European Wireless Industry News

Femtocells-good news on potential interference problems

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:23:24 -0500

It is widely accepted that the deployment of femtocells will be a significant factor in driving the future uptake of mobile broadband services. There has been concern however over potential issues of interference between femtocells and the micro/macro networks. These concerns have been largely allayed by a femtocell radio study carried out by The Femto Forum.

The first really good news is that the study found femtocells have the potential to deliver an order of magnitude more capacity than the macro network alone when used in dense deployments, even when occupying the same radio channel as the macrocell. The study also identified a number of solutions that will mitigate any potential interference of the macro network by the femtocells. Effectively this means any interference related barriers to wide scale femtocell deployment have been removed so operators will be able to maximise the capacity benefits offered by femtocells. The simplest way to avoid interference is for the femtocell to utilise a different carrier than the surrounding macro network but the majority of 3G operators do not have sufficient spectrum to make this a practical solution.

The Femto Forum study therefore focused on finding technological solutions for mitigating interference when both the femtocell and macrocell networks share the same carrier. These methods are already being developed for pre-standard femtocell solutions, and Femto Forum members are working to bring them within the standards framework.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe and Cellular News

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Bus travellers get free Wi-Fi

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:15:07 -0500

Travellers on the RailAir bus service between London's Heathrow Airport and nearby Reading are now able to enjoy free Wi-Fi Internet access during their journey. Coach operator FirstGroup is deploying Icomera's mobile broadband gateways on all its vehicles, offering passengers the opportunity to access the Internet at download speeds of up to 2Mbit/s.

The new equipment will also offer GPS-based vehicle location capability enabling FirstGroup to track all their vehicles in real time. The RailAir deployment is part of a Wi-Fi initiative currently underway at First based on Icomera's Moovbox technology. The First Berkshire group is fitting Icomera solutions on the Green Line service that runs between Royal Windsor and Victoria Coach Station in Central London. The Icomera Moovbox has also been deployed in South Wales by First Cymru on the Shuttle100 commuter coach service between Cardiff and Swansea.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe and Silicon.com

Tenfold increase in network traffic predicted

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:10:19 -0500

Mobile operators in mature markets such as Western Europe need to prepare themselves for massive traffic increases down the road, according to a new report from Analysys Mason.

By 2015 wireless network traffic will have increased tenfold as data leaps ahead of plain voice communications. There will be a number of factors driving this rise in data traffic; increased penetration of smartphones and USB devices, the widespread deployment of femtocells leading to greater indoor usage and more affordable pricing. The type of traffic will also change with users sending and receiving larger data packages. Advanced wireless technologies such as LTE, which can support much higher data throughputs, will also be widely deployed over the next few years.

The report's co-author Dr Mark Heath says although developed regions will represent just a quarter of all mobile users by 2015, they will generate 65 per cent of total global wireless network traffic.

For more on this story go to 3g.co.uk

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Romanian WiMAX licence awarded

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:03:43 -0500

Radiocommunications National Society (SNR) has been granted a licence to roll out a national WiMAX network in Romania operating in the 3.6MHz band. One of the conditions for awarding the new licence was that SNR release two frequency bands it already held in adjacent spectrum. The Romanian telecoms regulator ANC plans to issue two further licences for this released spectrum and is currently conducting a comparative selection procedure.

SNR, which paid 2 million Euros for the three-year licence, will be required to provide WiMAX coverage in at least 50 cities and 20 towns within a specified time frame.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

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Rumour Mill: Nokia to enter laptop market?

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:59:31 -0500

Although categorically denied by Nokia earlier this year, rumours the Finnish mobile giant may be planning to enter the laptop computer market have resurfaced. On this occasion it was through the medium of a research note from a Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) analyst. For a report that could just be speculative it contained a remarkable amount of detail suggesting as it did that the Nokia device would be a 9 to 10 inch notebook/tablet computer with touchpad, NFC and Linux OS.

