Telstra achieves 149.4Mbps LTE speed

On 12.14.10, In Mobile, By Editor

Telstra has completed the testing of Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile technology, completing a six month trial that demonstrated downlink speeds of 149.4Mbps.

Telstra’s six month test, started in May, was supported by Ericsson, Nokia-Siemens networks and Huawei and ran in 2.6GHz and 1.8GHz spectrums. While peak downlink speeds reached nearly 150Mbps, peak uplink speeds reached 59Mbps; altogether more than triple the speeds seen on current 3G technology.

According to a study by telecom analyst, Ovum, current network technology will be sufficient for the next five years, and LTE will only be adopted if “it makes good economic sense.

According to Huawei spokesperson, the trials gave them a chance to prove their infrastructure’s potential to Telstra. Huawei currently supplies WiMAX wireless broadband in Perth through provider, vivid wireless.

According to the spokesperson, operators like Telstra may adopt LTE technology, but it will have to wait two to three years as operators wish to make the most of their 3G network infrastructure before switching over.

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HSPA will maintain despite LTE hype: Ovum

On 12.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

­Despite the hype around LTE high-speed mobile broadband technology, HSPA will retain its dominance for at least the next five years, according to Ovum.

Forecasts from the independent telecoms analyst explain that HSPA connections will hit 1.87 billion by 2015 and grow at a compound annual growth rate of 46%.

According to Julien Grivolas, Ovum principal analyst and author of a new report, with LTE grabbing so much attention it is easy to ignore the fact that HSPA is a firmly established technology with a mature infrastructure and device ecosystem. Its other advantage is that is has a natural upgrade path in the form of the enhanced HSPA+, which is being deployed in ever-greater volumes in 2010 and will keep getting better and better. Indeed, HSPA+ and its future enhancements could be sufficient for many operators’ needs for the next five years. There is a huge amount of hype surrounding LTE and we expect it to really take off in 2012. However, HSPA will not go out of fashion and mobile operators are not about to turn their backs on it any time soon. The technology is continuing to evolve and operators will keep enhancing their networks for as long as it makes good economic sense.

According to the report, LTE will become the dominant technology in the future, but HSPA will not disappear and many operators are in no rush to migrate.

According to Grivolas, HSPA+ and its enhanced evolutions should not be viewed as competitors to LTE, but rather as complementary technologies. Ultimately, the availability of spectrum is certainly an issue that will have a strong bearing on the commercial success of LTE, as its availability is fundamental to service launches. With that in mind, it may pay for operators to hang back and let others invest in the development of the ecosystem and make mistakes first.

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Ofcom faces tough opposition from Mobile operators

On 11.26.10, In Mobile, By Editor

According to Ovum, the UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom faces tough opposition from mobile operators in the battle to reduce termination rates due to the negative impact on revenues.

As per the new report from the telecoms analyst states that Ofcom and other regulators will become embroiled in a ‘vigorously contested’ consultation with operators, as they seek to protect their bottom line.

The mobile termination rate (MTR) is the amount charged by one operator to another for terminating a call on their network. The rates for mobile are currently higher than fixed line charges and vary across different operators. However the European Commission wants standardization across the continent and is putting pressure on regulators such as Ofcom to intervene.

According to the report, this would result in MTRs falling by almost 90% over the next five years, from an average of six euro cents to one.

AS per Matthew Howett, an Ovum lead analyst and co-author of the report, there is currently a revolution underway in Europe for how MTRs are calculated and we expect rates to fall considerably as a result. However, Ofcom’s intervention in the matter will be hotly contested by operators who will oppose a reduction in their rates due to the negative impact it will have on their revenues.

He added that operators will definitely not accept any reduction in termination rates without a fight and Ofcom should be prepared for a fierce battle with operators, keen to protect their own interests. As a result, consumers may be waiting longer for the cheaper calls that lower termination rates could encourage. Currently the termination rate represents a price floor in terms of the retail price paid by consumers. Regulators will also be vigilant of operators increasing call prices for some consumers as a way to make up for lost revenues.

Termination rates were reduced by 52% on average between 2005 and 2010, with France leading the way with a cut of 76%. In stark contrast, Ireland saw the smallest cut with a reduction of just 24%.

