Four billion mobile connections reached
The world passed its four billionth mobile connection this week, passing another milestone along the road to the ubiquitous wireless connectivity of every human being.
The first commercial citywide cellular network was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979 and it took 23 years for one billion mobiles to be connected. The two billion mark was passed in 2005, with the three billion milestone passed in 2007 and the historic 'tipping point' where 50% of all human beings are carrying a mobile phone was reached in Q2, 2008.
Further growth in emerging markets such as China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan, plus the integration of previously unconnected devices are expected to push the number of global connections to six billion in 2013. There are only 6.7 billion human beings.
Mobile Broadband accounts for just 100 million of the four billion mobile connections, compared with 1.1 billion fixed broadband lines. Given the rapid penetration of mobile into the global community, mobile broadband can be expected to accelerate from this point too. Notably, with fixed line broadband included, broadband connectivity now reaches one sixth of the world's population.
Meanwhile, in the uk, new figures from Ofcom this week have revealed that the number of UK broadband connections is nearing the 17 million mark.
The regulator's latest Telecommunications Market data tables show that up to the end of Q3 last year, there were just over 16.9 million active residential and small business broadband lines in the UK.
The tables, which detail the broadband connections between 2006 and Q3 2008, show that during this period there were slight market share falls for industry leaders BT Retail and Virgin Media.
In the case of BT, this is largely due to the increase in broadband connections using local loop unbundling (LLU). These line connections are provided by the likes of TalkTalk and Sky who have installed their own equipment in the telephone exchange - meaning they can offer users discounted prices and so called 'free' broadband services.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband
Government moves to settle mobile broadband spectrum dispute
Lord Carter, the communications minister, has today called a meeting with the UK's five mobile phone networks as he tries to thrash out a deal that will help achieve his ambition of universal broadband access by 2012.
The former head of regulator Ofcom is attempting to get the UK's two original mobile phone networks, Vodafone and O2 – formerly Cellnet – to share a slice of the airwaves they were given in the 1980s, so that rivals T-Mobile, Orange and 3 can use it for mobile broadband services.
Lord Carter, in his initial Digital Britain report last month, said the mobile phone companies must thrash out a compromise on sharing the airwaves by the end of April or the government would impose a solution.
The slice of the airwaves controlled by O2 and Vodafone is important to the introduction of universal broadband because it is at a low frequency, which means signals can travel over longer distances.
O2 and Vodafone, understandably, are reluctant to give up their spectrum at the 900 MHz frequency unless the government offers them a sweetener by giving them a slice of the airwaves freed up by the switch-off of the analogue TV signal.
Labels: industry insight, network coverage, quick-news
Vodafone and 3 merge Australian businesses
Vodafone Australia and Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) are to merge business creating a new business, VHA (Vodafone Hutchison Australia). Airtime services will be sold under the Vodafone brand,
Both companies will hold 50 per cent ownership of the new venture.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, quick-news
Huawei to deliver 'smarter' mobile broadband dongles
Huawei are to Embed Network Diagnostic Tools into their 3G Modems.
Carrier IQ has announced that its diagnostic software is to be embedded within a new range of 3G modems from Huawei. The cards will incorporate a diagnostic engine to enable carriers to optimize and improve data performance using Carrier IQ's suite of analysis tools.
Announcing the partnership, Carrier IQ CEO, Mark Quinlivan, said: "These new cards will make for smoother delivery of mobile data services, improvements in customer care services, identification of network coverage gaps and increased awareness of actual user behavior."
"Everybody wins," he added, "the manufacturer of the card, the network operator, but most importantly of all, the actual subscriber to mobile data services."
Labels: dongle, industry insight, mobile broadband
Orange mobile internet base up by 86 per cent
Orange UK's latest Digital Media Index report indicated an increase in the network's total number of mobile customers to 15.8 million at September 30. It also reported 1.02 million home broadband customers.
The network reported an average of 1.485 billion text messages per month, 3.971 billion call minutes per month and 185,823 GB of mobile data per month.
