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  • Fixed-Line VoIP Service as a Mainstay of IMS Deployments

    Communications market research firm Infonetics Research released results from its IMS Plans: Global Service Provider Survey, published last week as part of its Service Provider VoIP and IMS Continuous Research Service.

    The survey provides a strategic overview of service provider IMS network plans, service offerings, core product features and capabilities, drivers and barriers to deploying IMS, and ratings of 10 IMS vendors: Acme Packet, Alcatel-Lucent, BroadSoft, Cisco, Ericsson, HP, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sonus, and ZTE.

    The research shows that the IMS market is advancing from early-stage services to the next phase. According to Diane Mayers, Infonetics’ Directing Analyst for Service Provider VoIP and IMS, the two most important indicators are:
    • the higher number of service providers planning to offer services beyond fixed-line voice—such as video and mobile services—by 2011;
    • the shift in IMS deployment drivers, which include the opportunity to offer converged services, deploy new applications and services, and consolidate networks.

    80% of Infonetics’ service provider respondents run fixed voice over IMS today or will by 2011, making fixed-line VoIP service the current mainstay of IMS deployments.

    More than half of the service provider respondents plan to deploy video telephony and converged mobile/fixed-line services over the next 12–18 months.

    The report also unveils that the top three IMS applications operators expect to offer over the next two years are mobile-related: FMC, mobile presence, and mobile messaging.

    "On the vendor front, Ericsson continues to be the leading IMS vendor, but Huawei has made the most progress in terms of deployments and vendor perceptions. Huawei poses a credible and serious threat to Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia Siemens based on the number of providers with Huawei IMS products under evaluation, and overall perception of Huawei across a broad set of criteria," said Myers.

  • O2 Germany Clears the Way for VoIP on the Mobile Phone

    Telefónica O2 Germany opens mobile telecommunications network for Voice-over-IP services. From today, all O2 customers in Germany can use mobile internet telephony services like Skype or Fring with the current internet packs from O2. Using VoIP services will not be extra charged.

    By opening its HSPA network for VoIP use, O2 Germany becomes one of the first traditional telecom operators worldwide which allows its customers using voip-based services and the first that doesn’t charge any further fees for doing this.

    "We operate one of the most modern and most rapid mobile data networks in Europe and our customers are to experience it without limitations, no matter whether they surf, email, use instant messaging or make phone calls", says Lutz Schüler, Managing Director Marketing & Sales of Telefónica O2 Germany.

    Earlier this summer T-Mobile announced that it is to end its ban on mobile VoIP applications within its German network – but will charge customers upwards of € 9.95 per month for the service. Vodafone Germany is also to introduce VoIP tariffs later this year.

    O2 offers the customers two mobile internet flat rates: Internet Pack M that allows surfing the internet at a volume of up to 200 MB and up to HSDPA speed for € 10/month and Internet Pack L with the full speed to 5GB for € 25/month.

    "By opening our mobile high-speed network for VoIP services, we set new standards in the area of the mobile internet," added Schüler.

    In Germany, the mobile data network of O2 reaches almost 100 percent of the population. Large parts of Germany are supplied with HSDPA at speeds of up to 7.2 MBit/s and the rapid upload technology HSUPA.

  • Xyratex First to Announce Support for Hitachi’s 2TB HD

    Xyratex, a provider of enterprise-class data storage subsystems and storage process technology, announced support for Hitachi GST’s enterprise-class 7,200 RPM 2TB offering, the Ultrastar A7K2000 hard disk drive.

    Xyratex claims new Hitachi’s drive have been fully integrated into Xyratex’s family of storage systems “making it the industry’s first, fully integrated external storage subsystem to deliver the highest-capacity, most energy efficient drives per capacity available for enterprise storage systems”.

    The Ultrastar A7K2000 will be available for Xyratex products over the next quarter.

    Hitachi announced its first enterprise version of 2TB drive – the Ultrastar A7K2000, earlier this month. It is now possible to achieve 1.2 petabytes (PB) in the footprint of a standard 19-inch enterprise storage rack by deploying the 2TB A7K2000 in a stack of ten 4U, 60-bay enclosures. It has a 1.2 million hours MTBF (mean time before failure) rating, a bulk data encryption option and SATA 3Gb/s interface.

    “Xyratex and Hitachi are committed to meeting the explosive capacity growth in enterprise data centers while advancing reduced power consumption and improved system performance,” said Brendan Collins, vice president of marketing, Hitachi GST.

    UK-based Xyratex designs and manufactures enabling technology that provides OEM and disk drive manufacturer customers with data storage products to support high-performance storage and data communication networks.

    Xyratex OEMs are able to customize the system to meet a diverse set of application workloads and environments ranging from data centers to distributed operations. Xyratex also delivers a storage server platform that allows the convergence of servers and storage in a single, highly available system.