In its early days Nokia did produce computers but by the mid-1980s it had exited the business, merging its PC division with Ericsson Information Systems. With computer manufacturers such as HP and Apple moving into the smartphone space, perhaps it is time for Nokia to mount a counterattack.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

Credit crunch bites European mobile market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:54:35 -0500

A new report from Ovum says Europe has become the first regional mobile market to be hit by the economic downturn. After analysing the Q3 2008 financial results of mobile operators around the world, Ovum concluded that, although other markets have so far proved resilient, Europe's top mobile operators show a marked, credit-crunch-induced deterioration in performance. The US mobile market has to date resisted the downturn and developing markets such as Latin America continue to enjoy double-digit revenue growth rates.

The good news is that Ovum does not anticipate a major slowdown for the mobile industry. Although some operators may become vulnerable, says Emeka Obiodu, a senior analyst at Ovum and the lead author of the report, the mobile market remains overwhelmingly buoyant and he expects it to ride out the current financial crises.

For more on this story go to Cellular News and Mobile Europe

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Losing your way in London

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:19:20 -0500

According to a study commissioned by Nokia, more people get lost in London than in any other city on Earth, including more heavily populated places such as Bangkok and Beijing. Ten per cent of those surveyed for the study said it was impossible to navigate around London compared to nine per cent in Paris, London's nearest rival for the title of easiest city to get lost in.

However, mobile technology seems to be coming to the rescue. More than 25 per cent of the 12,500 people surveyed said they relied on online and mobile navigation tools to find their way around and 13 per cent said they use their mobile phones as their primary navigation tool-up from zero a few years ago. GPS technology is now routinely being built into mobile phones so the number of people using their mobiles for navigation is likely to rise rapidly in the next few years. With the mobile mapping software now available users can customise their phones according to the routes they take. It is even possible to set the navigation parameters on the mobile phone so that the user avoids traffic jams and roadworks.

One of the worrying findings of the study, and possibly the explanation for London's premier position, is that one in three Londoners admitted to deliberately giving people wrong directions!

For more on this story go to MobileTechNews and TelecomsEurope

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Mobile payments facility launched in Norway and Sweden

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:09:45 -0500

Mobile users in Norway and Sweden are now able to buy products and services over the mobile Internet following the introduction of Dialogue's mobile billing services. Dialogue Communications is now offering cross-network mobile payment services for all vendors selling products and services over the mobile web in the two countries.

The WAP billing solution is currently only available for one-off purchases. The mobile payment framework, which is available in Norwegian and Swedish versions, allows customers to design their own mobile Internet sites and charge customers directly to their mobile phone bill.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

MTS extends its 3G coverage

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 11:07:26 -0500

Russia's largest mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) has launched 3G services in two more Russian cities--Chelyabinsk and Irkutsk. This brings the total number of 3G networks launched by MTS since May 2008 to 10.

MTS intends to launch 3G networks in at least 14 cities during 2008 and in up to 40 cities in Russia through 2009. MTS also holds 3G licenses in Uzbekistan and Armenia, where the networks are scheduled for launch in 2009.

MTS reports very strong demand for the mobile data services delivered by its 3G networks with one city, Yekaterinburg, experiencing a 30 per cent growth in mobile Internet traffic in the three months following service launch.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

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Ericsson wins UK 3G RAN management contract

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:53:09 -0500

The joint venture formed by T-Mobile UK and 3 UK to run their 3G radio access networks (RAN) has awarded a four-year managed services contract to Ericsson. Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL) was formed by the two UK operators in January 2008 with the intention of deploying the UK's most extensive 3G network by 2010.

Under the new contract Ericsson will be responsible not only for the operation and maintenance of the jointly owned 3G network but also for T-Mobile's 2G radio access network. MBNL's deal with Ericsson should deliver substantial cost savings and enable better control over operational expenditures. As part of the contract Ericsson will be decommissioning an estimated 5,000 cell sites. Around 80 T-Mobile employees have been transferred to Ericsson.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux and Mobile Europe

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Local operators win Turkish 3G licences

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:45:22 -0500

Following an auction Turkey has issued three new 3G licences, all to incumbent operators. Plans to issue a fourth licence were cancelled due to lack of interest from potential bidders.