The number of mobile broadband dongle subscriptions increased by over 2,000 per cent since January last year, while the number of mobile internet customers on 3G handsets and dongles was 2.9 million. It said the mobile internet customer base had increased by 86 per cent, with 1.3 million customers added.
Orange also reported on average more than 276,555 full music tracks are downloaded every month from the Orange Music Store, an increase of 10.5 per cent since last year's Orange Digital Media Index.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, Orange
Ofcom review UK mobile broadband spectrum
bbc.co.uk reports that UK regulator Ofcom looks set to change the way it sells off the airwaves freed up by the shift to digital TV.
It is planning to make a wider band of spectrum available for mobile broadband services than originally proposed. A move that has been welcomed by mobile operators who say it will make for cheaper and more flexible services.
Originally Ofcom promised to safeguard spectrum in the 800Mhz band for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV services, but now it proposes to make the whole 800MHz band available for mobile broadband and related services and find "alternative spectrum" for wireless microphones and digital terrestrial TV.
For digital terrestrial TV viewers, it will mean that set-top boxes will have to be retuned, something Ofcom described as "a simple procedure that usually takes a few minutes to complete".
"Ofcom has realised that there is momentum in Europe for mobile broadband so has had to co-operate," said Matthew Howett, an analyst with research firm Ovum.
Finland, France, Sweden, and Switzerland have already decided to release the wider block of spectrum for mobile broadband services and if the UK follows suit it will mean lower equipment prices for consumers.
T-Mobile's head of regulatory affairs, Robyn Durie, welcomed the move. "It is good news for us. Mobile broadband needs a big chunk of spectrum and previously we didn't have that," she said. "It means that consumers will be able to use the same services abroad that they can use at home."
Read the full article here.
Labels: industry insight, LTE, mobile broadband
Mobile broadband 'to become increasingly widespread'
Mobile broadband has proved to be popular among UK consumers and is likely to become increasingly widespread, according to one expert. Tim Lord, regulatory director at Hutchison 3G (UK), said Britain had already become a converged communications landscape.
Speaking at the Joint Westminster eForum & Westminster Media Forum keynote seminar, titled Digital Britain, he said: "Mobile broadband has been an enormous success in the UK."
He cited figures from communications regulator Ofcom which show that around 12% of consumers have swapped fixed-line broadband for mobile broadband. He added that around 15% are currently thinking about making such a switch.
However, he said that for internet access via mobile devices to really take off, coverage will have to be improved and backhaul capacity will have to be increased.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, quick-news
Digital Britain - the mobile broadband perspective
The UK's Department of Culture, Media and Sport today published the interim Digital Britain report. Here are a couple of extracts relating specifically to the future of mobile broadband.
Action 6 - We are specifying a Wireless Radio Spectrum Modernisation Programme consisting of five elements:
- Resolving the future of existing 2G radio spectrum through a structured framework, allowing existing operators to re-align their existing holdings, re-use the spectrum and start the move to next generation mobile services.
- Making available more radio spectrum suitable for next generation mobile services.
- Greater investment certainty for existing 3G operators: The Government wishes to encourage the maximum commercially-sensible investment in network capacity and coverage…(E)xisting time-limited licences could be made indefinite and subject instead to AIP beyond the end of the current term.
- Greater network sharing: the Government and Ofcom will consider further network sharing, spectrum or carrier-sharing proposals from the operators, particularly where these can lead to greater coverage and are part of the mobile operator's contribution to a broadband universal service commitment.
- Commitments by the mobile operators to push out the coverage of mobile broadband eventually to replicate 2G coverage and mark their significant contribution to the broadband universal service commitment.
Action 17 - We will develop plans for a digital Universal Service Commitment to be effective by 2012, delivered by a mixture of fixed and mobile, wired and wireless means. Subject to further study of the costs and benefits, we will set out our plans for the level of service which we believe should be universal.
You can
read the industry reaction to the report in this Guardian article.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband
Eight key mobile technologies for 2009/2010
Gartner says that it has identified eight mobile technologies that will evolve significantly through 2010, impacting short-term mobile strategies and policies.