Howett added that according to the existing EU telecoms rules, Ofcom must take ‘utmost account’ of the EC’s recommendation and will have to bring termination rates down and ensure standardization by 31 December 2012. However, given the opposition that mobile operators will put forward, this could be a tall order.

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Retailers Struggle with the changing M-Commerce Demands

On 10.08.10, In Mobile, By Editor

mc Consumers round the globe are turning to mobile handsets to purchase everything from gift vouchers to flat-screen TVs and retailers around the world are struggling to keep up with the pace of change.

John Lewis has announced that it is going to launch a mobile-optimized version of its highly successful website. In the U.K., majority of retailers are ahead of the curve in developing mobile websites and apps in order to connect the potential of m-commerce, which technology analyst Ovum expectations will bring in US$41 billion in global revenues by 2014, up from US$7.7 billion in 2007.

According to Scott Seaborn, head of mobile technologies at Ogilvy Group U.K., one of the U.K. High Street retailer estimates that it loses 12% of sales from people who purchase via a mobile channel while still in-store. The boundaries are beginning to blur between using a handset and a laptop. Mobile is becoming so significant in human behavior.

Marks & Spencer and John Lewis, the two most established names on the British High Street, are both taking up m-commerce with devoted mobile sites. Marks & Spencer recently sold two sofas for US$5,200 via mobile.

John Lewis has announced that it was launching a mobile-optimized version of its highly successful website and is looking at app development once the site has been successfully launched.

According to Jonathon Brown, head of online selling at John Lewis, the customers appetite for mobile commerce has grown enormously and the company’s focus is on developing a site with a seamless experience. Mobile is a vital part of the vision to become the leading multi-channel retailer in the UK.

According to Marks & Spencer’s social and mobile commerce development manager, Sienne Veit, the company has chosen not to go for apps because they wanted to reach all of the customers. Every person on the U.K. High Street is the customer, so the company doesn’t expect all of them will have the kind of phone that has an app.

According to a survey conducted by France Telecom’s Orange, U.K. consumers are ahead of their European counterparts, which shows that 40% of them have used m-commerce in the last six months, and 40% are likely to do so in the future. In France, only 28% have used m-commerce in the last six months.

The Internet Advertising Bureau asked retailers what was stopping them from developing their m-commerce capabilities.

According to Jon Maw, the IAB’s head of mobile, in the research, 41% of retailers claimed they will have a mobile presence in the next 12 months, but still 39% think consumers are not ready for mobile. They’re wrong. People are comfortable very quickly with buying on mobile [online grocery store]. According to Ocado, 15% of its sales are made or altered through mobile apps. Consumers are willing to buy stuff on their mobiles as long as the experience is a good one.

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Wireless Operators: Potential equipped to manage cloud computing, as the market warms

On 09.03.10, In Mobile, By Editor

If reports are to be believed, the big-brand global telcos are positioning themselves to be tough players in the cloud computing market as corporate attitudes to cloud warm.

According to researchers Ovum, AT&T, BT, Orange Business Services and Verizon Business could compete with established players from the IT industry in the cloud computing arena.

The telcos have a long heritage in providing managed end to end networks, data center services and hosting and have combined this with their networking and security expertise to meet the needs of customers for cloud computing services.

Some observers have considered the telcos might not fare so well in some parts of the cloud computing ecosystem, mostly in parts of the ecosystem requiring more application expertise. Telcos are well familiarized to organizing mission-critical data centers. That, in essence, is what modern switching and routing facilities are.

Telcos are bound to succeed here because they already have many of the key skills on tap the market.  They have a long heritage in the managed data centre and hosting businesses and when you put this together with their networking and security expertise it starts to look like a strong package.

The key for the telcos is the ability to offer end-to-end management of the network. This attracts mostly to large corporate and big companies with mission-critical applications.

Reimbursing a long-term path to offer improved service for Cloud connections along with standard Internet access was most probably one of the ideas in the back of the collective mind of Verizon when it stroked out its ‘joint statement’ with Google on Internet neutrality.

Certainly, the ability to offer something in between an enthusiastic but expensive end-to-end network, and a cost-effective but much cheaper Internet access offer would clearly be another big plus for carriers eyeing up the corporate cloud market and wanting – in the US at least – to make sure they didn’t run into regulatory problems through offering enhanced quality of service.

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