Investment Criteria

Investment Focus:

• USA, Canada and US relevant territories (Pacific, Caribbean)
• Mobile and telecommunications service companies
• Mobile Hand-sets distribution

Investment Stage:

Middle/ Later-stage opportunities with positive net profit, but we will consider earlier-stage investments to fund businesses seeking growth capital.
Investment Size:
Typically $20 million to $100 million of equity, but we will invest larger or smaller amounts of capital. We have also led very large equity investment in partnership with other institutional investors.

Ownership:

• Minimum 20% for the consolidation into our Balance Sheet.
• Possible to consider both minority investments and control deals.
• We are also comfortable investing with the existing shareholders/ Founders

Types of Investments:

• Strategic investment with Hands-on Management support.
• Principal Investment wit low leveraged ratio. There is no average investment duration.
• Quick cash return by dividend etc. is not required.

Strategy:

• Deep telecommunication sector operation / Marketing knowledge.
• Dispatch own human resources for the management support
• Global network to bring in advanced services and technologies
• Worldwide credible valuation of a firm
• Commercial operation know-how including Whole-sale, Retail and Logistics on the sectors

A Cell Phone Even A Grandmother Could Love

Senior-Friendly Jitterbug Phone Business Gets Help & Expertise From SCOA's Power and Telecom Business Unit

According to The Senior Coalition, an advocacy organization, millions of U.S. senior citizens are not taking advantage of cell phone technology, even as a safety precaution. This is due, in part, to a lack of awareness about the availability of low-cost, simplified phones designed specifically for seniors, who categorically find today's multifunctional cell phones to be confusing, frustrating, and overly complicated.

Here comes Jitterbug to the rescue, with SCOA lending a helping hand.

The California-based GreatCall company launched a national marketing campaign in 2008, introducing a large-button phone with the service name "Jitterbug" (after raising $40 million in venture funding that included some investment from SCOA and SC). Although the phone is available to anyone, the target consumers are seniors, an over-55 group who sought a simpler alternative to the multitasking communication console that many cell phones have now become. Jitterbug is made for baby boomers and seniors who do not like handsets packed with self-indulgent extras that, in the eyes of their demographic, overshadow the phone's primary function, and misplace its mission, and simply cost too much.

GreatCall is the latest enterprise for Arlene Harris and Martin Cooper, pioneers in the history of the wireless communication. Martin Cooper, former senior management at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first wireless handset because he made the first call on a cell phone in 1973. Cooper and Harris co-founded GreatCall just a few years ago hoping to sell a simpler phone to an underserved generation. Masao Miyamoto, Head of Power and Telecom business at SCOA, said that GreatCall's pedigree in the industry was attractive to SCOA, as was GreatCall's general assessment of the market opportunity.

"We found this to have three areas we saw as positive," Miyamoto said. "Firstly, they can provide very good customer service for a very complicated customer. Secondly, the price is cheaper, which is important to seniors, who are not heavy users of cell phones. Thirdly, the unique handset has large numbers or buttons designed for seniors."

The original Jitterbug phones came in two formats. One featured large number buttons and screen for large font numbers; the other featured just three extra-large buttons programmed to dial the operator, 911 services and a family member or friend. The clamshell phones are manufactured by Samsung Electronics, and monthly service plans range from $15 for 30 minutes of calling time to $80 for 800 minutes, as opposed to major carrier service plans that start at $59 for 400 minutes. A pay-as-you-go plan for ten dollars a month offers calling time for 35 cents a minute.

"Our primary function is not investment in a startup company, but in this case, we saw the potential; the investment is just the seed for the relationship in the U.S. carrier business," Miyamoto explained. "Also, we have strong knowledge of the Japanese phone market, especially in the senior market; we understand that the number of senior specialized service and senior-friendly handset users is over 10 million out of 109 million total cellular subscribers in Japan. We bring this know-how to our relationship with GreatCall. We are interested in the possibilities of the carrier business in general, seeing that the U.S. cellular market has more than 190 million subscribers. We may see a plan emerge to introduce the Jitterbug business model to other areas outside the U.S. such as Asia and Europe down the road."

Miyamoto said that his unit served in an advisory capacity for much of Jitterbug's development.

Miymamoto also said that the company is unique in that it operates differently from other wireless phone company business models.

"The GreatCall business model is already different from the usual Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). The most famous of those is Virgin or Tracfone, those have huge prepaid subscriber base, but they have no network. They must borrow its network from one who has a frequency.The company practically acts a marketing company, but it looks like a network to the average person. GreatCall actually has a regionial frequency, with roaming agreements throughout the U.S., so it operates differently, and this helps our interest in being a part of the carrier business."

"Also, another important point is that this niche market is huge," Miyamoto pointed out. "but in the U.S., the senior market was abandoned. Verizon & ATT are not interested in seniors because don't use their phones enough. The average customer in general use about 800 minutes a month, and their minimum plan is usually 400 minutes per month; the average Jitterbug senior customer uses less than 100 minutes in a month. However, they have money, they have bankable and credit, but they still want a low-minutes-low-price service plan. In Japan, the senior phone became very popular in the last five years with more than nine million senior phone subscribers. Some even have a magnifying glass!"

Miyamoto added that Japanese phones for seniors had an influence on Jitterbug, most recently with the new "Jitterbug J" model design. The new J model is still very simple, but added some slight tech improvements, like Bluetooth, call waiting and the ability to type texts. For the Jitterbug traditionalists who scare easily, these features can be easily turned off.

Which bring us to the question: how does a company offer additional services when their selling point is simplicity? The answer: very smartly. Jitterbug J now offers the LiveNurse service, which is live, personalized advice from registered nurses and access to a Health Information Library with hundreds of pre-recorded messages on general health topics. GreatCall also now offers a $9-a-month package called "Jitterbug Complete Care" which bundles LiveNurse, roadside assistance and no-questions-asked handset replacement. Also in the works are other pay services, like reminder calls that tell people when to take their medicine.

Considering Jitterbug's customber base segment, a "health-wireless convergence" seems like a natural goal for SCOA, and with SCOA's Power and Telecom Business Unit experiencing "good reception" of their senior phone market expertise by Great Call, the public embracing of Jitterbug has shown just what good communications can achieve.

Website Design and Content Management by 1250 Media.