Turkey's largest mobile operator Turkcell won the A Licence, which offered the largest block of spectrum, with a bid of US$462 million. The other licences were won by Vodafone and Avea with bids of US$323 million and US$276 million respectively. This auction was Turkey's second attempt at awarding 3G licences; the 2007 auction was cancelled after Vodafone and Avea refused to participate unless the Government mandated number portability as part of the deal.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

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EU slashes cost of text roaming

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:41:43 -0500

As anticipated, European Union telecoms ministers have agreed the cost of sending an SMS when roaming within the EU bloc should be reduced. They have recommended the cost of a roaming text message be capped at eleven Euro cents. The recommendation still requires the approval of the European Parliament but this is expected to be a formality.

Once approved the measures will come into effect July 1, just in time to benefit tourists during the peak holiday period. Currently the average price for sending an SMS whilst roaming in Europe is 29 Euro cents so the new regime is likely to have a significant impact. The ministerial council also recommended a cap of one Euro per megabyte on data roaming charges.

For more on this story go to The Register and The Inquirer

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Emerging markets find success with wireless broadband

Sue Marek — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:17:51 -0500

Emerging markets such as Pakistan, India, China are hot areas for operators that want to offer wireless broadband. But the business models in these regions of the world aren't necessarily the same as they are in mature markets, nor are the applications.

We'll be talking about some of the wireless broadband offerings that exist today in emerging markets and delving into their service offerings and business models during the "Wireless Broadband in Emerging Markets" Webinar Dec. 3 at 9 a.m. EST.

I'll be joined by some excellent speakers, including Naeem Zamindar, vice president and head of Mobilink's broadband business unit, Steven Hartley, senior analyst at Ovum, Gilbert Marciano, Solution Director, Alcatel-Lucent Carrier Solutions Business and Joe Lawrence, Vice President of Marketing, CDMA Development Group. Please check it out. Register here. --Sue

Smart pipe or dumb pipe ... the operator's choice

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:20:53 -0500

Revenues from mobile content could amount to US$52 billion in 2013 if mobile operators pursue the right strategies. If they fail to implement new business models then they could end up as simple dumb pipes, says a new report from Juniper Research.

Mobile operators need to change their mobile content business models to emphasise shared value creation. In today's mobile content environment, mobile operators retain a significant percentage of the revenues generated by the content providers who use their networks. This business model means end-users pay a high price for accessing mobile content and, ultimately, lose interest. This acts as a disincentive to content providers who either attempt to go directly to the end-user or exit the sector entirely. This is an unsustainable scenario which could severely impact on the revenue streams operators hope to win from mobile content. However, the report emphasises that mobile operators must make the first move to break this impasse.

If mobile operators can change their ARPU-driven mindsets to focus on value creation and support for their partners, they can swiftly make the change, the report concludes.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

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T-Mobile wins Macedonian 3G licence

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:17:04 -0500

After a bidding process in which it was the only candidate T-Mobile has been awarded a national 3G licence by the Macedonian telecoms regulator, The Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK). T-Mobile, which is paying 10 million Euros for the ten-year licence, will be required to launch its network within six months and have 50 per cent population coverage within a year. Macedonia issued its first 3G licence earlier this year to Cosmofon, which is owned by Greek operator Cosmote.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

Mobile spam in Europe-study finds worrying trends

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:14:16 -0500

The volume of spam received by European mobile phone users has risen by almost 25 per cent in the past 12 months. This is the key finding of a new study covering five major European markets carried out by comScore M:Metrics on behalf of Airwide Solutions.

The study reported that, although some mobile operators are leading the way in deploying anti-spam technology, the number of European users receiving unwanted text messages is growing at 21.3 per cent year-on-year. French mobile users are apparently the worst sufferers with the number of spam messages containing mobile worms and viruses they receive increasing at a rate of 61.3 per cent every year.

