Wireless broadband subscriptions cross the half billion mark
In a study involving 32 developed countries, the reported figures reveal that the wireless broadband subscriptions had topped the half billion mark at the closing of 2010. It also highlighted an increase of over 10 percent as on June 2010.
As far as fixed broadband subscriptions are concerned, the number touched 300 million for the first time. However, growth slumped to 6% year-on-year; the slowest growth rate recorded since the process of collecting broadband data started by the sources, a decade back. It is understood to be a reflection of greater broadband penetration in addition to market saturation in a number of countries.
With 38.1 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, Netherlands and Switzerland top the statistics. Next, Denmark (37.7) and Norway (34.6) follow. One prominent highlight concerning fiber subscriptions is that the growth continues, making up for 12.3% of all fixed broadband connections. Japan (58%), Korea (55%), Slovak Republic (29%) and Sweden (26%) lead the charts in fiber subscriptions. On the other hand, DSL still happens to be the most widely used technology (57.6%); cable (29.4%) follows next.
Going by the wireless broadband subscriptions, Korea leads the pack with 89.8 per 100 inhabitants as Finland (84.8), Sweden (82.9) and Norway (79.9) trail close by. The data sources average stands at 41.6 while the total is just under 512 million.
According to sources, inexpensive, flat-rate mobile data plans are primarily instrumental in fuelling growth of mobile broadband. It has also been noted that resilience and an underlying strength saw the communication sector through the financial crisis thereby reflecting its vital role in the global economic dynamics.
Other notable factors that contribute to the sector’s robust health point to long contract durations of mobile operators, packaged offers of television, mobile and fixed telephony gaining unprecedented popularity in addition to an emerging perception that communication services are non-discretionary spending items. Households doing their best to cut spending are apparently, economizing in other areas instead; at least as an initial step.
The thriving acceptance of bundled services has also been instrumental in this prevailing trend by way of strengthening loyalty and preventing a big shake up – a big help for the operators at the time of the downturn. Bundled services stand to benefit consumers by bringing about lower prices and other bonuses like convenient billing, integrated services or customer assistance.
According to sources, however, bundled offers are accompanied by complexity making them difficult to understand thereby posing additional challenges for consumers who look to make informed decisions in terms of comparing prices etc. To add insult to injury, bundling stand to make it difficult for users to change providers or reject a service.
The sources also highlight the increasing significance of IPv6 as the hoard of unassigned IPv4 addresses has almost depleted. The importance of a quicker adoption by industry has also been stressed; seen as the only lasting solution to continue the capability of the Internet and keep on connecting billions of people and devices.
Doro offers PhoneEasy 610 handset in Germany
Doro, a Swedish phone maker has announced Doro PhoneEasy 610; a new flip-style mobile phone in Germany.
The phone has separate buttons for maximum comfort and easy operation, with a large, backlit colour display for optimal presentation.
It will be available in Germany from retailers from mid-June for US$190.
Sony Ericsson renews and extends exclusive contract with World Number One Caroline Wozniacki
Sony Ericsson today announced that world number one tennis player, Caroline Wozniacki has renewed and extended her role as a global Sony Ericsson brand ambassador to support its Xperia™ smartphone portfolio. The Danish tennis star has signed a deal that will extend her partnership with Sony Ericsson to 2013.
The exclusive off-court agreement expands the Wozniacki sponsorship from Danish-only to a worldwide contract. The endorsement renewal and extension will build on Sony Ericsson’s long-term sponsorship of Wozniacki which began in 2007.
Sony Ericsson plans to leverage its partnership with Caroline Wozniacki across all of its tennis programmes, integrating her into marketing initiatives for its Xperia smartphone portfolio. This includes television advertising in select international markets, and expands her reach in digital and social media platforms. Caroline’s image will be used in advertising and general promotional material and she will be involved in events for Sony Ericsson.
Caroline will wear the official Sony Ericsson WTA logo on her on-court attire and will also be involved in Sony Ericsson’s new web-based TV show Xperia Hot Shots, which began in March this year.
Sony Ericsson Xperia Hot Shots follows the lives of six tennis players from the WTA as they travel the world on tour, helping them to realize their dreams by giving them exclusive access to the worlds of music, film, gaming and fashion. At the end of the year, the player that has generated the most support on Facebook will win a Sony Ericsson support deal. Wozniacki will be incorporated into video content with the Xperia Hot Shots as one of the big stars on the WTA.
Sony Ericsson has been a long-term sponsor of women’s tennis as partner of the Women’s Tennis Association since 2005 and as current sponsor of Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova.
World tennis number one, Caroline Wozniacki commented:
“Sony Ericsson has supported me since 2007 and I’m pleased to continue my partnership with them. Sony Ericsson is doing exciting things for women’s tennis, giving players opportunities to get involved in different and entertaining activities on and off court. It’s also great for me to be able to have access to Sony Ericsson’s Xperia smartphone portfolio so I can stay in touch with my family and fans and keep entertained when I’m on the road.”