  • InterAct First to Validate Next Generation 9-1-1 Architecture

    InterAct, a provider of software for enterprises and government agencies, announced the successful integration with proposed Next Generation 9-1-1 architecture.

    The company is one of the first two nationwide U.S. vendors to achieve this integration. It is also the only provider to completely process end-to-end NG9-1-1 calls from the caller to the Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Geographic Information mapping systems (GIS) using nothing but IP connections.

    At NENA’s 2009 conference, InterAct showcased its ability to route wireless 9-1-1 calls into the DOT public safety test system and instantly deliver all data associated with the call to a full dispatch position without the use of legacy tone-based caller identification or serial subscriber lookup.

    A wireless 9-1-1 call placed from the NENA 2009 Conference in Ft. Worth, Texas was immediately routed through InterAct’s Next Generation IP-enabled 9-1-1 controller in Ottawa, Canada back to a call-taker position in Ft. Worth. Simultaneously, the automatic location information (ALI) was sent from the controller to an InterActCADtng server in Winston-Salem, NC and transmitted over a low bandwidth wireless network using an air card to a dispatch position in Ft. Worth where the caller location was plotted on the InterActGIS map display, and a call created in the InterActCADtng workstation. With this accomplishment, InterAct demonstrated that it is possible to dispatch incident response personnel from anywhere in the world.

    “9-1-1 centers have a dire need for Next Generation capabilities,” said Brian Fontes, CEO of NENA. “Regardless of whether a caller dials 9-1-1 from a wired, voice-over-IP or wireless phone, the location information should be instantly transmitted to the correct public safety answering point. Next Generation 9-1-1 makes this possible and enables the PSAP to receive and react to multimedia messages that cannot be handled by the current system”.

    Using NG 9-1-1 technology not only will agencies be able to communicate with citizens via text and video messages, but they can also choose to centralize all public safety equipment to drive down costs and collaborate with other agencies, while keeping dispatchers in the local communities they know best.

  • Low-Cost Handsets to Account for over Half of all Mobile Phones by 2014

    According to Juniper Research, low-cost handsets and Smartphones will together account for almost 79% of all new mobile phones by 2014, or just over 1 billion units in all.

    New research, which results have been contained in the latest Jupiter’s report ‘Low Cost Handsets: Markets, Opportunities & Forecasts 2009-2014’, has shown how the mobile handset market is becoming increasingly polarised between low cost handsets for emerging markets and high-end smartphones for developed regions – with the mid-range handset market being squeezed.

    Operators and vendors are preparing to deal with a massive influx of new users from low-income socio-economic groups in developing markets and a rising demand for complex ‘smart’ devices from affluent users in developed markets.

    Vendors such as Nokia, Apple and RIM (makers of Blackberry) are well positioned to benefit from these trends whilst players operating more in the mid range market such as Sony Ericsson and Motorola are having to rethink their strategy.

    According to the report author Andrew Kitson: “Low-cost handset shipments will number more than 700 million in 2014, up by 31% from levels seen in 2008, albeit down slightly from a peak of 716 million in 2012 as some users begin to upgrade to costlier devices. At the same time, smartphone shipment volumes will grow continuously across the forecast period, reaching almost 360 million by the end of the period. We therefore expect that mid-range device sales volumes will fall by more than 41% over the period”.

    In 2008, the Indian Sub Continent region accounted for the majority (23%) of low-cost handset sales, due to efforts by operators such as Vodafone to meet low-income users’ needs in markets such as India. By 2014, the region will account for 22% of sales.

    The report says also that take-up in emerging markets will be boosted by the availability of low-cost, highly targeted localised information services, such as Nokia’s Life Tools offering.

  • xMax Offers Alternative Path for VoIP Across Mobile Networks

    Resistance by wireless carriers to allowing customers access to VoIP services across their mobile networks has attracted the attention of the regulators, with the US Department of Justice, the Federal Communications Commission and the European Union all looking into the practice.

    xG Technology claims they had developed an alternative path that allows consumers to benefit from much lower cost mobile calls via the internet, avoiding the incumbent carriers’ networks all together.

    The company developed xMax, which is similar to Vonage or Skype, but in the form of a fully mobile handset that doesn’t require the use and extra cost of a computer or broadband internet connection.

    xG Technology claims they can offer consumers the prospect of lower phone bills because xMax transmits over unlicensed spectrum – the same as baby monitors and cordless phones and because xMax was built as a totally internet-based digital system from top to bottom in a extremely cost efficient way.

    The firm recently reported that they had completed more than 20,000 successful wireless pilot network calls using a new approach to mobile telecommunications.

