IIJ Japan to offer HSDPA services

IIJ Group to Start High-Speed Mobile Data Communications Services for Its Consumer Internet Services ‘IIJmio’ and ‘hi-ho’

Internet Initiative Japan Inc. (IIJ), one of Japan’s leading Internet access and comprehensive network solutions providers, and hi-ho Inc. (hi-ho, a consolidated subsidiary of IIJ), an Internet service provider for home users, today introduced a high-speed 7.2 Mbps mobile data communications service. This service, which utilizes a 3G/HSDPA(1) network, will be offered for their “IIJmio high-speed mobile/EM Service” and “hi-ho Mobile Course - EM7.2″ services.
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Informa predicts Mobile TV services to generate revenues over $100 billion in 2013

Revenues from Mobile TV services will generate USD1.5 billion in 2008, rising to over USD100 billion in 2012, according to research by Informa Telecoms & Media. At present the revenues are said to be predominantly from subscription fees but this is expected to change over time as the advertising business model starts to gain prominence. Informa believes that by 2013 nearly half of the revenues will come from advertising.

According to Informa, in the next two years, growth is anticipated to be strongest in the pioneering markets of South Korea and Japan before the rest of the world starts to catch up around 2010/2011. Despite isolated success stories in places like Italy and Austria, Europe is not expected to see rapid growth in Mobile TV until 2009. The USA is expected to take even longer as confusion over standards prevents growth. Eventually, concerted momentum behind ATSC-MH is expected to boost the market for mobile TV in North America.
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Clearwire and Sprint Nextel complete joint venture transaction and receive $3.2 billion infusion

Clearwire Corporation and Sprint Nextel Corporation announced today that they have completed the transaction to combine their next-generation wireless Internet businesses. With the closing, Sprint contributed all of its 2.5 GHz spectrum and its WiMAX-related assets, including its XOHM business, to Clearwire. In addition, Clearwire has received a $3.2 billion cash investment from Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, Google and Bright House Networks.

The transaction with Sprint and the new cash investment were completed on the terms originally announced on May 7, 2008. The new company retains the name Clearwire and remains headquartered in Kirkland, Washington.

Motorola Deploys Its First WiMAX 802.16e Trial Network in Vietnam

Motorola, Inc. announced today that the company has deployed its first WiMAX trial network for Vietnam Datacommunications Company (VDC), a member company of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the largest Internet service provider (ISP) in Vietnam. The network allows VDC to test next-generation wireless broadband services in major cities of Vietnam and reinforces Motorola’s leadership in deploying commercial and trial networks for WiMAX 802.16e technology worldwide.

The launch of the WiMAX service follows the signing of an agreement between Motorola and VDC to commence a technical and commercial WiMAX trial in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City last year. Under the agreement, Motorola will install WiMAX Diversity Access Points and more than 100 customer premises equipment (CPE) in the nation’s two largest cities.
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Qualcomm halts UMB project, sees no major job cuts

By Sinead Carew (Reuters)

Qualcomm Inc, seeking to cut costs in the face of slowing demand for cell phones, has stopped developing a next-generation wireless technology called Ultra Mobile Broadband and is making small-scale layoffs.

The wireless chip maker will instead put its resources into a rival high-speed technology called Long Term Evolution, which some of its major customers, such as Verizon Wireless, have backed, said Qualcomm Chief Executive Paul Jacobs.
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Novatel Wireless launches Ovation MC760 Micro Modem for EV-DO

Novatel Wireless Inc. announced the continued evolution of its USB product line with the introduction of the Ovation MC760 Micro Modem. The MC760 is the world’s smallest EV-DO Rev. A USB modem, weighing less than an ounce and measuring just over two inches long.

The MC760 supports all computing devices equipped with Type A USB ports, including most desktops, notebooks and PDAs, to provide instant mobile broadband access anywhere a cellular signal is available. With out of the box support for a variety of operating systems including Windows (Vista, XP, 2000), Mac and Linux, the MC760 enables users to surf the Internet, check email and access important business documents.
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HTC announces T8290 MAX 4G GSM/WiMAX handset for Scartel Yota in Russia

by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News

HTC announced the dual-radio GSM/WiMAX T8290 handheld, dubbed “MAX 4G”, today. Rumors and photos surfaced last month of an HTC Windows Mobile device with a Russian user interface and claims of WiMAX support. Russian operator Scartel and HTC Corporation today announced the dual protocol handset as a featured device for its Yota mobile WiMAX service.

