Mobile infrastructure equipment market to worth $42 billion by 2015
The mobile infrastructure equipment market is forecast to resume positive growth in 2011 following the double-digit revenue decline in 2009 and single-digit decline in 2010. The overall mobile infrastructure market is expected to grow from $34 billion in 2010 to $42 billion in 2015.
According to analysts, the growing use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets will continue to challenge operators and vendors for years to come. They believe this increase in data demand will require operators to continue investing in their 3G/3.5G networks throughout the entire forecast period. While they have seen several successful LTE launches and we expect LTE revenue to see stronger growth, they believe WCDMA networks will carry the majority of the traffic throughout the forecast horizon. In addition, they anticipate some recurring 2G investments in fast-growing markets such as China and India to deal with the large 2G installed base.
The report shows that WCDMA revenues are expected to grow from $16 billion in 2010 to nearly $30 billion in 2015.LTE revenues are expected to grow from $350 million in 2010 to almost $7.7 billion in 2015.
Trai recommendations on 2G arbitrary: India’s Idea Cellular
Aditya Birla Group Company, Idea Cellular said the TRAI recommendations on 2G spectrum pricing were flawed and adopting them would be like “slaughtering the goose laying golden eggs of progress”.
“We are dismayed by the continual flip-flops in policy formulation in the telecom sector. In the same breath, the principles of transparency and auction-based spectrum pricing are touted, whereas arbitrary and unreal administered numbers are sought to be portrayed as ‘market based’,” Idea said in a statement Friday.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended fixing the price for 6.2 Mhz of pan-India start-up 2G spectrum at Rs 10,972.45 crore (US$2.4 billion), more than six times the present cost of Rs 1,658 crore.
TRAI has also said every Mhz of additional spectrum (on an all-India basis) beyond the contracted limit of 6.2 Mhz would cost a massive Rs 4,571.87 crore.
Most of the telecom firms, including Bharti (BSE:532454), Vodafone, Idea and state – owned companies like BSNL and MTNL, hold extra spectrum beyond 6.2 Mhz and the new norms would put a huge financial burden on these telcos.
“Even more curious is how total spectrum holdings are sought to be aggregated for some operators, but disaggregated for select others, never mind the loss to the exchequer or basic level playing field considerations,” Idea said.
Other leading telcos like Bharti airtel and Vodafone have also criticised the recommendations calling them “flawed, illogical and discriminatory”.
“Our sector has seen many absurdities already. The goose that laid the golden egg of progress, is being led to slaughter. We can only hope that reason will prevail and a market driven mechanism will be allowed,” Idea added.
2degree inks network expansion contract with Huawei (New Zealand)
2degrees is set to invest more than US$77 million in its network over the next two years, following an agreement with China’s Huawei.
2degrees already provides its customers with nationwide 2G and 3G mobile services via its own network and through commercial roaming. Today’s announcement will see a significant increase in the size, capacity and capability of the 2degrees network.
According to 2degrees Chief Executive Eric Hertz, the investment will see the company extend its 4G ready network beyond the main cities. The company is very conscious that they need to build networks that deliver on tomorrow’s speed and capacity demands, so being able to upgrade to 4G via software activation rather than a network rebuild is especially important as new spectrum becomes available and consumer demands for data continue to grow.
Mr Hertz states that network investment will bring total investment in 2degrees to more than $400 million. 2degrees will also open another 30 retail stores open in 2011 and create 80 new jobs in a new Christchurch-based contact centre. The company has experienced rapid growth in the last 18 months since its launch. Company’s shareholders are eager to see the network develop, the stores and innovative services that make 2degrees even more appealing to New Zealanders.
Oi extends 2G/3G coverage in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
Brazilian telecom operator, Telemar Norte Leste (Oi) has reportedly extended its coverage in Rio Grande do Sul state in 2010.
Last year, the operator’s 2G signal reached 63% of the population living there, thanks to the addition of 104 municipalities, while 3G coverage was increased to 30%.
The latest areas served with 3G are the coastal areas of Osorio and Torres e Xangri-la and the cities such as Alegrete, Canela, Carazinho, Cruz Alta, Jaguarao, Sant’Angelo and Sapiranga amongst others.