    “There was understandable skepticism when we first announced that we were taking an entirely new approach to launching a mobile, broadband VoIP network,” said Joe Bobier, CTO and president of operations. “Our successful call completion experience proves that we are on the right track and that, with xMax, the future holds the prospect of lower costs for wireless voice and broadband”.

    According to the company, xMax networks can enable communication providers to aggressively compete with national carriers by offering customers unlimited voice and data plans both locally and long distance, extremely low-cost international calling, no contracts, as well as home phone and high-speed internet service.

    xG Technology is a US based company, but development of xMax is an international effort that involves companies in Europe and Asia. They currently have 50 US and 101 international patents.

  • Microsoft Unveils Zune HD Details

    Microsoft announced today that the Zune HD, its long-awaited media player, is available now for pre-order and is set to hit store shelves on Sept. 15.

    The black 16 GB version will sell for $219.99, and the 32 GB "platinum" device for $289.99. Both 16GB and 32GB capacities will be available in five different colors with the option to customize the player with one of 10 new engravings designed by guest artists.

    Pre-order starting Thursday, Aug. 13 at https://www.zune.net/zunehd and purchase in stores on Tuesday, Sept. 15.

    Those who want a sneak peek, can visit select stores in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., areas on Aug. 22 and 23.

    Zune HD features 3.3-inch glass screen and 16:9 widescreen format display (480 x 272 resolution) and have HD video output to allow video to be played on an HDTV.

    It comes also with built-in HD Radio receiver, an OLED touch screen interface, wi-fi, a multi-touch UI for Internet Explorer and has access to TV, movies and games through the Xbox Live Video Marketplace.

  • West & Central African Com: Rolling Strategies on the African Telecom Market

    VIDEO INTERVIEW: Christian De Faria, Regional Vice President – WECA region of MTN Nigeria, was interviewed at the recent West & Central African Com conference held in Abuja, Nigeria.

    He unveils what areas MTN Nigeria will be focusing on over the next few years. He also discusses the evolution of the Nigerian telecom market.

  • Harris Stratex to Supply India’s First Urban Mobile WiMAX Network

    Harris Stratex Networks, a provider of wireless solutions, has signed a contract with ICOMM, one of India’s leading groups in the field of telecom, to supply, install, commission and maintain an IEEE 802.16e mobile WiMAX network for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).

    Under the multi-year contract, Harris Stratex will supply its StarMAX WiMAX solution to extend BSNL’s public wireless access network to provide high-speed wireless mobility in urban areas across the southern Indian state of Kerala.

    Harris Stratex will supply StarMAX IEEE 802.16e-2005 base stations, along with solutions for access services network (ASN) gateway; home agent; authentication, authorization and accounting; and network management system.

    “We greatly appreciate BSNL’s strategic leadership in India and its efforts to help the government reach its target of 20 million broadband subscribers by 2010, and are extremely proud to be a part of this very important undertaking,” said Harald Braun, president and CEO of Harris Stratex.

    BSNL is the world’s seventh-largest telecommunications company and provides a telecom services to 7,330 cities and towns, and 550,000 villages across India.

    The contract award to ICOMM and Harris Stratex will enable broadband services to be deployed throughout the state of Kerala, India’s fourth largest telecom market by revenue with a population of more than 35 million people in an area of 38,000 square kilometers.

    “This mobile WiMAX rollout by BSNL will represent one of the largest deployments of this technology in the world,” the companies announced.

    The StarMAX platform is the result of the March 2, 2009 acquisition of Telsima Corporation by Harris Stratex Networks and includes a portfolio of IEEE 802.16d-2004 and 16e-2005 compatible base stations, fixed and mobile subscriber devices, ASN gateway solutions, home agent and network management tools.

  • Toshiba Enters Blu-ray Group

    Toshiba announced that the company has applied for membership of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) and plans to introduce products that support the Blu-ray format.

    Almost seven-year format war is over. Toshiba, the primary backer of the HD DVD format, which has been defeated after a number the largest movie studios (e.g. Warner Brothers) and U.S. rental services and retailers announced the exclusive support for Sony backed Blu-ray products, finally decided to join Blu-ray group.

    “In light of recent growth in digital devices supporting the Blu-ray format, combined with market demand from consumers and retailers alike, Toshiba has decided to join the BDA,” says the company’s brief statement.

    Toshiba aims to introduce digital products that support the Blu-ray format, including BD players and notebook PCs integrating BD drives, in the course of this year.

    The first rumors of the company’s new HD strategy appeared in June this year, when the Toshiba’s president, Atsutoshi Nishida, told shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting in Tokio, that the company is considering making Blu-ray products.

    Later, at the end of July, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun raported that Toshiba would introduce a Blu-ray player called BD-18 before the end of the year. Thus the latest company’s announcement didn’t surprise anyone at the HD market. The decision to support Blu-ray format is considered a good (and the only logical) business move.