O2: "We won't do a Carphone with laptops"
O2 UK chief Ronan Dunne reckons O2 would "lack ambition" if it were to follow current model for laptop retail in mobile space
Telefonica O2 UK chief executive Ronan Dunne (pictured) said last week O2 will not sell laptops in the manner of rival network and multiple retailers. Dunne said such a move would be a step back, towards an old box-shifting model of mobile retail.
O2 will likely range laptops in its stores early next year, but will work web content and services into the bundles to drive mobile broadband revenues. O2 wants devices optimised to drive traffic across the O2 network, whether that is mobile phones or laptops.
He said: "If O2 is just moving laptops sold in PC World and Carphone Warehouse, then we lack ambition. If a connected world is a better world, the question is how to move that model forward."
Dunne explained: "We are seeing a huge uplift in the laptop market in the UK at the same time as a surge in mobile broadband sales, and I'm not sure which is driving which.
"But all that is really happening is the mobile model is being replicated [in the laptop sales]. That doesn't give value to customers. We have to innovate around this whole connected world."
He added: "Next year, you will see significant innovation from us in the whole connected world space, beyond just shifting hardware."
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, o2
21Mbps mobile broadband a reality
Ericsson and Telstra have achieved an industry first in Australia: the successful activation of HSPA Evolution functionality capable of peak network speeds up to 21 Mbps into the Telstra Next G(TM)commercial network and the world's first data call on the newly-enabled network. For the first time, a commercial network makes use of the enhanced, standardized improvements called HSPA Evolution.
This enhancement adds a new dimension to broadband experience withthe capability for significantly faster internet browsing and file download, even faster than many fixed broadband connections. With HSPA Evolution, operators will increase the capacity in the networks and reduce the costs to deliver Mobile Broadband services.
This improvement is the first step of HSPA Evolution, also known as HSPA+. The improvement is provided by enhancements standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), bringing the maximum possible downlink speed for HSPA to 21Mbps, much higher than the current maximum of 14Mbps. The step to 21Mbps is obtained by using a higher-order modulation, called 64QAM that makes it possible for HSPA systems to send data bits with a higher rate. Future steps in the HSPA Evolution path include technologies like Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technologies and multi-carrier transmission. By combining these improvements, downlink speeds over 80Mbps and uplink speeds over 20Mbps will be possible. 21Mbps is the peak network downlink speed. Actual customer download speeds can be less and will vary due to congestion, distance from the cell, local conditions, hardware, software and other factors.
Labels: industry insight, LTE, mobile broadband