Brazil’s telecoms regulator Anatel reports that Oi has the fourth largest coverage in the country, with 2,913 municipalities covered by 2G and 3G technologies, reaching 83.2% of the population. Oi has not yet provided its expansion plans for the year ahead.
LTE to overcome WiMAX and dominate 4G shipments
Driven by widespread mobile network operator adoption, LTE will have more than nine times as many subscribers as WiMAX by 2014. Worldwide LTE subscribers will rise rapidly during the next two years, and in 2012 will surpass those of WiMAX, the current leading 4G air standard. In 2014, LTE subscribers will reach 303.1 million, compared to 33.4 million for WiMAX.
With WiMAX enjoying a two- to three-year head start in next-generation network deployments, it presently enjoys a major advantage in market share in the 4G segment. However, with LTE supported by most of the leading wireless operators worldwide, it will rise to surpass WiMAX in 2012 and then dominate worldwide during the following years.
LTE subscribers worldwide are expected to top 14.9 million in 2011, as compared to 6.8 million last year. In comparison, global subscribers in 2011 on LTE – championed by most tier-one MNOs globally, such as AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless in the United States, as well as Vodafone and TeliaSonera in Europe – are projected to reach 10.4 million. But while that total is smaller than WiMAX numbers, it reflects an astonishing leap from just 702,000 users in 2010 and virtually zero in 2009.
Although the International Telecommunications Union has announced that neither LTE nor WiMAX are officially 4G technologies, industry vernacular has adopted the designation for both. Regardless of how they are categorized, this set of next-generation mobile wireless standards is characterized by very high data-transmission speeds, flexible width channelization and perhaps, most importantly, low-latency packet transfers. As is normal for the industry, while older wireless technologies such as 2G and 3G continue to be in use in every part of the world, the transition to higher-speed broadband networks is under way, and the race is on to determine which 4G technology will provide the expected performance and enhancements from day one.
At the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Verizon Wireless used the event as a platform to officially introduce 10 LTE devices from four different original equipment manufacturers, utilizing four different core-chipset partners. Of the 10 new devices, three were media tablets, four were smart phones, two were notebooks and one was a mobile hotspot. The new entries beefed up Verizon’s previous LTE lineup of two USB dongles introduced last quarter.
An estimated 10 LTE operators worldwide have launched to date, and more than 30 new operators will start LTE services this year.
For WiMAX, the majority of operators can be found in Europe, followed by the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa and then the Americas.
Alcatel-Lucent launches LightRadio base station (USA)
Alcatel-Lucent is working on developments that it announced last week for low-energy telecoms infrastructure to develop LightRadio, a new system that the company claims will end of the mobile industry’s reliance on masts and base stations around the world.
According to Ben Verwaayen, Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel-Lucent, today’s and tomorrow’s demands for coverage and capacity require a breakthrough in mobile communications. LightRadio will signal the end of the base station and the cell tower as they know it today.
LightRadio represents a new approach where the base station, typically located at the base of each cell site tower, is broken into its components elements and then distributed into both the antenna and throughout a cloud-like network.
The company added that LightRadio will shrink today’s clutter of antennas serving 2G, 3G, and LTE systems into a single Bell Labs-developed antenna that can be mounted on poles, sides of buildings or anywhere else there is power and a broadband connection.
The total addressable market for the radio technology necessary to serve such networks and devices is expected to exceed US$135.83 billion over the next seven years.
Novatel Wireless Dual-Carrier HSPA+ USB Device First to Launch in the Middle East with STC
Novatel Wireless, Inc., a leading provider of wireless broadband solutions, today announced that the Ovationâ„¢ MC545 is commercially available with Saudi Telecom Company (STC) in Saudi Arabia. STC is the first operator to launch a commercial Dual-Carrier HSPA+ (DC- HSPA+) network in the Middle East. The DC HSPA+ is currently covering eight cities in Saudi Arabia and supporting data speed of up to 42 Mbps.
