Verizon to cancel unlimited data plans with discounted handsets (USA)
Verizon Wireless has been considering the launch of shared data price plans which will enable consumers to use one data plan across different devices such as their smartphone, iPad and tablet. However, according to a recent report by TechCrunch, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo said that every one of their customers would be on one of the carrier’s new data share plans.
This announcement has got consumers on Verizon’s unlimited data plans concerned. Subscribers who have just upgraded from a 3G to a 4G device with that older data plan intact will be able to hang on to it until the time they upgrade their smartphone.
Furthermore, as per the report, customers who pay the full outright price for their handsets will be able to keep their unlimited plans as well. Verizon said that when they introduce their new shared data plans, unlimited data will no longer be available to customers when purchasing handsets at discounted pricing.
Airtel brings the 4G revolution to Bengaluru (India)
Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecom services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today launched its 4G services in India’s IT hub – Bengaluru. Following the recent inaugural launch of Airtel 4G services in Kolkata, customers in Bengaluru have now become the second in India to have access to cutting-edge 4G LTE technology that delivers the most advanced wireless broadband experience available across the globe. As a first for the telecom industry worldwide, Airtel has also introduced ‘Smartbytes’ for 4G – thus allowing customers to buy these add on packs and continue enjoying the 4G experience even after exhausting their monthly data limits.
At the launch, Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel said that as seen the world over, the total data usage is exploding and is doubling each year to grow to nearly 3.6 hexabytes by 2014. With the launch of 4G, India will move from being a follower in technology to matching the world in this domain. Leading from the front, Airtel is now the only operator that gives citizens of the Information Technology capital of Bengaluru, access to entire spectrum of broadband services including 2G, 3G and now 4G – thereby giving the customers never seen before data experience. Besides offering rich content, Airtel 4G will allow superfast access to High Definition (HD) video streaming, multiple chatting, instant uploading of photos and much more.
As part of an exciting introductory offer by Airtel, customers subscribing to 4G services will now be given a cashback for the CPE / dongle – thus bringing device cost to customers zero and paving way for mass adoption of 4G services. Airtel 4G is now also available in an all new 30GB pack priced at $57.
Customers on Airtel 4G can already choose from a catalogue of over 35 high quality Bollywood movie titles and leverage the power of 4G to enjoy an unmatched video streaming experience. While 10 movie titles will be available free of cost for customers during the first month, movie buffs can pay a monthly subscription of INR 149 and watch unlimited movies. Airtel will be further adding to this list of movies in the catalogue in weeks to come.
In 2010, Airtel had successfully bid for BWA license spectrum in Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) circles. The company has launched its 4G LTE services in Kolkata and Bengaluru and is currently working towards rolling out state-of-the-art networks in remaining licence circles.
Tunisiana Telecom receives 3G and fixed-line licences (Tunisia)
Telecom operator Tunisiana Telecom has received the required licences to operate fixed line and 3G mobile services in the North African country. According to reports, the Ministry for Information Technologies and Communications said that the operator will pay $132 million for these rights.
The minister claims that this bid will enhance considerably the competitiveness of the Tunisian communication market and ensure easy access to the fast speed Internet countrywide.
The operator is expected to launch its 3G network in July 2012, while it will offer its fixed-line services in early 2013.
Tunisiana’s 3G bid declined (Tunisia)
Telecom operator Tunisiana’s bid for the 3G and fixed licence has been declined by Tunisia’s ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry, according to a report by Biztech Africa.
As per the report the Minister of Information and Communication Technologies, Mongi Marzouk, said Tunisiana had offered to purchase the landline license for $ 23.38 million and the 3G license for $ 81.2 million. The Ministry earlier accepted the company’s proposed terms for network quality.
The report reveals that while the Ministry declined to specify what bid it would accept, it pointed out that Orange Tunisia had paid $ 179 million in June 2009 for a similar package with the option of an exclusive 3G licence for one year.
Tunisie Telecom acquired its 3G licence in 2010, for $ 75.3 million. Tunisiana has indicated that it may revise its bid.
Tunisiana’s 3G and fixed line bid rejeceted (Tunisia)
Mobile operator Tunisiana’s bid to acquire third 3G and landline licence has been rejected by the ICT Minister, as reported by Tunisia Live. According to the report, Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Mongi Marzouk, said that once they grant the licences, they will officially announce the minimum amount that they are willing to accept in order to guarantee that no operator offers them the absolute minimum.
As per the report, Tunisiana offered to purchase the landline licence for $23.5 million and the 3G licence for $81.7 million.According to Marzouk, the private telecommunications company has also presented an appropriate plan to develop the landline network and 3G coverage in the whole country, especially in the interior regions.
The report reveals that in an official response to the rejection, Director-General of Tunisiana Kenneth Campbell said that his company will carefully adjust their offer and renew it in the coming days. The next time will be the final opportunity for Tunisiana to present its financial terms.
China Mobile to launch 4G service on 25 April (Hong Kong)
Telecom operator China Mobile Ltd., is looking to roll out its 4G services in Hong Kong by the end of this month.
According to reports, Sean Lee, chief executive officer of China Mobile Hong Kong Co., said, a total of 10 4G phones will become available for customers this year. Moile operator Telstra (CSL) is already offering the advanced fourth- generation services since its launch in 2010.
China Mobile claims that the high-speed service, based on LTE technology, offers maximum download speeds of 100 megabits a second, or as much as 50 times quicker than 3G.
The 4G/LTE service lets users stream high defination videos and download games at much faster speeds, thereby catering to their needs of more mobile data and improving customer experience.
