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Wireless Federation » archive for 'UMTS'

Sony Ericsson announces new shining slim T700

  • August 7th, 2008
  • 11:24 am

Sony Ericsson has announced the slim and elegant T700. his flawless phone combines timeless design and premium
features for the mainstream market.

  * The perfect slim elegant phone - slick stick design with premium
    metal finish
  * 3.2 megapixel camera - snap a great shot and share with
    your friends via your blog or web page
  * High quality stereo speakers - share your music with friends
  * Colour matched headset - colour co-ordinate your accessorie with
    your phone
  * High speed sharing - via the operator network or Bluetooth(TM)
  * 512MB memory card memory in box - and even more to expand
  * 2″ TFT display - add more emotion when you’re in motion, download
    film clips and view in vivid colours

The T700 is a slim elegant phone for the mass market. The T700 is a GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 UMTS/HSDPA 2100 phone
that will be available in selected markets in the colours Black on Silver, Black on Red and Shining Silver from early Q4 of 2008.

   

America Movil Peru launches 3G network (Peru)

  • April 11th, 2008
  • 1:02 pm

Peruvian mobile operator America Movil, which operates under the group’s preferred banner of Claro, has launched a 3G network, writes BNamericas. According to the report, Claro’s new UMTS network offers download speeds of up to 1.44Mbps and supports both laptop and handset users. The network is initially available in the capital Lima and neighboring port city Callao, as well as in the municipalities of Chilca, Asia, San Antonio and Mala, all located in Canete province, south of Lima. Claro said that it expects to expand the service nationwide in the future, without providing a timetable for the plan.

   

 

 

4G: Glitz, glamour or the grave?

  • February 28th, 2008
  • 2:49 pm

The lucrative promise of 4G is luring mobile operators to announce their migration plans in an effort to ensure their brands are viewed as cutting edge, followed by massive investment to overhaul their existing networks while betting on a long-term payback. As operators introduce mobile data services to the mass market today, it is imperative that they are perceived by the customer as “sexy” and of a very high quality level. The problem is that mobile operators currently involved in early data trials over 3G HSPA/EVDO networks are experiencing many problems that must be overcome before a 4G migration can even be considered. Beyond technical network issues, new problems related to service quality and availability are challenging the operators. Because many of these issues have never been seen before, most operators are ill equipped to address them.

Network-level issues

As mobile operators embark on a migration path with the eventual goal of 4G, they will experience a burst in network usage. The impact will be the same as that experienced after the deployment of DSL: the network resource impact from the shift of analog modems to DSL was enormous. The evolutionary path from 3G to 4G will result in a similar phenomenon.

Historically, access has been a bottleneck for data services, with the core network tailored to the access bottleneck. Thus the evolution of access from 3G to 3.75G (HSPA) and then to 4G must proceed in tandem with the migration of the legacy core network to an all-IP core network, while simultaneously supporting legacy voice services and introducing new high bandwidth data services. To achieve this, active network monitoring and ultra-fast reaction times become of paramount importance.

Monitoring the network is not simple, however. There are many signaling exchanges and interfaces involved during data transactions, each giving a different level of visibility into network and service issues. While deploying probes everywhere in the network is unaffordable and inefficient, there are key network points that provide the required visibility.

For example, in a UMTS HSPA network, one of the key interfaces is the Gn, which represents the focal point where user data can be analyzed and where services can be associated to the individual or to groups of subscribers.

By combining information from the control plane and the user plane in the Gn interface, operators can extract several kinds of information such as subscriber ’group’ behavior, QoS, quality of experience (QoE, described below) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). By correlating the control and user planes, the operator now has visibility into how users affect the network and how the network affects the users.

Service-level issues

Compared with voice, mobile data services require many new monitoring and troubleshooting techniques. This is mainly due to the fact that for voice, it is generally assumed that simple network metrics (e.g. those associated with classics QoS) can ensure good voice quality from users’ perspective – especially for legacy networks such as SS7 and ISDN.

For data services, this does not always apply. For data services, QoE – that is, understanding how the user experiences the service – now becomes the important metric.

In addition to latency, delay and jitter, which are well-understood by operators, new measurement types must be mastered in order to troubleshoot data services and ensure high QoE, including TCP statistics (such as retransmissions, resets, round-trip time and set-up time provide a window into quality of sessions), packet loss (essentially ‘jitter’ for streaming data services), protocol anomalies (how malformed packets effect TCP and UDP transmissions), throughput per session (the actual data rate the call is occupying) and traffic per session (how much aggregate bandwidth the call used).