The growing ownership of smartphones is also a major concern as many subscribers store sensitive work and personal data on their phones which could be at risk from attack. However, there is some good news. The study believes that the growing spam threat means that mobile operators could have a significant opportunity to play a strategic role in protecting their subscribers by deploying new security solutions across their networks.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

Apple told to pull iPhone ad

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:10:38 -0500

The UK advertising regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has told Apple to discontinue using a TV ad for the iPhone. This is the second time in three months that Apple have been found wanting in respect of iPhone advertising. In August this year the ASA banned another ad which promised users access to ‘all parts of the Internet' a promise that it could not keep. On this occasion the offending ad showed a close-up of the iPhone 3G browsing the web, downloading files, and viewing Google Maps, loading each in a fraction of a second.

A number of consumers complained the ad exaggerated the speed of the device and the ASA concurred. Apple argued the ad was meant to be relative rather than absolute and that consumers would understand the loading speeds were simplified as an example but this argument cut no ice with the ASA.

For more on this story go to Silicon.com and The Register

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Economic problems impact mobile phone market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:06:44 -0500

In the third quarter of 2008 the percentage growth in mobile phone sales worldwide declined to less than half that achieved in the same period in 2007. According to Gartner's latest mobile phone market analysis, total sales were 309 million units in Q3, a six per cent increase on Q3 2007. The global economic crisis is the main factor impacting on sales.

Market leading manufacturers Nokia and Samsung held up well under the impact of the global economic downturn although the former experienced lower replacement sales in mature and emerging markets. The main effects of the economic problems were felt in the battle for the world number three position currently raging between Sony Ericsson, LG and Motorola. The Gartner report says Sony Ericsson emerged as the winner in the third quarter largely because of the problems being experienced by its rivals.

Mobile phone sales in Western Europe were 43.5 million units in Q3, down from 47.2 million units in 2007. A slowdown in replacement sales adversely affected market performance in the region and will continue to do so in the fourth quarter says Gartner. In Eastern Europe, although a number of countries including Russia, Hungary, the Ukraine and Romania were badly affected by the financial crisis, this did not translate into a downturn in mobile phone sales.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux and Cellular News

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Belgium mobile market set to change

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 11:59:49 -0500

The Belgian Government has signalled its intention to radically shake up the country's lacklustre mobile market. The lack of competition in the Belgian market, which is dominated by majority-state owned Belgacom, has been heavily criticised in the past by the European Commission which recently called for new and tougher powers for the national regulator BIPT.

In response the Belgian Government is apparently planning to issue as many as eight new mobile licences in 2009. The highest profile of these is likely to be the fourth 3G licence which the Government apparently hopes to auction for as much as US$50 million. Reportedly there are a number of operators interested in acquiring this fourth licence. Also likely to be on offer are WiMAX licences which will almost certainly go for much less than the 3G licence. No information is yet available as to whether the WiMAX licences will be national, regional or metropolitan. The auction is expected to take place in mid-2009

For more on this story go to Cellular News

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Boom time predicted for Mobile TV

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:06:22 -0500

Revenues from Mobile TV services could increase almost one hundred-fold in the next four years, up from US$1.5 billion this year to US$100 billion by 2012. At present the bulk of Mobile TV revenues are derived from subscription fees but over time the advertising business model will begin to dominate, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of revenues by 2013. According to the latest report from Informa Telecoms & Media the strongest growth in Mobile TV will be in the early starter markets of South Korea and Japan. European markets are not expected to see significant uptake of Mobile TV until 2009. The US market will be held back by confusion over standards but once these problems are resolved and the industry backs a single standard the US market is expected to grow rapidly. Interestingly, given the arguments that have been raging over whether Mobile TV is best delivered by broadcast technologies or 3G, Informa's research indicates that the market will end up as a mix of technologies which will be matched to a mix of audience experiences.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

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A brighter outlook for UWB?