Google to increase mobile internet speed, mobile commerce to go up by $600 million a year (USA)
Internet giant Google Inc. is working at ways to speed up mobile internet speeds for Web pages to load faster on mobile phones, according to a report by BN. Google Inc.’s engineering director Arvind Jain has been continually monitoring the internet access rates, across hotels, offices and airports around the world, in an attempt to identify ways to speeden things up.
As per the report, currently a page takes 9.2 seconds to load in the U.S., while Jain’s mission is to get websites to load over mobile- phone networks twice as quickly as they do now. The company aims to use faster mobile internet access to unlock billions of dollars in additional e-commerce and online advertising. The report reveals that when people are waiting for pages to load, they aren’t shopping or viewing ads. That’s hampering everyone from giant Internet companies to local businesses trying to reach customers.
Jain claims that there’s a clear correlation between speed and the success of one’s online business.
One of the reasons that makes a mobile web connection slow is the carriers’ network, especially if they are unable to get 3G or 4G service on their phones. Often, though, it’s because the Web page wasn’t designed to load quickly on a wireless device. The site may have high-resolution pictures or data-intensive effects. Beyond that, Internet protocols and software aren’t always optimized for mobile connections, which can lose some of the data they transmit.
The report says that in order to fix the problem, Google is tweaking its mobile browser and working with other companies on changing the way basic Internet technologies work. It’s also rolling out tools that help website owners see the connection between their sites’ performance and sales. That can prod businesses to spend the money needed to speed up their services.
Further, it has been highlighetd that faster mobile Web loads could increase mobile-commerce sales in the U.S. by 10 percent, or about $600 million a year.
Alcatel-Lucent to offer innovative measures for mobile operators to overcome data storm (USA)
Tony Wood, Country Senior Officer of Alcatel-Lucent in East Africa, explains how innovation can help operators rise above the data storm to overcome network, business-model and competitive challenges.
The globalisation of the economy and the growth of the Internet have enhanced worldwide communications. End-users wherever based in a remote village or in a big city should rely on stable telecommunications connections to enquire about the wider world and make their contribution to it. The convergence of services (broadband Internet + video on-demand + voice) has become a significant reality. Telecom operators, service providers, enterprises rely on their networks to run their voice, data and Internet communication.
Africa is a growing market and a focus market for Alcatel-Lucent; it remains among the company’s most promising markets. Indeed, broadband is one of the top priorities in Africa, good progress has been made to connect cities to national backbones, but connectivity of small towns still poor.
It is a vast continent with various needs for connectivity and is mainly characterised by basic infrastructure needs in some areas, and more developed areas where existing infrastructures must now deliver high-quality broadband connectivity to support services like high-speed Internet access.
Alcatel-Lucent is strongly involved in the telecom infrastructure development in Africa to support telecommunications actors to rise above the data storm to overcome network, business-model and competitive challenges. Meeting the need for mobile telecommunications and the adoption of next-generation technologies, including lightRadio – the revolutionary innovation of Alcatel-Lucent (a miniature device that offers a solution to network gridlock and universal broadband coverage) and 4G LTE networks, to foster digital inclusion and the development of applications to enhance education, youth employment, social engagement, health and transportation among local communities and across large geographies.
Wood said that breakthrough innovation and technologies, proven execution and experience – that is what mobile broadband operators count on from them, from their market leadership in wireless and IP, their research advances from Bell Labs, their company’s innovation engine, responsible for breakthroughs that have shaped the networking and communications industry and their global service experience in transforming networks to rise above the mobile data storm, to deliver cost-effective and high quality mobile broadband services to consumers and business users. He added that realising the potential of a connected world is an integral part of their vision and strategy.
He also said that Alcatel-Lucent unveiled lightRadio last year – the outcome of research by Bell Labs, the group’s world-leading R&D arm. It is a completely revolutionary approach for mobile networking. This brand new range will free the mobile sector around the world from its dependence on antenna masts and mobile base stations (cell towers), which are generally the most energy-consuming components of the network, and also the most expensive and difficult to maintain.
At a time of rapid traffic growth, the lightRadio system will radically simplify mobile networks, expand network capacity, lower operating costs, reduce energy consumption and bring connectivity to everyone around the world. With its flexible architecture, lightRadio is typically located at the base of each cell tower, is broken into its component elements and distributed through the network or ‘carrier cloud’.
Additionally the various cell tower antennas are combined and shrunk into a single, powerful, Bell Labs-pioneered multi-frequency, multi-standard (2G, 3G, LTE) device that can be mounted on poles, sides of buildings, WiFi networks or anywhere else there is power and a broadband connection.
In only a year, Alcatel-Lucent has not only moved from prototype to product, but has built an entire next-generation mobile platform, and it has a rich ecosystem of partners and co-creation customers it has been working with around the world: Telefónica, France Telecom/Orange, China Mobile, and Etisalat in the UAE.
The lightRadio architecture is fundamentally changing the structure of wireless networks to handle the video and Web surfing demands of consumers, increasing daily with the number of smartphones and tablets. Connecting becomes easy with lightRadio.
Wireless carriers begin trials for RIM’s PlayBook (Canada)
Wireless carriers in US and around the world have begun testing the PlayBook 3G and 4G with OS 2.0.1 according to a report by Berry Review. The report reveals that the launch has been scheduled for May around the same time that RIM (Research In Motion) would be hosting BlackBerry world 2012.
As per the report carriers AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless have begun testing the PlayBook in the Unites States; while Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus have begun trials in Canada. Further, Orange UK and StarHub Singapore are also rumoured to be involved in the trials.