Additionally, the ability to proactively address potential problems before the user experiences them becomes important. By correlating real-time analysis on user and group-level behavior with actual network and node behavior, the operator can predict and alarm on emerging service issues such as network congestion, service breakdown and roaming/handoff problems. For example, a monitoring system can generate alarms based upon thresholds to detect degradations of specific traffic indicators grouped by various destinations.

Another important requirement is a fast reaction cycle from the time the front office receives a trouble ticket to the time the back office is able to determine the root cause of the problem. Issue resolution will now be measured in minutes, rather than hours or days. Again, effective use of troubleshooting and monitoring tools are mandatory. For example, the operator should have the ability to rapidly drill down on detail records such as calls, transactions and multimedia services, and also to search by variables such as phone, transaction and video ID.

Further they should have the ability to recover and zoom in on any element of the frame(s) related to that traffic.

High stakes

Before considering a migration path towards a 4G infrastructure, mobile operators need to address the complexities and issues associated with current 3.5G and 3.75G technologies. A new generation of test and monitoring tools exists that can enhance the success of these deployments and accelerate the migration path towards 4G. These tools provide visibility into both network and service issues and correlate them to ensure the highest QoS and QoE achieved for both legacy voice and new mobile data services.

The stakes are high, however. Selection and proper utilization of the right troubleshooting and monitoring tools will help the operator achieve glitz and glamour in the eyes of the customer, while improper selection and utilization will hasten the operators inevitable trip to the grave.

   

 

Seeker Wireless Powers Location for Mobile Advertising

  • February 14th, 2008
  • 2:16 pm

Seeker Wireless has released SeekerZone—a new innovative solution for mobile advertising that applies location to standard cellular handsets to drive adoption of mobile advertising. The SeekerZone Mobile Advertising Platform provides the ability to define advertising zones around specific locations, which are used to send targeted advertisements that are location-relevant. It uses a powerful algorithm to inform a mobile ad server when a user enters and is inside a pre-defined zone, down to tens of metres without the need to regularly poll the handset.

Following the successful delivery of SeekerZone to deliver Fixed Mobile Substitution solutions for operators such as Vodafone, Seeker Wireless has extended its patent pending zone detection technology to provide a carrier-grade location platform for mobile advertising. The technology is an accurate, reliable and cost-effective solution to apply location to existing GSM and UMTS handsets, without using GPS or any special facilities in the cellular network.

Seeker Wireless’ flexible platform can be used by mobile operators to location-enable existing advertising inventory, and by mobile portals wanting to deliver location aware content to the widest possible audience. The platform provides a low cost alternative to existing network-based or GPS approaches.

   
 

Amobee, Vodafone Italia launch ad-funded mobile video (Italy)

  • January 24th, 2008
  • 9:09 am

Amobee Media Systems has been selected by Vodafone Italia to offer ad-funded mobile video content to the operator’s Italian customers. The service, called FreeVideo, allows Vodafone Italia UMTS users to access local and branded video content for free in return for receiving relevant commercial messages from major brands. Amobee is providing the centralised ad-server to integrate relevant and dynamic commercial messages. UMTS users with a video-enabled handset can watch free news, sport, comedy and music clips from media brands such as e-Class, Dorna and Digital Magics. Amobee instantly processes the user’s profile and contextual information and selects a relevant pre-roll video ad, followed by the video content and then a post-roll ad.

Amobee and Vodafone Italia have brought together a set of partners to enable the launch of FreeVideo. QuickPlay Media is powering the streaming of video content with its OpenVideo service delivery platform. QuickPlay is also enabling dynamic real-time stitching of ads provided by the Amobee platform and FreeVideo content and will also provide advanced reporting including measurement of key metrics. Dada’s advertising agency Dada Ad will be responsible for recruiting and managing the relationship with advertisers.

   

Mobitel Slovenia offers m:stik USB phone service (Slovenia)

  • December 11th, 2007
  • 2:47 pm

Mobile service provider Mobitel Slovenia has introduced a fixed-line mobile-internet convergence service called m:stik. The m:stik service is the successor to the m:komunikator service, introduced in the summer, which enables users to make video calls between computers and mobile phones on Mobitel’s UMTS network. Mobitel’s m:stik service allows users to equip their internet-connected desktop or laptop computer with the functions of the mobile phone that include SMS and MMS messaging, as well as video telephony. Calls made through m:stik abroad are charged at the same rates as on Mobilte’s home network, while received calls are free of charge. The m:stik service also enables users to use the short MPO numbers of business virtual private mobile networks, when making and receiving calls at home or abroad. All the hardware and software is located on a handy USB key, so the service doesn’t require any software installation. The m:stik service allows the user to keep his or her mobile phone number, so that he or she is also reachable when using the mobile phone or the m:stik on a desktop or notebook computer. M:stick is priced at EUR 59, and has a monthly subscription fee of EUR 7.49 and an activation charge of EUR 4.99.

