Business News Holding

Tag: service-provider

  • Demand Up, Prices Down for Carrier VoIP and IMS Equipment

    The total service provider VoIP equipment market, including trunk media gateways, SBCs, media servers, softswitches, and voice application servers, decreased 9% from 2Q10 to 3Q10, to $511 million, according to Infonetics Research. While revenue is down for the quarter, shipments for almost all segments in the market are up sequentially.

    The research firm has just released its third quarter (3Q10) Service Provider VoIP Equipment and Subscribers and IMS Equipment and Subscribers market share and forecast reports.

    The raport finds that Asia Pacific is the only region expected to post year-over-year revenue growth in 2010 for service provider VoIP equipment and that in 3Q10, GENBAND leads the combined carrier VoIP and IMS equipment market for worldwide revenue.

    “The number-one story that will come out of 2010 for the IMS and carrier VoIP equipment markets is China, where conditions are driving volumes up and pushing prices down. There are large network transformation projects underway in China, so demand for equipment is very strong, but at the same time, vendors are willing to push the pricing limits to get into strategic accounts,"noted Diane Myers, directing analyst for VoIP and IMS at Infonetics Research.

    "In the third quarter of 2010, every product category except media servers was impacted by pricing pressures, so while shipments were up for most segments, total worldwide revenue took a hit. Looking at the long-term prospects, the network elements that are best poised for solid growth are those that facilitate the migration to all-IP networks, such as session border controllers (SBCs),” she added.

    According to the report, the worldwide IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) equipment market, including IMS core equipment and application servers, grew 4% in 3Q10, on the heels of a 34% jump in the previous quarter.

    In 3Q10, the 4 top vendors, Alcatel Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia Siemens Networks, continue to fight it out for new deals and replacement RFPs. Ericsson and Nokia Siemens saw revenue growth with CSCF in a relatively flat quarter.

    Overall, the IMS equipment market is experiencing strong and healthy growth, driven in the near-term by the continued adoption of VoIP services and service provider migration of VoIP services to IMS networks.

    Longer-term, the IMS market will get a boost from the push for enhanced mobile services, with LTE being the most significant driver, as the analysts claim.

  • Home Networking Over Coax & Phone Wiring to Double in Two Years


    Demand for web video on TVs and whole-home DVR capability is driving demand for coax and phoneline networking, according to In-Stat.

    This is making it an increasingly important solution for home network connectivity, particularly for service provider provisioned networks.

    So much so that In-Stat forecasts that cumulative households with an in-home provider network utilizing coax/phoneline technology in North America will more than double from 2008 to 2010.

    Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst, said consumers want web video on their TV and also increasingly want whole-home DVR capability.

    "Networking over coax makes particularly good sense in North America where 90 per cent of homes have pre-existing coax wiring," she said.

    The recent research by In-Stat found the following:

    • In 2010, average PC home network throughput will exceed 150 Mbps in North America, ahead of throughput in Asia/Pacific and European households.
    • Nearly 2/3 of consumer respondents from In-Stat’s survey expressed an interest in watching Internet Video on their TV
    • Two segregated home networks (HN) have been evolving– A service provider-centric network, and a PC-centric network. Each is leveraging different business models and technologies

  • Fine Point Acquires VoIP Gateway Seller Sonic


    Fine Point Technologies has agreed to buy the German software and systems integration service provider Sonic Telecom.

    Sonic has been an authorized reseller of Fine Point’s device management technologies since 2005 – but also selling VoIP gateway systems and services.

    Fine Point says the deal will broaden its reach in European markets and offers it the potential to sell its software solutions to more communications providers.

    The NYC-based company will retain Sonic’s engineering and sales staff who are already knowledgeable in selling and supporting Fine Point’s products.

    Fine Point will also maintain Sonic’s existing facility in Germany, and rename the entity Fine Point Technologies, Inc.

    Financial terms for the transaction were not disclosed.

  • SUN Direct Launches HD DTH Service In India


    Sun Direct has announced the launch of India’s first HD broadcast on the direct-to-home (DTH) platform.

    The service provider has built up a subscriber base of three million since its launch in December 2007, making it India’s second largest DTH provider.

    Tony D’Silva, COO of Sun Direct, said that to keep viewers engaged it was necessary to constantly change offer new and exciting options.

    "In the coming fiscal year we look forward to occupy the pole position," he said.

    "We have added more customers than any other DTH player in the last one year and in the coming days we will be adding more innovative features, services and channels in our offerings."

  • Turkish Mobile Market: Opportunity Beckons With Summer Launch of 3G Network

    INTERVIEW: Isik Uman, general manager of leading Turkish service provider Retromedya, talks to smartphone-biz.news about the rapidly changing mobile market in Turkey.
    With 3G going live this summer, the nation’s 66 million mobile subscribers are expected to take full advantage of new services – making it an appealing prospect for operators and service providers.

