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  • Clearing Houses at Centre of WiMAX Hub Model

    INTERVIEW: Smartphone.biz-news spoke to John Dubois, global roaming director for the WiMAX Forum, to hear the latest on the deployment of the 4G technology’s networks – and plans for operators to use a hub model for roaming agreements.

    While many people have reservations about the future success of WiMAX it’s clear the 4G technology is gaining traction in markets around the world.

    In his presentation at the recent Insights’09 conference in Lisbon, Portugal, John Dubois, global roaming director for the WiMAX Forum, highlighted the growing number of WiMAX deployments – and the advantages it has in being first to market compared to LTE.

    The most recent figures from the organisation show there have been 484 WiMAX deployments in 141 countries so far.

    Aside from networks, the Forum has recently certified its first full Netbook (Onkyo C204) and its first Notebook computer (Toshiba Dynabook SS RX2).

    The specification for billing and settlement for roaming has just been completed and two operators – Clearwire and DigitalBridge – will be testing it over the summer.

    Roaming Trials

    Also getting underway are the first commercial global roaming trials, which will involve 14 "ecosystem leaders" carrying out end-to-end testing of roaming over live WiMAX networks.

    These operators, device manufacturers, equipment vendors, and clearing houses include Aicent, Alvarion, Bridgewater Systems, Cisco, Clearwire, Comfone, DigitalBridge, Intel, iPass, Juniper Networks, MACH, Motorola, Syniverse and Transaction Network Services.

    From the results of the trial Dubois told smartphone.biz-news that it will be possible to provide a baseline for establishing roaming services and agreements for WiMAX worldwide.

    "WiMAX operators do not have a lot of experience with roaming," he said.

    "After that other operators are very interested in participating. Six clearing houses are also involved in the trials.

    "They will provide back offices and after the trials are completed we will be in a position where we can start connecting operators on a commercial bases."

    Dubois said that while operators will be able to connect directly, he believed the vast majority will do so through clearing houses.

    This is because this simplifies the administration of the roaming process by only requiring operators to have one or two agreements with clearing houses – rather than individual agreements with every operator.

    He said that prior to joining the WiMAx Forum he worked as director of roaming for a mobile operator and had to manage more than 300 roaming agreements.

    "The hub model will prevail," he said. "That’s what the 3G world would like to move to. We will do that straight away with WiMAX.

    "It’s not something we are enforcing, we are letting the market take care of it."

    Interoperability Key

    A key element of the trial will be testing the interoperability of equipment – essentially devices’ ability to acquire a visited network’s base stations and backend while roaming.

    Dubois said interoperability is a particularly important aspect for WiMAX since there are a lot of different base stations vendors, each manufacturing its own equipment.

    He said it is clearly vital that devices work on the different base stations while roaming.

    For this reason, the WiMAX Forum has designed a certification process.

    "They will undergo interoperability testing to make sure that they will be interoperable with different base stations," he said.

    "That is key for roaming – but it’s nothing we didn’t face with 2G and 3G."

    Again, from his experience working for a mobile operator, Dubois said it took a while before handsets from the operator were able to function in different parts of the US.

    "With WiMAX, we want it to work now with all devices. It’s a matter of months," he said.

    A non-technical issue with base stations is also their cost and how this could be affecting the uptake of WiMAX.

    However, Dubois said prices were very competitive when compared with 3G.

    Deployment Growing

    Scenna Tabesh, director of marketing communications for the WiMAX Forum, said that despite the economic downturn WiMAX deployments and developments are continuing to grow "quite reasonably".

    While the Forum has no specific projections for future deployment rates it expects the numbers to grow significantly based on the history of the last few years.

    "We are growing very steadily and we are still cautiously optimistic that we will see steady growth over the next 18 months," she said.

    Scenna Tabesh, director of marketing communications, WiMAX Forum

    Tabesh said WiMAX activity has been particularly strong in the Middle East, Africa and South-east Asia, and auctions to allocate wireless spectrum are expected shortly in India and Brazil.

    "The big picture is looking pretty good. Operators continue to invest despite the global situation," she said. "There are also a lot of folks straddling the fence because they do not have to act right now."