“Mobile broadband services are experiencing tremendous growth in the Saudi market,” said Jameel A. Al Molhem, VP of the personal business unit, STC. “To meet the growing demand for faster mobile broadband services, STC is the first carrier to commercially introduce DC HSPA+ technology in the Middle East and we are very proud to maintain our position as the market’s wireless technology pioneer.”
Continuing Novatel Wireless’ design legacy with a focus on functionality, reliability, leading edge technology and innovative sleek style, the Ovation MC545 modem is today the world’s most compact and light-weight DC-HSPA+ USB modem in the market place.
“We’re thrilled to be assisting STC launching their DC HSPA+ network and delivering the most compact form factor to the market,” said Rob Hadley, CMO of Novatel Wireless. “The Ovation MC545 USB brings advanced data capabilities to the consumers and will allow for new mobile broadband services supporting more compelling multimedia applications, faster and with richer user experiences.”
Novatel Wireless has now launched the DC HSPA+ Ovation USB with carriers in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East. The Ovation MC545 is based on the 3GPP Release 8 standard. DC-HSPA+ supports theoretical peak downlink data rates of up to 42 Mbps and 5.7 Mbps on the uplink, allowing carriers to easily upgrade their existing infrastructure equipment to achieve significantly higher bandwidths.
The Ovation MC545 supports the 900,1900 and 2100 MHz frequency bands and is designed to provide connectivity virtually anywhere to check email, download rich multimedia content and stay connected to family, friends and coworkers. The Ovation MC545 offers unprecedented speed and advanced antenna technologies to maximize data throughput and operating range. Featuring Novatel Wireless’ auto install connection manager, memory storage of up to 32GB via MicroSDHC and backward compatibility with HSPA technologies, the Ovation MC545 provides a total solution for ultra fast mobile broadband connectivity.
About Saudi Telecom Company
STC is the leading national provider of telecommunication services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in the last few years, STC has gone beyond its local borders to the international markets, forming a network of businesses and investments in a number of GCC countries, Asia & Africa. The company has now foot print in Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and South Africa which has enabled STC to serve a greater number of its customers which the company seeks to increase internationally through studying and evaluation of potential investment opportunities in the future in line with its FORWARD Strategy.
About Novatel Wireless
Novatel Wireless, Inc. is a leader in the design and development of intelligent wireless solutions based on 2G, 3G and 4G technologies providing wireless connectivity. The Company delivers specialized wireless solutions to carriers, distributors, retailers, OEMs and vertical markets worldwide. Novatel Wireless’ Intelligent Mobile Hotspot products, software, USB modems, embedded modules and smart M2M modules provide innovative anywhere, anytime communications solutions for consumers and enterprises. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Novatel Wireless is listed on NASDAQ: NVTL.(NVTLG)
TeliaSonera, Samsung Partners to launch LTE laptop (Sweden)
TeliaSonera has revealed that its Swedish operation is collaborating with Samsung to launch a Long Term Evolution (LTE)-equipped laptop, which will go on sale this Friday.
The laptop, a modified Samsung X430, has inbuilt access to the internet via 4G as well as 3G and 2G cellular networks.
Off-contract the computer costs US$1,080 excluding VAT, but US$ 742.17 for those signing a 24-month contract.
Telia’s monthly LTE mobile broadband standard access charge is US$ 92.62, although for the first six months of an 18-month contract this is reduced to US$53.96.
According to the companies, the X430 is the first laptop incorporating LTE.
EriTel completes fixed, mobile network upgradation (Eritrea)
State-owned incumbent telecoms operator, EriTel has completed the first phase of its network expansion and upgrade project.
According to the company’s head of trade, Tekle Woldeslasie, EriTel has fully renewed its network connections and changed all transmitters in the past two years. To relieve mobile network congestion, the company has constructed additional stations in Asmara, Keren, Mendefera and Massawa, among other areas, while new telephone stations have been installed in Merhano, Tsaeda Kristian, Arbaete Asmera, Bisha, Foro and Massawa to accommodate more customers.
Moreover, EriTel is lauching a 3G mobile network in order to upgrade data and internet services, and is also considering expanding its 2G network nationwide.
