Category Archives: Mobile Operators
Mobile firms do well in Tech Track 100 league
Rating: Keep an eye on Mobilewebadz & Omnifone
Writing about the UK’s Top Twenty ‘cool’ brands today [24th September 2012], (see here) GoMobile News remembered that we hadn’t mentioned the Sunday Times Hiscox Tech Track 100 league table which appeared on 16th September [2012]. Just like the CoolBrands survey, high tech companies which are mobile orientated in particular did really well. Two companies which definitely deserve a name check are Mobilewebadz (4th) and Omnifone (20th) which both secured high places. Continue reading
Motorola RAZR i pricing made available to Brits
Rating: No news on availability, though
Some good news for Brits anxious to get their hands on Motorola’s very latest RAZR variant – the ‘i’. (See our previous story here). The company has just put out details from five of its distribution partners: – Virgin Media, Tesco, T-Mobile, Orange and Phones 4 U. The update hints at how much you could expect to pay for this handset but still actually doesn’t confirm any release date. GoMobile News is still investigating the pre-release version which Motorola kindly loaned to us. We fully intend to pass on the bugs which we discover. Continue reading
Boris J likens new EE logo to pollen count
Rating: Perils of celebrity endorsements
Mayor of London [England], Boris Johnson, had the assembled hacks at the Press launch of the Everything Everywhere rebranding launch in fits of laughter. Everything Everywhere had just boasted that its new name and logo, EE, was based on seeing the whole world as a number of connected molecules. Unfortunately, the UK largest mobile network operator with some 27 million customers had picked a loose cannon in the shape of maverick politician, Johnson, to provide a celebrity endorsement. Boris promptly repaid the favour by referring to the logo as being based on the pollen count. There’s a moral in here, somewhere. Continue reading
38th GSMA Arab World Summit to be hosted by MACH
Rating: MENA region to focus on monetising mobile data
In recognition of the growing emphasis on the effective monetisation of mobile data services in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), MACH, has announced that it will be hosting the 38th GSMA Arab World Summit. It is due to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from 4th – 6th September, 2012. The GSMA mHealth team will be hosting a workshop on Wednesday 5 September 2012 entitled, ‘The mHealth Opportunity in the Middle East’. The event is set to bring together leading representatives from across the communications industry to discuss the future of mobile. Continue reading
Guest Post: Big Data is getting smarter
Mobile operators get closer to their customers using smarter data
by Lyn Cantor, president of Tektronix Communications
It’s a well-known fact in marketing circles that mobile operators are sat on a potential goldmine of personal data based on presence, location and preference. Operators can mine data that reveals what websites subscribers visit; which applications they use; and what products they buy. Now that mobile broadband has taken hold on wireless networks and subscribers use their mobile device as their window to the world – revealing countless details about their daily lives- the sheer volume of data attributed to individuals is always increasing. The information now applicable to each subscriber relates to their interactions with the services and applications they use, and the network that delivers them. Operators have always had to contend with ‘big data’ – a cross section of information stored in disparate silos and data warehouses – but the more data subscribers generate, the greater the complexity. Continue reading
Vodafone rails against UK regulator’s 4G spectrum decision
Rating: This ain’t no level playing field, Ofcom
For a body which is supposedly mandated to create competition in the UK communications space (Of com), to make the decision it has today [August 21st 2012] is mind blowing. It has decided to give the go-ahead to Everything Everywhere to launch 4G/LTE services over existing 1800 MHz spectrum from September 11th 2012. In its decision the body said, “[This] will deliver significant benefits to consumers, and there is no material risk that those benefits will be outweighed by a distortion of competition. Delaying doing so would therefore be to the detriment of consumers.” Wow. How can allowing one of the four UK mobile operators to gain a head start over its rivals possibly be fair? Naturally, Vodafone has exploded and GoMobile News can see exactly why. Continue reading
UK to get first taste of 4G ‘before Christmas’
Ofcom ruling due today could give Everything Everywhere big lead over rivals
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom is expected to give the green light today [21st August 2012] for Everything Everywhere to sell a chunk of its spectrum to the Britain’s smallest operator, Three – giving Britain its first taste of superfast 4G within months.