"All mobile strategies embed assumptions about technology evolution so it's important to identify the technologies that will evolve quickly in the life span of each strategy," said Nick Jones, vice president at Gartner. "The eight mobile technologies that we have pinpointed as ones to watch in 2009 and 2010 will have broad effects and, as such, are likely to pose issues to be addressed by short-term strategies and policies."
Gartner's eight mobile technologies to watch in 2009 and 2010:
- Bluetooth 3.0 -The Bluetooth 3.0 specification will be released in 2009 (at which point its feature set will be frozen), with devices starting to arrive around 2010. Bluetooth 3.0 will likely include features such as ultra-low-power mode that will enable new devices, such as peripherals and sensors, and new applications, such as health monitoring.
- Mobile User Interfaces (UIs) - UIs have a major effect on device usability and supportability. They will also be an area of intense competition in 2009 and 2010, with manufacturers using UIs to differentiate their handsets and platforms. New and more-diverse UIs will complicate the development and support of business-to-employee (B2E) and business-to-consumer (B2C) applications.
- Location Sensing - Location awareness makes mobile applications more powerful and useful; in the future, location will be a key component of contextual applications. Location sensing will also enhance systems, such as mobile presence and mobile social networking.
- 802.11n - 802.11n boosts Wi-Fi data rates to between 100 Mbps and 300 Mbps, and the multiple-input, multiple-output technology used by 802.11n offers the potential for better coverage in some situations. 802.11n is likely to be a long-lived standard that will define Wi-Fi performance for several years. High-speed Wi-Fi is desirable to stream media around the home and office.
- Display Technologies - Displays constrain many characteristics of both mobile devices and applications. During 2009 and 2010, several new display technologies will impact the marketplace, including active pixel displays, passive displays and pico projectors. Pico projectors enable new mobile use cases (for example, instant presentations projected on a desktop to display information in a brief, face-to-face sales meeting).
- Mobile Web and Widgets - The mobile Web is emerging as a low-cost way to deliver simple mobile applications to a range of devices. It has some limitations that will not be addressed by 2010 (for example, there will be no universal standards for browser access to handset services, such as the camera or GPS). However, the mobile Web offers a compelling total cost of ownership (TCO) advantage over thick-client applications. Widgets (small mobile Web applets) are supported by many mobile browsers, and provide a way to stream simple feeds to handsets and small screens.
- Cellular Broadband - Wireless broadband exploded in 2008, driven by the availability of technologies such as high-speed downlink packet access and high-speed uplink packet access, combined with attractive pricing from cellular operators. The performance of high-speed packet access (HSPA) provides a megabit or two of bandwidth in uplink and downlink directions, and often more. In many regions, HSPA provides adequate connectivity to replace Wi-Fi "hot spots," and the availability of mature chipsets enables organizations to purchase laptops with built-in cellular modules that provide superior performance to add-on cards or dongles.
- Near Field Communication (NFC) - NFC provides a simple and secure way for handsets to communicate over distances of a centimeter or two. NFC is emerging as a leading standard for applications such as mobile payment, with successful trials conducted in several countries. It also has wider applications, such as "touch to exchange information" (for example, to transfer an image from a handset to a digital photo frame, or for a handset to pick up a virtual discount voucher).
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband
HSPA+ rollout likely prior migration to LTE
A significant number of mobile operators will be upgrading from HSPDA to HSPA+ technology as an interim stop gap before eventually migrating to LTE, according to the latest report from EJL Wireless Research entitled "3GPP Release 7 HSPA+ (Evolved HSPA) Network Migration Analysis."
"LTE technology remains on the longer term horizon but HSPA+ is here and now. The increase of UMTS downlink speeds of up to 21Mbps peak will significantly improve the consumer's mobile broadband experience." said founder and President Earl Lum.
"Given the economic uncertainty through 2009 and 2010, it is clear that mobile operators will upgrade to HSPA+ technology during 2009-2011." said Lum.
The full report is currently available for purchase and information can be downloaded at
ejlwireless.com.