    Turkish consumers love their mobiles. As one of the fastest growing mobile markets in recent years, wireless penetration currently sits at 92 per cent.

    That’s pretty impressive – especially as Turkey doesn’t have handset subsidies.

    People buy their mobile phones and then choose their operator.

    Isik Uman, general manager of leading Turkish service provider Retromedya, said increasingly that decision is being driven by the demand for richer content – something that has progressed as rapidly as improvements to handsets and mobile networks.

    Build-up To 3G

    The potential for content is going to get even more interesting this summer when Turkey’s 3G network kicks in.

    And there is no shortage of hardware ready to use it.

    Even without handset subsidies, Uman said there were around 3.5 million 3G phones already being used in Turkey.

    "That’s 3.5 million potential users for it," he said.

    While there are no official figures, an estimated 300,000 iPhones have been sold in Turkey since it launched last summer.

    On top of that sales of other high-end handsets from HTC and Nokia – which has a 60 per cent share of the mobile market in Turkey – are strong.

    All this makes the country one of the more attractive markets for handset manufacturers.

    That is likely to continue as 3G is rolled out – with all the opportunities that will bring.

    Competition Intensifies

    The development is expected to pit operators head-to-head, with 3G and a host of new services – including LBS – being used as the hook with which to lure customers.

    As a result – and despite the global economic situation – Turkey’s mobile operators are projecting Turkish Lira-based growth this year.

    The country’s three GSM operators – Turkcell (37m subscribers), Vodafone (17m subscribers) and Avea (12m subscribers) – earned between them an estimated 13 billion Turkish Liras (approx. USD $10 billion) in 2008.

    But as Turkey is a large country – and requires a lot of base stations to provide coverage – average revenue per user (ARPU) is between USD $11-14.

    This hasn’t affected competition among the operators, which is fierce – especially following the introduction of mobile number portability in Turkey last November.

    More than 1 million subscribers have changed operator since it became available.

    The ability for users to switch operator has also led to the adoption of new marketing strategies from the operators, including the introduction of a subsidy-like model to retain or lure valuable customers.

    "Before we had number portability, people like business professionals, company owners, doctors, lawyers and so on didn’t want to change their mobile numbers," said Uman. "It just wasn’t acceptable.

    "Now with number portability, we will see subsidised handsets being used as a means to lure lucrative customers."

    Uman said it was also likely that flat-rate data tariffs would become more common when 3G goes live.

    He said this would obviously benefit service providers such as Retromedya.

    "We are counting on this as it will make our services more attractive and easier to use," he said.

    Retromeyda already offers content to all three operators in the form of:

    • music services
    • video content – downloading on-demand video
    • mobile games
    • interactive voting
    • mobile community and chat

    As well as providing consumer services, Retromedya also offers B2B gateway services to third party players in the market.

    Uman said these were white label services to companies that want to provide mobile services in Turkey.

    "We believe this year will be very interesting for the Turkish market," he said.

    "Commercial services will be very important and offer a big opportunity, which we are trying to address."

    Uman said there had been a lot of interest in Retromedya at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

    He said this was a reflection on the potential revenue prospects Turkey’s mobile market offered service providers.

    "We provide the infrastructure for them so they can quickly introduce their services and operations," he said.

  • Vyke Launches Consumer Expat Marketing Campaign

    Cricket legend Sourav Ganguly appointed as brand ambassador


    Vyke Communications, the mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider, has announced the launch of its consumer marketing programme targeting the Asian expat communities.

    According to a recent national survey conducted by Vyke, expats spend more money on their mobile phones than they do on their food bills.

    With the desire to keep in touch with family and loved ones back home, texting internationally costs on average 25p per text, whereas, using Vyke’s FreeTxT application, costs are only 3p, or free if the recipient is also a Vyke user.

    The campaign is being supported by Indian cricket legend, Sourav Ganguly.

    The international sports star is frequently away from home on tour and finds technology such as Vyke’s VoIP help him to cost-effectively keep close to his family and friends.

    During a visit to the UK, Ganguly will be carrying out various media activities – web chats, radio and TV interviews discussing different ways of dealing with being away from your family, and demonstrating the benefits of Vyke’s service.

    Jan Berger, CMO, Vyke Communications said: “Our research clearly shows that 40 per cent of people from British ethnic communities keep in touch with their families back home by calls or text – an extremely costly habit to maintain. We are therefore very excited to launch this campaign.”

    As part of the programme, Vyke has launched an exclusive expat survival guide blog, www.vykehome.com, offering first-hand advice on coping with homesickness and adapting to life in the UK.

    Sourav himself will be writing a number of the blogs.