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:01:47 -0500

Ultra WideBand (UWB) wireless has long been viewed as a fringe technology but work by a team of European researchers may yet propel UWB to centre stage. The original aim of the EU-funded project UROOF (Photonic components for Ultra-wideband Radio Over Optical Fiber) was to extend the range of low power technologies such as Bluetooth which are measured in tens of metres. The researchers moved to UWB because of the very high data-carrying capability it offered, up to 480Mbs. The solution developed by UROOF has the potential to increase broadband capacity by two to three orders of magnitude whilst reducing concerns about health issues by lowering the signal intensity by a comparable amount. UROOF co-ordinator Moshe Ran's vision is of high-definition video and other high-bandwidth services driven by the combination of UMB and optical technologies being delivered to homes and offices-and even ships and planes.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

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The latest on Telenor's legal battles

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:58:26 -0500

The ongoing legal rows over Telenor's mobile investments in Eastern Europe saw some new twists this week. In the US, a Federal Court judge ruled that Russian conglomerate Alfa Group was in contempt of court for failing to sell its stake in Ukrainian mobile operator Kyivstar. Telenor, which owns 56.5 per cent of Kyivstar, has had a long running dispute with Alfa, whose subsidiary Altimo owns the remaining shares. The Federal judge ordered Alfa subsidiaries Altimo, Alpren, Hardlake and Storm to sell their Kyivstar shares within 90 days or face heavy financial penalties. Alfa was also ordered to lower its stakes in Turkish operator Turkcell and Ukrainian High Technologies to less than 5 per cent in the same timescale. Earlier this week, a court in Omsk, Siberia postponed the hearing of Telenor's appeal against the US$2.8 billion judgement passed against it until December 12^th. Jan Edvard Thygesen, executive VP and head of Telenor's Central and Eastern European operations described the case as ‘a judicial farce'.

For more on this story go to Cellular News and Unstrung

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French high-speed trains to offer WiFi

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:52:53 -0500

French rail operator SNCF is planning to roll out WiFi services on all its TGV Est trains by the end of 2010. The decision by SNCF to deploy a paid-for WiFi service on its whole Est fleet follows a successful WiFi trial earlier this year. The free trial provided downlink data speeds of 2Mbs and uplink speeds of 512kbs, using a combination of satellite connectivity and WiFi relays on the ground. More than 12,000 passengers logged on the service during the trial period. The network infrastructure will be provided by the OCEA consortium of Alstom, Capgemini, Eutelsat and Orange Business Services. TGV Est provides high speed (up to 320kph) train services to Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland from Paris.

For more on this story go to Silicon.com

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WiMAX: The big battalions win

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:48:29 -0500

As the WiMAX world is finding out, market size and momentum tend to win over time, even when there is a perceived technological advantage. A new report forecasts that by 2013 WiMAX will have 103 million subscribers--unfortunately HSPA will have more than one billion users in the same timescale. In an accurate summing up of the situation facing WiMAX, Mike Roberts, author of the Informa report on WiMAX, describes the situation as 'the best of times and the worst of times' for the broadband technology. The last year has seen WiMAX pass a number of key milestones including product certification, the launch of WiMAX services by major operators and the introduction of WiMAX notebooks and other devices. WiMAX is also playing a key role in major emerging markets such as India where it will account for 24 per cent of total broadband subscribers by 2013. However, during the same period, HSDPA has become a runaway success with operators in major markets worldwide deploying the broadband technology. There is some good news for WiMAX in the longer term. Although major operators including China Mobile have fully committed to LTE the earliest the fourth generation technology can begin deployment is 2010 and that is likely to slip by at least two years. Given that WiMAX will be the leading OFDMA technology by 2013 it should be able to give the nascent LTE a run for its money in some regions.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux

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Rumour Mill: 3 Italia on the block?

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:43:25 -0500

There has been widespread speculation in the European media about the future of Hutchison Whampoa's Italian third generation mobile operation 3 Italia. A potential merger between 3 Italia and national operator Telecom Italia reportedly foundered over differences in the valuation placed on 3 Italia by its owners. If the merger had happened it was rumoured that 3 Italia would be broken up with its assets divided between Telecom Italia and Wind. 3 Italia has moved quickly to damp down media speculation concerning a possible break-up issuing a ‘categorical denial' yesterday. Other options being touted for the future direction of 3 Italia include remaining independent, being sold to an unmade Middle Eastern sovereign fund and having a non-European telecoms operator buying a 50 per cent stake. 3 Italia has around 5.5 million subscribers representing a 6.5 per cent market share.