    That’s not the case in Russia, where two operators – Yota and Comstar – have rolled out WiMAX networks.

    Tabesh said Yota, which launched its paid commercial Mobile WiMAX service on June 1st and is adding 1300 subcribers a day, has launched the first dual-mode GSM/WiMAX mobile.

    The Russian operator is also looking to extend its WiMAX investments outside its home market.

    However, Dubois said that while more operators such as Yota are successfully deploying WiMAX, this did not appear to be widely known.

    "WiMAX is gaining significant traction. A lot of operators are deploying but they are not making a lot of noise about it," he said.

    "There’s significant growth in the area. Operators are very excited because it provides them with what they need right now.

    "They are putting in broadband services quickly and once the network is up, customers flock to them."

  • Handset Vendors Eye Russian Smartphone-based Navigation Market


    More than a third of Russian consumers are interested in a smartphone-based navigation device – while nearly 63 per cent are willing to pay more than euro 4 per month for a vehicle tracking service based on a GPS-enabled smartphone.

    These are among the findings of research by Frost & Sullivan which also showed that global positioning system (GPS)-enabled smartphone technology is gaining ground over traditional portable navigation devices (PND) in the Russian navigation and telematics market.

    So much so that in 2009, the smartphone-based navigation market has already exceeded 350,000 units sold in Russia, while the PND market has failed to register even half that amount.

    The analysts conclude that the results indicate that firms must define a clear strategy – positioning products, services and business models around the ever-converging GPS-enabled mobile handsets market in order to expand telematics and navigation into the Russian market.

    The report says that Russian consumers’ desirability and willingness to pay for connected navigation, location-based services and features, finds that the Russian navigation market saw unit sales of 0.45 million in 2008, and will likely reach 2.0 million in 2012.

    This shift is attributable to exponential growth in the GPS-enabled, smartphone-based navigation market and to steady growth in the PND market.

    Praveen Chandrasekar, Frost & Sullivan programme manager, said: "Handset vendors like HTC, Nokia, and Apple are propelling the navigation market in a new direction by pushing more GPS-enabled smartphones into the Russian market.

    "In 2008 the balance shifted more towards the handsets-enabled navigation market rather than PNDs."

    Chandrasekar said this trend clearly shows that this market needs to be addressed with a smartphone-based portfolio in order to succeed.

    Eight out of ten current owners of navigation systems in Russia want to purchase another navigation system within six months.

    Of these, 49 per cent still prefer a PND, but a growing 30 per cent favour a smartphone-based navigation system.

    Russian consumers are willing to pay upwards of euro 100 for a smartphone-based navigation solution.

    In light of the current recession, this solution could clearly prove to be the low-cost killer alternative.

    The economic crisis has put a damper in consumer spending habits in Russia. Although Russian consumers indicate that they are willing to pay upwards of euro 300 for a navigation device, they might not necessarily be ready to do so in this economic climate.

    Chandrasekar said the recession has come at the "wrong time".

    "The navigation market, driven by GPS- enabled smartphones and PND, was on an upswing.

    "However, consumers are increasingly cautious and this might slowdown market development."

  • Toshiba Blu-ray Player By Year End as Format Sales Grow


    More flesh has been added to Toshiba’s plans to bring out a Blu-ray player – it is likely to be called the BD-18 and could be available as soon as the year end.

    The company, which backed the HD DVD high-definition format that eventually lost to Sony’s prevailing Blu-ray, had stubbornly maintained it would not bring out a Blu-ray player and instead focused on its XDE DVD-upscaling technology.

    Then it emerged last month at its annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo that Toshiba had finally accepted it could no longer ignore the opportunities Blu-ray products offer.

    Now the Japanese electronics giant is planning a Blu-ray player, for its home market initially, according to the Japanese paper Yomiuri.
    A Blu-ray recorder is also being considered.

    A rumored USD $1B financial hole caused by the HD DVD failure appears to be a big motivation for Toshiba’s shift in stance to Blu-ray.

    The development comes as the Consumer Electronics Association publishes a reports pointing to burgeoning shipments of Blu-ray disc players in the second half of the year.

    These are expected to contribute to a 112 per cent increase in unit sales by the end of 2009.