If the sale is approved it would also allow EE, the owner of the T-Mobile and Orange networks, to start using some of its spectrum for 4G before Christmas and well ahead of rivals such as Vodafone and O2 who will have to wait until the forthcoming 4G spectrum auction. Continue reading
RIM: the fightback begins
BB10 test phones issued to mobile carriers from next week
Research in Motion [RIM] is to start the roll-out of beta versions of its new smartphones next week in what could prove a crucial factor in whether it survives as a company. CEO, Thorsten Heins, who just yesterday [14th August 2012] revealed the manufacturer might also be licensing out its BlackBerry 10 OS on which the new handsets are based, has confirmed two versions of the new handset will be delivered to network carriers during a five week roadshow. Continue reading
Samsung stretches lead over Apple and Nokia
Korean powerhouse now accounts for over fifth of handset sales
New figures released today [14th August 2012] by analysts Gartner show Samsung pulling further ahead of rivals such as Apple and Nokia. In Q2 2012 Samsung sold 90.43 million mobile handsets, giving the South Korean manufacturer a 21.6 per cent market share, compared to 20.7 per cent in Q1 2012 and up from 16.3 per cent the same quarter a year ago. Much of the boost was from sales of its Android-running Galaxy handsets, says Gartner, which adds that smartphones now account for more than half of its mobile device sales. Continue reading
Friday interview: Q&A with David Webber, Intelligent Environments
Rating: Financial sector heavyweight joins the mobile industry
Last month [July 2012], Intelligent Environments (IE), which is a leading provider of digital banking software to the mobile industry, announced the appointment of David Webber as its new managing director (md). David is obviously a financial industry heavyweight – bringing with him nearly 20 years of experience in financial services software and managing global operations. GoMobile News managed to steal probably the first ever interview with David in his new role and asked him for his perspective on marrying his expertise in the financial sector with the mobile industry. Continue reading
GSMA announces initial speakers for NFC & Mobile Money Summit
Rating: Don’t worry, this one is in Milan not Barcelona
As the GSMA quite rightly admits, as a technology NFC (Near Field Communication) has been around for quite some time now. So the GSMA has created a seperate show for NFC – the NFC & Mobile Money Summit. GoMobile News remembers writing about NFC when the MWC was still held in Cannes, not Barcelona. Anyway, all the signs are that NFC is going to follow in Bluetooth’s footsteps and become almost universal cellular handsets. What the GSMA picked up upon is that leading mobile operators, representing over 60 per cent of the global mobile subscribers, have committed NFC technology. That definitely merits a separate event but this time in Milan. Continue reading
Mobile internet access overtaking PCs in China will impact on operators
Rating: Interoute warns of the impact delay will have on mobile operators
According to a recent report in the Financial Times (FT) here, for the first time in China – home to the world’s largest population of internet users- more people now access the web on mobile phones than via desktop computers. North America and Europe are not far behind in making this digital switchover, as are fast-growing internet markets such as Turkey and Indonesia, the FT says. The billion dollar question is, “What impact will this have on mobile network operators if the trend continues globally? As GoMobile News has long appreciated, the backhaul networks which the majority of mobile network operators have in place just won’t take the strain. Continue reading
RIM accused of giving Indian government keys to secure messaging
Denies it colluded in bid to protect phone sales
Troubled phone maker RIM has angrily denied claims that it has handed over its corporate email and messaging encryption keys to the Indian government. According to India’s Economic Times, which cites an unnamed telecom department insider and internal documents, the Canadian manufacturer finally caved into pressure from the government by providing a means of access. It says RIM recently demonstrated a solution developed by a firm called Verint that allows interception of messages and emails exchanged between BlackBerry handsets, making them readable to Indian security agencies. RIM’s encrypted BlackBerry services have long been prized by companies but the government has countered they could equally be used to organise civil uprisings or even allow militants to carry out attacks. Continue reading
Mixed industry reaction to Ofcom’s UK 4G announcement
Rating: Most observers see Brits as 4G laggards
There’s been a mixed reaction to yesterday’s [July 24th 2012] announcement by UK telecoms governing body, Ofcom, to plans to finally auction spectrum for use by 4G style networks. [See here]. What most observers seem to have missed is the fact that there’s no compunction to use LTE – the standard favoured by telecoms companies, over WiMAX – which IT orientated suppliers seem to prefer. There’s also no clear guidelines about what Ofcom intends to do about Everything Everywhere’s (EE’s) attempts to use existing 1800 MHz for 4G purposes. Instead Ofcom has hinted very heavily that two internationally recognised parts of the spectrum – 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz will be made available. Continue reading
Operators could lose valuable data roaming revenues from the Olympics
Rating: It’s about the right performance in the right place, says Actix
This is, of course, the official London Olympics 2012 bandwagon week and the latest to join in is network measurement specialist, Actix. The company points out quite sensibly that with close to a million visitors expected in London for the Games, mobile networks will be under extreme pressure and the quality of data services will inevitably slump. However, Actix argues that within a year this level of pressure on the networks will be an everyday occurrence as mobile data traffic is expected to grow by 78 per cent year on year according to Cisco’s visual networking index. Under normal circumstances current networks are already close to capacity in Central London and the Games will only worsen the situation. Consequently, Actix predicts that poor network performance could scupper operators’ chances of bagging the lucrative extra revenues from international roamers. Continue reading
