zaptel cards.
After all, even the hardware is open source, at least some of the
original designs ...

http://www.zapatatelephony.org

Seriously though, the Japanese are not the kind of people who buy
stuff from people and companies they don't know. You have to build a
local presence here to do business.

If Digium sold J1 cards with type approval for 50 USD by mailorder and
NEC was to copy the Zapata designs to make and sell their own Zaptel
cards for 5000 USD with a visit from the NEC sales rep included plus a
free subscription to the NEC monkey calendars and other such useless
promo nonsense, most Japanese companies would go for NEC's version.

However, if Digium opened a Japanese subsidiary, say Digium KK, with
Japanese staff, preferably some ex-NEC salespeople among them, build
up a Japanese image, selling the Zaptel cards under some ridiculous
Japanised brand name (ie LakuLaku or J1-Dotto-Komu) with a pink jelly
mascot (ie Hello Kitty style) then throw in a lifetime onsite warranty
all for 5000 USD versus the 50K NEC charge for their J1 gear, then
Digium KK would do extremely well. It wouldn't even have any impact if
you could still order the same card for 500 USD by mailorder from
Digium HQ because that one wouldn't have the LakuLaku name nor the
pink jelly mascot ;-) You get the idea how things work here.

rgds
benjk

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