    The growth in unit shipments should take the total to nearly 6 million for the year, which despite falling prices will ensure revenues top USD $1 billion, an increase of 48 per cent over 2008.

    Average Blu-ray player unit prices have falled closer to the USD $200 price point.

  • Pace Secures Brazilian HD Set-Top Box Deal


    Pace is to provide an HD-capable set-top box to Latin America’s largest multi-service cable provider.

    Brazil’s cable operator NET Serviços de Comunicação is buying the UK firms’s new HD-capable set-top unit as part of its drive to establish a fully HD, digitised customer base.

    Márcio Carvalho, products and services director at NET said the Brazilian pay-TV market is developing rapidly.

    He said the provision of high-definition content is increasingly becoming a service expectation in the region as the market matures.

    "This new deployment will dramatically increase our HD content reach and provides us with a platform to introduce additional entertainment services for subscribers," he said.

    The low environmental impact (LEI) box uses Nagra and Open TV middleware to deliver content securely over the cable network.

    NET Serviços’ integrated services include Pay TV (NET), Digital Video (NET Digital), High Definition Digital Video (NET Digital HD), high definition DVR (NET Digital HD Max), bi-directional broadband internet access (NET Vírtua) and voice (NET Fone).

    Hervé Matthieu, vice president of sales at Pace said the deployment of its HD-capable set-top box is a step forward in driving HD penetration in the region.

  • Wireless Broadband World Africa 2009: Neotel Showcases CDMA 2000


    Neotel showcased and demonstrated various telecommunication products for the African market at Wireless Broadband World Africa 2009, the continent’s flagship Wireless broadband event held recently.

    The key technology showcased at this event was the CDMA2000 1x-EvDO and is the most widely deployed of the global 3G standards today.

    According to Chief technology Officer at Neotel, Dr. Angus Hay, the new technology has been well received by the market and offer faster internet
    connection better than other technologies on the market in South Africa.

    "This technology is faster than the ADSL it’s reliable and offers total solutions to connectivity," he said.

    The CDMA 2000 1 offers a smooth migration path from basic voice to high-speed internet through EV-DO, offering peak data speeds of 2.4 megabits
    per second (average data speeds 400-600 kilobits per second).

    CDMA2000 1x-EvDO provides a satisfactory customer experience for all standard internet usage, including sending/receiving emails, browsing the internet,
    and downloading content as well as applications.

    According to Dr Hay, Neotel plans to continue delivering leading-edge technology to suit the editorneeds of its customers, and its choice of the CDMA2000 1x-EvDO technology reflects this principle.

    Evolutions of CDMA2000 1x-EvDO technology are already in the pipe-line, with EV-DO Rev A offering peak 3.1 megabits per second, EV-DO Rev B in the near future which will deliver peak speeds in the region of 15 megabits per second and EV-DO Rev C in the longer term, which will deliver peak speeds of over 70 megabits per second.

    Dr. Hay also emphasized that the laying of fibre cable which is set to cover a distance of 5 000km, connecting major centres across South Africa is proceeding earnestly will be complete by 2010.

    The optic fibre network will provide Neotel, Vodacom and MTN with almost infinite bandwidth capacity to carry more information – voice and data – at
    higher speeds over greater distances using far less power than copper cables.

    The deployment of high-speed, quality voice and data transmission is of importance for the industry to remain competitive.

    Neotel is South Africa’s first converged Telecommunications network operator that aims to reduce the cost of doing business by enhancing the operational
    efficiencies of companies through the optimal use of advanced communications technologies.

  • Mobile Web a "Miserable" Experience for Many Users


    Mobile web users have 35 per cent less success completing website tasks on cell phones than they do on a PC, according to a study.

    Small screens, awkward input, download delays and badly designed websites were all given as obstacles to a good browsing experience.

    The results led usability researchers at the Nielsen Norman Group to conclude in their report that it is neither "easy nor pleasant" for people to use the Web on their mobile phones.

    Conducted in the US and UK, the studies found that the average success rate for users completing tasks on the mobile Internet was 59 per cent.

    This compared to an average success rate of 80 per cent for websites accessed on a regular PC.