For more on this story go to Cellular News and Total Telecom

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Mixed outlook for mobile games sector

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:58:04 -0500

The arrival of the iPhone was widely welcomed by mobile games vendors but unfortunately the new phone failed to stimulate growth in paid-for mobile game sales of which have ‘flatlined' in North America and Western Europe. A new report from Juniper Research says that, although the mobile games market will grow in retail value to more than US$10 billion in 2013, its potential is being inhibited. This dampening of demand is being caused by a combination of the limited revenue share being offered by operators to publishers--causing some to leave the mobile games industry--and poor games marketing.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe and Telecomredux

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Mobile Internet comes to the Czech Republic

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:53:02 -0500

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic has joined forces with mobile data personalisation and subscriber intelligence specialist ChangingWorlds to launch a mobile Internet service. ChangingWorlds has already worked with O2 in the UK and Germany by this is the first implementation in the Czech Republic. The service uses a new O2 Internet-like portal with a browser bar that provides intuitive support for users. ChangingWorlds' personalisation engine automatically selects new, fresh and relevant content for each user based on learned user content preferences and behavioural patterns.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe and Telecomredux

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Kazakh operator plans WiMAX network

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:46:59 -0500

Kazakhstani operator ARNA is deploying a mobile WiMAX service in 36 major centres throughout the country. ARNA, which is Kazakhstan's largest private provider of fixed-line telephone and Internet services, was awarded spectrum for a national WiMAX network earlier this year. The operator has awarded its network supply contract to South Korean WiMAX vendor Posdata. The contract is for 100 radio access stations, access control routers, a network management system and mobile terminals. Earlier this year Posdata won a mobile WiMAX contract in Uzbekistan.

For more on this story go to Cellular News

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TelisSonera goes for All-IP mobile backhaul

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:43:39 -0500

TeliaSonera will be backhauling the 2G and 3G traffic on its Finnish network over an All-IP infrastructure following the signing of a contract with RAD Data Communications. The Israeli vendor is supplying TeliaSonera with its ACE-3220 cellsite gateways which will be used to connect the fibre network to Cisco's7600 EDGE routers. TeliaSonera is one of the first mobile operators to upgrade to All-IP in order to support the growth of traffic driven by HSPA and the move to LTE.

For more on this story go to Telecomredux and Mobile Europe

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Kick starting the LBS market

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:36:40 -0500

A decade ago location-based services (LBS) seem to tick all the boxes for mobile operators in terms of revenue generation but to date LBS has failed to deliver on its promise. Revenues from LBS are minute compared to other mobile services and growth is very slow. This might be set to change. According to SIM card vendor Sagem Orga the key stumbling block holding back LBS has been the lack of affordable and accurate positioning technology. Now Sagem Orga has joined forces with BlueSky Positioning to resolve this issue by integrating A-GPS positioning technology on to SIM cards for the first time. The two companies are planning to incorporate a GPS receiver and proprietary antenna into SIM cards enabling operators to deploy LBS applications without the need for software or hardware upgrades.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe and Telecomredux

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Femtocells: Out of the home and into the streets

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:31:10 -0500

Major global operators today backed the vision of taking femtocells out of homes and offices into the wider environment as part of their Long Term Evolution (LTE) deployment. At the LTE World Summit in London, China Mobile, T-Mobile and Telus all expressed support for this idea that first was advanced by Vodafone earlier this year. Femtocell specialist picoChip gave reality to this concept by announcing further details of what is claimed to be the industry's first complete LTE picocell and femtocell reference designs. These new platforms will enable high capacity networks for metro, hot-zone and rural deployments. According to the picoChip view of LTE, all deployments will consist of small femtocell base stations. Speaking at the World Summit picoChip co-founder and CTO Doug Pulley stated that the macrocell was dead and that it was a fallacy to think that existing cellsites could be used for LTE services.

For more on this story go to Unstrung and Mobile Europe

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Mobilkom Austria pilots femtocells for residential and SoHo

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:15:23 -0500

Another European operator has gone public with its intent to use femtocells to improve 3G coverage for both residential and business users. Mobilkom Austria has selected 35 customers to trial the service until mid-2009, to be followed shortly by the commercial launch.