Commenting on the agreement, Vice President, Head of Global Marketing Partnerships for Sony Ericsson, Stephan Croix, said:
“As the established world number one, Caroline embodies all of the characteristics we look for in a brand ambassador – she is active, ambitious, optimistic and always connected. This renewed agreement will help Sony Ericsson reach new audiences and expand awareness of the Xperia smartphone portfolio, through a number of marketing activities, including her growing presence in social media and participation in off court initiatives like the Xperia Hot Shots programme.”
To watch all the videos so far of the Xperia™ Hot Shots go towww.youtube.com/xperiahotshots
Notes to Editors:
About Sony Ericsson:
Sony Ericsson celebrates its 10th year as a joint venture between Sony Corporation and Ericsson in October, 2011. Over the years the company has brought together the best communication technologies with superior entertainment user experiences to create its Xperia™™ line of the ‘most entertaining smartphones’ in the mobile handset industry. With its global corporate functions in London, Sony Ericsson has sales and marketing operations in all major regions of the world, as well as manufacturing in China, and product development sites in China, Japan, Sweden and Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit:www.sonyericsson.com/press
Globe Telecom Launches VMS as its Latest Value-Added Service
Globe Telecom, one of the leading mobile operators in the Philippines (over 27 million subs), is launching VMS (Video Message Service) nationwide. By doing so, Globe will be the first to market VMS as a new media channel to their subscribers.
VMS is a video service that allows users to share video via mobile person to person, follow local and foreign video bloggers and take part of premium content offered by VMS broadcasters. This means the customers can subscribe to VMS from celebrities and infotainment broadcasters from around the world.
Globe shall be supporting the launch with a massive media campaign, and on-ground interactive use of VMS, in partnership with GMA New Media, Inc. GMA will provide exclusive VMS content in form of short clips of GMA TV shows and video blogs.
- We are very excited to bring another innovation to our subscribers with the launch of VMS. This allows our subscribers another opportunity to enjoy their mobile phones apart from texting, calling or doing mobile internet. And with this new technology, we are strengthening the connections and bonds of every Filipino by providing them yet another exciting and innovative platform to share their precious moments with each other, says Joanna Africa, Head for Portfolio management of Globe team.
VMS is developed by the innovative mobile technology company Ironroad.
- We are very excited about Globe’s launch of VMS in the Philippines. Globe is the right partner for us since they have a great strategy to launch VMS widely in a short time, says Jonas Litborn from Ironroad.
The VMS app is available for download from Android market and App store.
About Ironroad
Ironroad is a Swedish company that has developed the VMS (Video Message Service) technology, which was fully launched in 2010. VMS is now established in 10 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Ironroad has about 75 employees and offices in Sweden (headquarter), Norway, Spain, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Our partners and clients are several global mobile operators and media companies, such as Tele2, 3 Hutchinson, TeliaSonera, Indosat and Telkomsel.
VMS is the sequel to SMS and MMS, a simple and inexpensive way to share experiences and communicate through your mobile phone. VMS is downloaded as an app from the App Store or Android Market.
To learn more about Ironroad or VMS please visit http://www.ironroad.com
iPhone 4 16 GB holds top slot in 10 best selling handsets (Sweden)
3 Sweden has announced that Apple’s iPhone 4 16 GB has maintained the top slot in its top 10 best selling handsets for May.
Sony Ericsson X8, iPhone 4 32 GB, Samsung Gio, iPhone 3GS 8 GB, Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, Sony Ericsson Elm, Sony Ericsson x10 Mini Pro, Samsung Galaxy SII and HTC Incredible S grabbed the next positions respectively .
Samsung Gio, Sony Ericsson x10 Mini Pro and Samsung Galaxy SII are new entries in the classification.
Seamless alters management team (Sweden)
Seamless, Sweden-based mobile payments software company’s CEO Rohit Bhatia has resigned from th e company at his own request, effective immediately.
COO Tommy Eriksson, CFO Daniel Nyholm along with executive director and president Peter Fredell also left th e company.
At th e same time, founder of th e company Mikael Signarsson re-entered th e management team, while Martin Wingert was promoted to CTO.
Sony Ericsson Canadian site hacked
Sony spokesman has stated that hackers have attacked Sony Ericsson’s Canadian eShop website, affecting 2,000 users, the latest online strike against the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant.
The new security infringe follows a massive theft of personal data from Sony’s PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment services, including names, passwords and addresses from more than 100 million accounts.
On Tuesday Sony stated its websites in three countries had been hacked with 8,500 Greek user accounts compromised, while sites in Thailand and Indonesia were also affected.