    Jakob Nielsen, principal of the Nielsen Norman Group, said: "The phrase ‘mobile usability’ is pretty much an oxymoron.

    Jakob Nielsen, principal of the Nielsen Norman Group

    "Observing users suffer during our user sessions reminded us of the very first usability studies we did with traditional websites in 1994. It was that bad."

    Not counting poor cellular signal, researchers identified four main obstacles that mobile users face to getting a good user experience:

    • Small screens: When users see fewer options at any given time, all interactions become harder to do
    • Awkward input: Text entry is particularly slow and error prone, even on phones with mini-keyboards, and it is difficult to operate GUI widgets without a mouse
    • Download delays: Getting to the next screen takes forever, often longer than it would on a dial-up connection
    • Mis-designed websites: Sites optimized for usability under desktop conditions, meaning they don’t follow guidelines for mobile access, create all kinds of additional obstacles for mobile users

    Raluca Budiu, lead researcher for the study and co-author of the study, Usability of Mobile Websites, said the first two problems are inherent to mobile devices.

    "As for connectivity, it’s going to take many years before mobile connections are as fast as even a modest cable modem," she said.

    "The key opportunity for improving the mobile user experience lies in websites being designed specifically for better mobile usability."

    The researchers found that when test participants used sites designed specifically for mobile devices, their success rates averaged 64 per cent compared to the 53 per cent success rate they experienced when using "full" sites on their mobile phones – in other words, the same sites offered to PC users.

    The report said that user performance could be improved by 20 per cent by creating mobile-optimized sites.

  • Sipgate Launches Cloud-Based Business VoIP Service


    sipgate has launched a new and entirely web-based service version of its US telephony service that replaces both phone systems and phone lines.

    The VoIP company said that its "Team Edition" will allow small and mid-size companies to move their corporate phone service to the cloud.

    It provides each employee with online access to their inbox containing phone logs, faxes, recordings and voicemail messages.

    Thilo Salmon, CEO of sipgate, said collaboration features like forwards, labels and comments allow coworkers to be more productive.

    It also allows employees to return calls at the click of a button, or sign and send faxes through a WYSIWYG interface on the company letterhead.

    Most functions such as call forwarding, call recording, and 3-way calling can be activated with a single click on the interface.

    Salmon said this makes features previously hidden in phone systems accessible for employees and, consequently, businesses more productive.

    He said the aim is to make telephone service as easy to use as email.

    sipgate team starts at USD $2 per user per month, and a 30-day free trial is available.

    "If you can use email, you now know enough to run your company’s corporate telephony system," he said.

    "We think this service will resonate particularly well with entrepreneurial companies and firms that have already realized the benefits from other cloud-based services like hosted CRM or email."

    In June, sipgate launched a free VoIP service in the US aimed at capturing a share of the 100 million users that make up the landline market.

    Salmon said the new Team service allows each employee to stay in control over where to answer calls and even have their VoIP, landline and mobile phones ring in parallel – the call is routed through to whichever handset is picked up first.

    He said that during a call, it is simple to bridge-in other callers, transfer the call or even record it.

    Employees given administrative privileges can add new users, office locations and blocks of phone numbers at the click of a button, with new additions available to use from the moment ordered.

    The system has been designed to be simple for administrators to set up and maintain, cutting down the time, effort and cost of traditional telephony systems.

    sipgate is running an introductory offer for companies with up to one hundred users, and costs from just USD $2 per user per month and is offered as a one month rolling contract.

  • Mobile Broadband Could Reach 418m in 2017


    There could be 94 million people using VoIP hardware over mobile broadband connections across Europe by 2017, according to new research.

    Figures from the Coda Research Consultancy suggest the uptake of mobile broadband will continue to expand significantly.

    This could potentially change business practices as more people have the option of working from home rather than heading into the office.

    Global mobile broadband connectivity is forecast to reach 418 million over the same timeframe as the flexibility of the technology appeals to more people.

    The researchers predict that portable laptop and netbook users accessing the internet via mobile broadband will produce USD $48bn in operator revenues in 2017 and will generate and consume an immense 1.8 exabytes of traffic per month – a forty fold increase over 2009.