Apart from residential users, the company has named the hotel chain Austria Trend Hotels & Resorts der Verkehrsbüro Group, and the Vienna ARZ computing centre as among the first customers within the pilot project to use femtocells to improve their indoor coverage. Hannes Ametsreiter, CMO Mobilkom Austria, said this was the first femtocell pilot project with real customers in Central Europe, and would look to prove that quick and secure indoor network coverage could be provided using this particular technology.

The pilot would be run using two different femtocells, both provided by Huawei. One model is aimed at the residential market to provide connectivity for up to four mobile phones or data cards, while the second is aimed at the SoHo market providing connections for up to 16 users.

For more on this story go to:
Telecoms.com

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Blocking of mobile VoIP: EU interrogates MNOs

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:11:37 -0500

Each European MNO is being questioned by the European Union (EU) as to how they treat mobile VoIP calls over their networks. The involvement of the EU has been driven by operator clauses in their contracts that either block or exclude mobile VoIP traffic and as a consequence of European competition laws.

Operators had been requested to supply the EU anti-trust authorities with answers as to what "tools they used to control, manage and block, slow down or otherwise restrict or filter Internet-based voice calls."

While some operators such as KPN and Hutchison 3G publicly support mobile VoIP calls, with 3 selling handsets specifically designed to work with the Skype service, other MNOs either obstruct or ban outright the use of the technology across their networks. Last year, VoIP provider TruePhone threatened to sue Vodafone after the operator was alleged to be blocking calls over its VoIP network.

For more on this story go to:
Cellular News

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The IP in VoIP should be Instant Presence!

3 pledges 14.4Mbps in major UK cities by 2010

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:07:49 -0500

In an effort to gain subscriber attention, 3UK has outlined plans to provide customers in London and other major metropolitan areas access to mobile broadband speeds up to 14.4Mbps by Q3/2010. As an interim, the company has hinted speeds of up to 7.2Mbps could become available to 98 per cent of the UK population by mid-next year.

The company, which has gambled its reputation on its 3G capabilities, claims it has already completed a rollout to give more than 95 per cent of the UK's population access to 3.6Mbps using HSDPA. However, the company was unable to confirm when customers living in more rural areas would have access to these speeds.

It would appear the push to provide higher speeds in more areas is part of the company's strategy to broaden the use of 3G services helped by lower-cost handsets. "We need handsets at a price point that enable us to open that market up", said Kevin Russell, CEO of 3 UK. This was illustrated by the company's announcement of the new INQ handset last week that is tailored for use with the social networking site Facebook and Windows live, etc.

For more on this story go to:
Register Hardware

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Study finds increase in mobile marketing receptiveness and adoption

Paul Rasmussen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:12:12 -0500

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has issued a report that found overall interest in mobile marketing varies by geography. The US and Western Europe report comparable interest levels in mobile marketing, whereas similar interest levels are noted amongst mobile phone users in Asia Pacific and Latin American markets. One-in-four mobile users in the US and Western Europe express strong or moderate interest in mobile marketing. Interest levels are higher in Asia Pacific and Latin American markets where roughly one-half and two-thirds of mobile users respectively express strong or moderate interest. In all regions, "text-to-win" and interactive voting campaigns are the most common efforts in which mobile users have participated. Article

Femtocells: Softbank 'clarifies' strategy

Paul Rasmussen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:07:48 -0500

Being one of the few major operators to publicly announce its plans to deploy femtocells to provide additional network capacity, Japan's Softbank Mobile is now attempting to bury this marketing message by claiming femtocells are purely about providing improved coverage.

The company's Chief Strategy Officer, Tetsuzo Matsumoto, has now confirmed its femtocells are nothing to do with increasing capacity on its HSPA network, and this objective can only be achieved in the longer term once the interference issue between femtocells and the macro network had been resolved. Matsumoto stated there were many potential solutions to this interference problem, but a resolution was unlikely to appear within the next two to three years.

It would appear Softbank Mobile will continue with the deployment of its femtocells to provide additional coverage in rural areas and for business users--the company has come in for recent criticism over its network coverage when compared to its rivals in Japan.