Labels: haspa+, industry insight, LTE, mobile broadband
BT to re-enter mobile market?
BT is considering plans to form a joint venture with T-Mobile and 3 Mobile.
Eight years ago, BT spun off its mobile arm, Cellnet, in a bid to raise capital to cut its debt. Cellnet went on to become O2 and was acquired in 2007 by Telefonica for the £18 billion.
T-Mobile and 3 already share their radio networks and have signed a number of agreements; the most significant of which was a new company they both created in December 2007 called Mobile Broadband Network limited. The trio have already worked together with T-mobile and 3 agreeing with BT to use their 21CN solution.
BT tried to launch a mobile network a few years ago, called Fusion as it partnered with Vodafone to become an MVNO. It proved to be a costly mistake with less than 50,000 customers signing over two years.
BT doesn't have much of a choice. It is possibly the only big telecommunications company in the world that doesn't have a powerful mobile arm and this is leaving it vulnerable to competitors and the acceleration of mobile broadband takeup.
Labels: BT Mobile, industry insight
Netbook sales to reach 139 million units
Shipments of mini-laptops are expected to quadruple over the next four years, luring users with the right combination of size, price, and functionality, a research firm said Monday.
Mini-laptops, also called netbooks, are expected to grow in popularity mostly because of the failure of smaller mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and smartphones to deliver sufficient functionality to satisfy computer users on the road.
"In recent years, the industry still expected the smartphones to be more than they turned out to be, and most recently, MIDs were thought to be the next big mobile devices segment, but an unclear usage model continues to confuse the market," ABI analyst Kevin Burden said in a statement. "So today, netbooks' time has come, and ABI Research expects them to enjoy very strong market growth."
Smartphones, however, did a lot to pave the way for netbooks. The devices, which began as a convergence of personal digital assistants and cellular phones, introduced consumers to what was possible in mobile communications and Web access, ABI said.
ABI isn't alone in projecting strong growth in the netbook market, joining Gartner and IDC. However, the mini-laptops, which sell for as little as £180, have also had their problems with consumers. The rate of return for the devices has been higher than standard notebooks, primarily because of a failure to meet performance expectations.
Biz360, a market intelligence firm, found that netbooks get a 40% lower rating from consumers than other laptops. The findings were based on an analysis of 20,000 online opinions culled from consumer reviews on retail sites between May 15 and Nov. 15.
While vendors often portray netbooks as offering strong performance, the systems' low-power processors are best suited for basic computing needs, such as e-mail and Web browsing.
This report contradicts the
views of AMD that we reported last week. Honestly, we believe AMD are more accurate in their predictions.
See the full range of netbook and notebook deals currently available with mobile brodband.
Labels: industry insight, laptop, mobile broadband, netbook
UK Privacy - Your Email to be stored for the government to access
In less than two months, British Internet service providers will be required to maintain records on U.K. citizens' e-mail traffic.
The Home Office has ordered providers to retain records of all e-mail sent and received in the country for at least 12 months, beginning March 15. The government said it aims to increase national security and help prevent terrorism by requiring ISPs to capture and store the information. New European Commission rules will allow public agencies to access ISP data if they make a legal request.
The plan, which could cost the country's government £25 million, has drawn fire from ISPs and privacy advocates. Aside from being an invasion of privacy, the mandate can't guarantee the records would be protected from data breaches, critics said. They also point out that such a database could actually increase risks of criminal activity by placing an extraordinary amount of personal information in one place.
The requirement applies to e-mail sent by foreigners to UK citizens, but it doesn't cover the actual content of the e-mail.
The Information Commissioner's Office, which aims to protect privacy, issued the following statement opposing the plan:
"It is likely that such a scheme would be a step too far for the British way of life. Creating huge databases containing personal information is never a risk-free option, as it is not possible to fully eliminate the danger that the data will fall into the wrong hands. It is therefore of paramount importance that proposals threatening such intrusion into our lives are fully debated."