    Steve Smith, founder of Coda Research, said: "With enormous growth in traffic and considerable decline in average revenue per user, operators will need to be ruthlessly efficient."

    The most significant growth will occur in the Asia-Pacific region, where users will amount to 162m by 2017. Europe will account for 94m users, and North America for 58m users.

    The Coda report says the impact of Long Term Evolution (LTE) will be dramatic, with half of all mobile broadband via netbook and laptop users employing LTE worldwide in 2017.

    Three quarters of users in Europe and nearly two thirds of users in North America will employ LTE in 2017.

    This contrasts with just over half of users in Asia Pacific, and 12 per cent in Central and South America.

    Smith said LTE take up will be greatly skewed toward European and North American markets in the short to medium term, where ARPU will be highest.

    "However, we will also see significant take up in China, and we may also see countries like India bypass 3G altogether, and move straight to LTE," he said.

  • Cellcom Israel To Offer HD VoIP-enabled Mobile Calling


    AudioCodes has teamed up with MailVision to offer a mobile soft client (Pico) and a versatile mobile clients’ Distribution Platform to Israel’s leading mobile service provider, Cellcom.

    As a result, Cellcom is to offer a new service called Cellcom Link, which allows roaming subscribers to initiate voice calls and send text messages (SMS) over a Wi-Fi connection, via their current mobile handsets at low rates.

    Leev Lerner, CEO of MailVision, a provider of SIP Mobile Platforms for Wireless and NGN Service Providers, said its Pico Client delivers high voice quality to subscribers allowing them to utilize their personal handset and telephone number when travelling abroad.

    He said the PICO software has the ability to retain a mobile phone’s existing address book contacts, enabling users to use their regular phone interface.

    "Mobile operators are now able to offer an alternative to low cost PC based calls," he said.

    "By selecting to use our advanced mobile VoIP solution platform, Mobile operators can offer roaming end-users the ability to make calls at a significantly reduced rate."

    Adi Cohen, vice president of marketing at Cellcom, said the service is not intended to replace the existing Cellcom Abroad service.

    "Rather (it is) to serve as an additional solution for customers travelling abroad who make many phone calls with Wi-Fi supported devices and would like to cut costs, while retaining their personal cellphone number," he said.

  • WirelessWireless Broadband World Africa 2009: Access Providers Demand Self-Regulation in South Africa


    The Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) is strongly urging self-regulation within the industry as a way of increasing accountability amongst operators.

    WAPA is an association that is dedicated to governing the responsible use of wireless technology in South Africa.

    Addressing delegates at the recent Wireless Broadband World Africa 2009, Johann Botha, Chairman of WAPA said: "Hopefully, in 12 to 18 months’ time, we will have developed a set of rules to help the industry self-regulate itself."

    Botha urged more transparency in the use of frequency spectrum in South Africa.

    In an interview with smartphone.biz-news in Cape Town, Botha said: "Spectrum is a national resource and it is in the interest of all citizens that spectrum be used as efficiently as possible.

    "Spectrum has gone ‘from coal to gold’ in the last few years. With 300 new ECNS licensees, many of whom will be providing fixed wireless access services, national spectrum resources will be under added pressure.

    "Positive dialogue, cooperation and a new approach to spectrum management is needed."

    Regulatory issues became a topical matter during the deliberations at the Wireless Broadband gathering.

    Most of the participants lamented the unfavourable regulatory environment that hampers the use of technologies.

    These technologies offer tremendous opportunities. Governments can work with the private sector to accelerate rollout of broadband networks, and to extend access to low-income consumers.

    So far, the mobile platform has been identified as the single most powerful way to reach and deliver public and private services to hundreds of millions of people in remote and rural areas across the developing world.

    Botha said that broadband provides the basis for local information technology (IT) services industries, which create youth employment, increase productivity and exports, and promote social inclusion.

    Early this month WAPA had to send out an advisory to its membership, advising them to stop using 5600 – 5650 MHz spectrum because of interference with C-band weather radar systems.

    This came about after an investigation by the Open Spectrum Alliance (OSA) into spectrum which may be feasible to demonstrate an industry self-regulation model through lite-licensing spectrum for terrestrial point-to-point wireless links in the 5.9 – 6.1 GHz range.