As per Sony’s spokesperson, the most recent attack — targeting the mobile phone joint venture between Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson — was discovered on Tuesday local time, and the affected website was shut down. Sony Ericsson’s website in Canada, which advertises its products, has been hacked, affecting 2,000 people.
He added that their personal information was posted on a website called ‘The Hacker News’. The information includes registered names, email addresses and encrypted passwords. But it does not include credit card information.
Globe Telecom Launches VMS in the Philippines
Globe Telecom, one of the leading mobile operators in the Philippines (over 27 million subs), is launching VMS (Video Message Service) nationwide. By doing so, Globe will be the first to market VMS as a new media channel to their subscribers.
VMS is a video service that allows users to share video via mobile person to person, follow local and foreign video bloggers and take part of premium content offered by VMS broadcasters. This means the customers can subscribe to VMS from celebrities and infotainment broadcasters from around the world.
Globe shall be supporting the launch via a multi-million media advertising campaign, and on-ground interactive use of VMS, in partnership with GMA-7 TV, the number one network in the Philippines. GMA-7 will provide exclusive VMS content in form of GMA TV shows short clips and video blogs of GMA celebrities.
- We are very excited to bring another innovation to our subscribers with the launch of VMS. This allows our subscribers another opportunity to enjoy their mobile phones apart from texting, calling or doing mobile internet. And with this new technology, we are strengthening the connections and bonds of every Filipino by providing them yet another exciting and innovative platform to share their precious moments with each other, says Joanna Africa, Head for Portfolio management of Globe team.
VMS is developed by the innovative mobile technology company Ironroad.
- We are very excited about Globe’s launch of VMS in the Philippines. Globe is the right partner for us since they have a great strategy to launch VMS widely in a short time, says Jonas Litborn from Ironroad.
The VMS app is available for download from Android market and App store.
About Ironroad
Ironroad is a Swedish company that has developed the VMS (Video Message Service) technology, which was fully launched in 2010. VMS is now established in 10 countries in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Ironroad has about 75 employees and offices in Sweden (headquarter), Norway, Spain, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Our partners and clients are several global mobile operators and media companies, such as Tele2, 3 Hutchinson, TeliaSonera, Indosat and Telkomsel.
VMS is the sequel to SMS and MMS, a simple and inexpensive way to share experiences and communicate through your mobile phone. VMS is downloaded as an app from the App Store or Android Market.
Sony Ericsson announces new Head of Operations
Sony Ericsson today announced that Tommi Laine-Ylijoki has joined the company as Corporate Vice President and Head of Operations, reporting to President and CEO Bert Nordberg. Tommi Laine-Ylijoki joins Sony Ericsson from Nokia Oyj where he was Vice President, Materials Management.
Tommi Laine-Ylijoki has more than 17 years of experience working at Nokia in Finland. Over the years he has worked in the areas of research in microelectronics, operations capacity management, direct sourcing and supply chain. In his last position at Nokia, as Vice President, Materials Management, he was responsible for all operational inbound supply-related activities for the company, working in both the Operations and Sourcing organisations.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Bert Nordberg, President and CEO, Sony Ericsson said, “Tommi Laine-Ylijoki’s track record in the area of operations and supply chain management in our industry is second to none, and he joins Sony Ericsson at a very important time. As we shift more and more of our product portfolio to Xperia smartphones based on the Android platform, we continue to look for ways to achieve a cost efficient operational framework on which to build future growth.”
Tommi Laine-Ylijoki said, “I am thrilled to have joined Sony Ericsson during this exciting time for both the company and our industry. I very much look forward to applying the experience I have gained over the past several years, and working with my new colleagues to realise our strategic ambitions and fuel the company’s next phase of growth.”
Tommi Laine-Ylijoki is based in Lund, Sweden. A native of Finland, Tommi Laine-Ylijoki has a Master’s Degree from Helsinki University of Technology.
About Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson celebrates its 10th year as a joint venture between Sony Corporation and Ericsson in October, 2011. Over the years Sony Ericsson has brought together the best communication technologies with superior entertainment user experiences to create its Xperia(TM) line of the “most entertaining smartphones” in the mobile handset industry. With its global corporate functions in London, Sony Ericsson has sales and marketing operations in all major regions of the world, as well as manufacturing in China, and product development sites in China, Japan, Sweden and Silicon Valley, California. For more information, please visit: www.sonyericsson.com/press.
PTS proposes to reduce mobile call termination rate with EC (Sweden)
PTS, Sweden’s telecom regulator has planned to reduce the mobile call termination rate from the current US$0.04 to US$0.03 from 1 July with the EU Commission.
PTS revised the calculation model that the authority uses after consulting with Swedish operators this came after in 2010 and 2011. The EU Commission has one month to comment on the calculation model’s cost and performance guidelines for pricing.
PTS will settle on the new price once the commission submits is comments.