Labels: industry insight, quick-news
3G/4G convergence a reality in the US
In the 'States, Franklin Wireless and Beceem Communications have partnered to revolutionize the mobile broadband user experience with the introduction of the world's first dual-mode 3G CDMA/4G WiMAX USB Modem, the Franklin U300.
The U300 was commercially released by Sprint on December 17th 2008 and is the first USB modem that can be used on Sprint's existing 3G CDMA network and on Clearwire's 4G WiMAX network. The U300 incorporates Beceem's high-performance Mobile WiMAX chipset alongside an EVDO-Rev A chip.
Labels: industry insight, LTE, mobile broadband, quick-news
Mobile broadband popularity surges in Europe
According to a recent study from IDC, mobile broadband has grown rapidly in popularity among European consumers during the past 18 months. This rapid consumer uptake has been catalyzed by four main factors:
- The upgrading of 3G networks with HSPA
- The availability of small USB connection devices
- A fall in the price of subscriptions
- A rise in consumer penetration of portable PCs
"Mobile broadband presents a big land-grab opportunity, both now and for several years to come," said John Delaney, IDC's European director of consumer mobile research. "But although the service is simple in concept, its role in the consumer services market is complex. Mobility is only one among a variety of reasons why consumers like mobile broadband. Success in the market will depend critically on a clear understanding of how mobile broadband should be positioned in the spectrum of mobile and Internet services."
Mobile broadband is a new source of revenue for mobile operators and improves the use of 3G networks; unlike other new mobile services such as TV and gaming, it relates directly to a telcos' core business. "However, it also substitutes for fixed-line broadband in some circumstances, cannibalizing existing revenues," said Delaney. "As such, it is important for operators with both fixed and mobile networks to understand what factors are driving demand for mobile broadband, what is likely to happen to those factors over the next few years, and what strategies they should adopt to take maximum advantage of the opportunity."
Further Findings:
- European operators sorely need new service revenues, and mobile broadband promises to satisfy that need by generating revenue that is new and entirely incremental to existing revenue streams
- The combination of a strongly growing addressable market with prices at fixed-broadband levels, and in increasingly flexible packages, will ensure that consumer demand for mobile broadband remains strong for some time to come
- The global recession, however, could slow down the penetration of portable PCs and therefore the addressable market for mobile broadband. It may also make consumers more reluctant to commit to a new service contract
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband
More clarity over mobile broadband download speeds
The Guardian reports that consumers are to be given much more information about the connection speeds they can expect to receive when they sign up to mobile broadband services under a new code of conduct being drawn up by the UK's networks.
Sales of mobile "dongles" – devices that enable PCs and laptops to access the internet using a mobile phone network rather than a landline – have rocketed, with over a million sold last year as prices came down to as little as £10 a month.
The new code will focus on hints and tips for consumers that will help improve the performance of their mobile broadband service. But the operators are unlikely to be able to provide customers with a clear estimate of the speed they can expect to receive. That is because the performance of the mobile phone networks depends not only on exactly where the user is located but on how many other people are using the network at the same time.
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband, quick-news
UK 4G Spectrum giveaway?
The Times reports today, that instead of selling slices of spectrum to the highest bidder, the communications minister Lord Carter is examining proposals to give away spectrum to companies in exchange for a pledge to invest nationally in super-fast broadband access.
The idea is expected to form part of his interim Digital Britain report, due for release on January 26, which will propose a range of measures to prepare the country for the future boom in internet commerce.
The new scheme is being promoted by Nesta, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. Under its "Spectrum for Speed" strategy, Jonathan Kestenbaum, Nesta's chief executive, argues that giving away licences to the value of £5 billion with strings attached would accelerate the roll-out of broadband to remote and disadvantaged parts of Britain at speeds of up to 100 megabits a second.
"The case for this type of deal is compelling," Kestenbaum said. "In unprecedented economic times, we have to think imaginatively about how we can invest in big infrastructure projects while not cutting off large swathes of communities from economic and social development." Nesta said the plan could create 600,000 new jobs over the next five years.