For more on this story go to:
Ovum

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Motorola unveils radical European comeback strategy

Paul Rasmussen — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:04:02 -0500

For a company experiencing long-term upheaval, a dramatic reshaping of its European strategy was perhaps to be expected. Seemingly unworried by the consequences, Motorola has made the radical decision to focus its cellphone activities on a small number of countries in Western Europe together with concentrating its efforts by only working with two key partners: Carphone Warehouse and O2.

The apparent logic behind this new marketing focus is Motorola's strong relationship with Telefónica (O2's parent company), together with the retailing expertise of Carphone Warehouse across Europe--especially after this company sold around 400,000 pink Motorola RAZR devices in the run-up to Christmas 2005.

This move, which would involve a significant reduction in its European sales force, will also see no major handset announcements until this time next year.

The company made no comments on how it would manage the relationship with its other operators and retail partners, who would be expected to either be bemused or grossly affronted by Motorola's new approach to the European market.

This new strategy, which will not come into effect until the second half of 2009, is thought to be part of a wider plan to build up the handset division for a €1.4 billion sale or flotation of the group.

For more on this story go to:
Mobile Today

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Orange France slashes iPhone price

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:47:56 -0500

In a move that has confused the market, Orange France has dramatically cut the price for the 8GB iPhone to just €99, and the 16GB model for an eye-catching €129. The handsets were previously priced at €149 and €199 respectively.

The company has given no indication as to why it has adopted these new prices, with speculation centred on Orange looking to boost its pre-Christmas sales figures, or that the company has higher than expected inventory. O2 and T-Mobile did offer steep discounts on 2G iPhones leading up to the launch of the 3G.

Industry chatter also indicates O2 is working on a strategy to enable it to negotiate iPhone pricing with potential subscribers, a subject currently strictly forbidden in their contract with Apple. However, all of this conjecture around iPhone end-user pricing has to be judged on the estimated US$500 operators pay to Apple for each iPhone.

Balance these prices in comparison to the €640 price for the 8GB iPhone that has just been launched in Bulgaria by the mobile operator Global--which is ultimately owned by Deutsche Telekom. To make matters worse, 3G and Wi-Fi coverage in Bulgaria remains very patchy.

For more on this story go to:
Ars Technica

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New acquisitions to be funded by disposals, says Vodafone CEO

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:43:04 -0500

While the investment community digested Vodafone's first half financial results, the new CEO, Vittorio Colao, quietly let slip he would be adopting a more cautious approach to future acquisitions than had been adopted by his predecessors.

Colao indicated Vodafone's expansion into developing countries might be nearing completion, saying there were few new markets that attracted his interest. Building on this theme, Colao said any large acquisition would probably have to be funded through disposals--a distinct reversal from the past strategy and the first time Vodafone has taken such a conservative position.

One obvious outcome from this revised strategy will be to give fresh impetus to the ongoing speculation Vodafone will sell off its Verizon Wireless shareholding, albeit that Colao made no comment on this subject. What he does want, apparently, is consolidation between mobile operators in existing markets, notably Europe, with an indication that the company was willing, for the first time, to buy rivals.

For more on this story go to:
Financial Times

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Hydrogen-powered base stations tested by T-Mobile

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:37:29 -0500

T-Mobile Hungary has commissioned the first cellular base stations in the country to be operated with hydrogen-based Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) cells--a process where electrical energy is generated when hydrogen ions merge with oxygen.

The company claims the primary use of PEM cells will be for the supply of emergency power to base stations and, given it has no moving parts and is silent in operation, T-Mobile expects the technology to offer a realistic ROI by reducing energy consumption and operational costs.

Separately, Huawei has confirmed it has signed a contract with T-Mobile in the Czech Republic to replace all its current base stations and base station controllers--a total of 4500 base stations and 150 controllers. T-Mobile said that some of the equipment had been working for more than 12 years, and was becoming increasingly difficult to upgrade in order to provide significantly higher capacity.

For more on this story go to:
Cellular News and Telecom Tiger

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