   

Orange Romania launches fixed telephony service (Romania)

  • November 1st, 2007
  • 2:06 pm

Orange Romania has launched a bundled telephony/broadband service targeting business and residential customers. The so-called Home & Office Packs provide fixed line telephony and broadband internet access via HSDPA and include a SIM card and an HDSPA terminal. The terminal enables users to simultaneously use voice and data services, via Wi-Fi and through a regular network cable, for one or more computers. Home & Office Pack plans cost 12 EUR, 24 EUR or 36 EUR, depending on the number of minutes and amount of Internet traffic included with the service. Customers who already own one or more Orange mobile service plans and purchase a Home & Office Pack will receive free calls from their fixed number to their mobile numbers and from the mobile numbers to the fixed Orange number. Orange Romania is the third mobile operator to launch a landline service in Romania following Telemobil (end-2005) and Vodafone Romania (June 2007 for individuals and September for corporate clients). Also, Orange announced the extension of its UMTS network and the upgrade to HSDPA, offering up to 7.2 Mbps download speed. The areas in Bucharest where the Orange mobile internet may reach the said speed include Unirii Square, Magheru Blvd – Universitate, Victoria Square, Pipera and Baneasa.

   

France Telecom raises FY outlook after strong Q3 (France)

  • October 25th, 2007
  • 12:56 pm

France Telecom gave an improved full-year outlook after reporting strong results for the third quarter. The company posted revenues up 3.3 percent from a year earlier to EUR 13.508 billion, while gross operating profit increased 4.3 percent to EUR 5.094 billion. The margin improved 0.6 point from a year earlier to 37.7 percent in Q3. The operator said it saw an improved performance in more mature Western European markets, particularly the UK, Spain and its home market France. It now expects the gross operating margin to stabilise this year versus 2006, while its target for organic free cash flow in 2007 has been raised to EUR 6.8 billion from EUR 7.5 billion.

Sales at the personal communications division rose 5.6 percent to EUR 7.546 billion. The company added 4.3 million mobile customers in the period for a total 106.9 million at the end of September. The number of Edge and UMTS customers grew to 10.535 million, from just 3.896 million a year ago, while the MVNO base in Europe increased to 1.68 million from 734,000 a year ago.

Home communication sales were up 0.9 percent to EUR 5.672 billion in the third quarter. The number of consumer broadband customers totalled 11.441 million in Europe at the end of September, up 22.4 percent year-on-year on a comparable basis. Multi-play customers also increased, to 5.717 million Livebox users, 4.185 million VoIP customers and 1.017 million IPTV subscribers.

Enterprise sales rose 3.3 percent to EUR 1.914 billion. France Telecom attributed the improved growth rate to a slowdown in the decline in revenues from traditional data services, as the migration to IP services slowed. It also saw a stabilising French fixed-line market. It continued to see strong demand for IP VPN and ICT services, as well as its Business Everywhere mobility offer, which now has 550,000 users in France.

Capital expenditure in the quarter totalled EUR 1.434 billion, down 5.7 percent from a year ago, while France Telecom expects to increase the amount in Q4. Looking ahead for Q4, France Telecom warned that cuts in roaming rates will start to have the full effect and tough competition in Western Europe may lead to higher subscriber acquisition costs. It also plans to continue to expand unlimited mobile service offers and maintain its focus on cost reductions. Growth in emerging markets, especially for mobile services, is expected to slow somewhat due to tougher competition and higher penetration levels.

   

MobiNil awarded 3G concession (Egypt)

  • October 22nd, 2007
  • 7:07 am

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has awarded MobiNil a licence to offer 3G mobile services. The 15-year concession makes MobiNil the third 3G licensee in the country, following in the footsteps of Etisalat Misr and Vodafone Egypt. MobilNil will pay EGP3.34 billion (USD61.5 million) for the concession in addition to an annual 2.4% of its total annual 3G revenues. The licence allows MobiNil to deploy EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA and HSUPA technologies and to provide services that include visual communications, video-messaging, high-speed data transfer and internet, MMS services, mobile-TV.

   

 

 

 

MegaFon announces limited 3G switch-on (Russia)

  • October 3rd, 2007
  • 1:24 pm

Russia’s third largest cellular operator says it has launched the country’s first commercial 3G services. MegaFon says it has switched on UMTS networks in parts of St Petersburg and plans to expand to 16 regions during 2008 as part of a USD1 billion three-year 3G rollout programme. Russia’s other two next generation licence holders, MTS and Vimpelcom, are still testing their own UMTS systems and have yet to reveal their commercial launch schedules.