Carter will impose a service obligation on broadband operators and mobile firms to provide basic broadband for all, but he has hinted the government would have to play a financial role in launching high-speed networks.
Read the full article:
TV giveaway to fund high-speed internetLabels: industry insight, mobile broadband, quick-news
Mobile operators must upgrade networks and business models
A new whitepaper published by communications market research firm Infonetics Research examines four mobile broadband trends that are building up to a "perfect storm" in the mobile world; trends that present as many challenges as they do opportunities for mobile operators.
The free white paper,
The Mobile Internet Transformation, says the dramatic acceleration in mobile data services, resulting in 400% to 800% year-on-year traffic increases in some geographies, is being driven by these four major trends:
- Rapid growth in high speed mobile broadband services based on HSPA, EV-DO, and WiMAX
- The proliferation of devices that consume enormous amounts of bandwidth, including mobile broadband dongles on laptops and a new generation of smartphones (most notably the iPhone)
- Web 2.0 applications, many of which have made the transition from the wired world to the mobile world (e.g., Google Maps, YouTube)
- Flat rate all-you-can-eat data plans offered by mobile operators that have accelerated consumption of and revenue for mobile data services,but that have spurred the need for solutions that help operators deploy and monetize differentiated, premium services
"With the growth of the mobile Internet, users expect an 'Internet everywhere' experience, whether using their laptops, handsets, or other mobile devices. This puts tremendous pressure on mobile operators to move orders of magnitude more traffic for an order of magnitude lower cost per bit. Our The Mobile Internet Transformation whitepaper offers some strategies to help mobile operators rise to the challenge," says Stéphane Téral, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure at Infonetics Research and lead author of the whitepaper.
Read the white paper:
The Mobile Internet TransformationLabels: industry insight, mobile broadband, quick-news
Dell offer 256GB Solid State Drives
Dell is doing its part to usher in the age of the super-sized solid-state drive. For the first time, Dell laptops can be configured with the newest large-capacity SSDs from Samsung. A year ago laptop buyers were stuck with 64GB maximum if they wanted SDD.
What a difference a year makes. On Friday, Dell quadrupled this to 256GB. The Samsung SSD is now available as an option on Dell's XPS M1330 and M1730 laptop lines. Apple announced a 256GB SSD option on its MacBook Pro on 6th January.
Labels: industry insight, laptop, netbook, quick-news
Mobile Internet to grow rapidly by next year
There are more than one billion Internet users around the globe, but a new study from ReportLinker said that number could be dwarfed by the amount of mobile Web surfers in a few years.
The report, titled "Mobile Internet 2010," said there are more than 4 billion wireless subscribers globally and many of these will be using their handset as the main Internet terminal. But in order for that potential to be achieved, the report said carriers need to boost their networks, and handsets makers need to do a better job of incorporating Web services into a phone's user interface.
Carriers have poured billions into deploying their 3G networks globally, and the adoption rate is picking up. By June 2008, there are more than 235 million WCDMA 3G subscribers, representing a 6.4% mobile penetration rate. Additionally, about 100 million subscribers used the EVDO 3G network. Increasing the coverage and availability of 3G data will lead to more mobile Web users, the report said.
Even with a large 3G footprint, users won't rapidly use the mobile Web unless there is a clear design that adds value to the customer, the report said. Handsets like the T-Mobile G1 and the HTC Touch Pro are examples of UIs that utilize an Internet connection for things like widgets, and one-touch Internet icons.
The mobile Web also has the potential to be a lucrative field if it can integrate location. By utilizing GPS, cell tower triangulation, or other means to utilize the user's presence could potentially lead to innovative services, as well as targeted advertising. Web advertising giant Google created the mobile operating system Android to capitalize on this potential, and the company sees a lucrative future with the mobile Web.
"The iPhone was the first mobile device with a good Web browser, and more such devices will follow," said Google (NSDQ: GOOG)'s CEO Eric Schmidt in an interview. "Advertising will then become very personal. In a few years, mobile advertising will generate more revenue than advertising on the normal Web."
Labels: industry insight, mobile broadband