Voice calls over the cellular GSM service use a SIM card from a range of Russian network operators. When both callers are using the Yota WiMAX network, the call will automatically be routed as a VoIP session. The Yota phone service also supports unique business applications, allowing users to switch between English and Russian contact records while providing functionality such as call holding, conference calling and video calling using the VGA camera on the front of the device.
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Icomera trials live CCTV on London buses

Icomera AB announced that its Moovbox technology has been selected to provide real-time communications for a trial of live CCTV on London buses to improve public safety. 21st Century CCTV, a division of TG21 plc, has equipped twenty-one double-decker buses in North London with the technology, which allows live images to be transmitted to a central control center shared by officers from TfL (Transport for London) and the Metropolitan Police’s Transport Operational Command Unit. The six-month trial on behalf of TfL will monitor and analyse the use of the technology to decide whether it can help deal with incidents on buses more effectively.

The LIVEview system installed on each bus comprises a ProGuard digital video recorder (DVR) developed by 21st Century CCTV, connected to a Moovbox M200 Mobile Broadband Gateway from Icomera. Cameras fitted inside and outside the bus record images continuously to disk but the new Moovbox technology means the driver can activate a high-speed link whereby operators can view live or recorded footage in real time. The TfL deployment is the first stage of an initiative by 21st Century CCTV and Icomera to offer live mobile video streaming technology to municipalities and transport operators for public safety applications.
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iPhone 3G leads U.S. consumer mobile phone purchases in Q3′2008, finds NPD Group

According to research firm The NPD Group, Apple’s iPhone 3G surpassed the top-ranked Motorola RAZR as the leading handset purchased by adult consumers (NPD does not currently track corporate/enterprise handset purchases) in the U.S. in the third quarter (Q3) of 2008. RAZR had been ranked by NPD as the top-selling consumer handset for the past 12 quarters.

Even with stronger consumer sales of iPhone, and the mobile phone market’s normal seasonal uplift after Q2, domestic handset purchases by adult consumers declined 15 percent year over year in Q3 to 32 million units. Consumer handset sales revenue fell 10 percent to $2.9 billion, even as the average selling price (ASP) rose 6 percent to $88.

Top-selling handsets and mobile phone brands
“The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD. “Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features.”

The top handset models in rank order, based on unit sales in Q3, were as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. Motorola RAZR V3 (all models)
3. RIM Blackberry Curve (all models)
4. LG Rumor
5. LG enV2

Popular features
When it comes to the specific features that motivated U.S. consumers to purchase, 43 percent of handset buyers cited the need for a camera and 36 percent noted the ability to send and receive text messages. Mobile phones with a QWERTY keyboard experienced the greatest year-over-year rise in sales; 30 percent of handsets were sold with this feature in Q3 2008, versus just 11 percent the year prior. Also this quarter 83 percent of phones purchased were Bluetooth enabled (versus 72 percent last year), and nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) of phones purchased in Q3 were music enabled (versus 49 percent last year).

“A growing data divide continues in cellular handsets,” Rubin said. “Those who see the value in wireless Internet access are justifying the investment, whereas voice-centric users have little incentive to upgrade, which is obviously detrimental to operators who seek to sell data plans and media access services to their subscribers.”

Methodology: NPD compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically representative sample of U.S. adults. Results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers age 18 and older.

14.1 million machines connected to Europe’s mobile networks this year, says Berg Insight

According to research from the analyst firm Berg Insight, the number of machines connected to mobile networks in Europe will grow by 34.2% in 2008 and reach 14.1 million at the year-end. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.9%, the number of connections is projected to reach 58.6 million by 2013.

Much of the growth will come from motor vehicles whose share of the installed base is expected to double from about 30% in 2008 to 60% in 2013. “The total number of mobile network connections used by machines now equal that of a medium-sized European country. While the market for personal communication has reached its saturation point, the machine communication market will continue to grow for many years to come. Berg Insight strongly advices mobile operators to become more actively involved in this market in order to position themselves for the future”, commented Tobias Ryberg, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.

ZTE to build LTE team

JLM Pacific Epoch reports that Chinese telecom equipment provider ZTE plans to build a research and development team for LTE and 4G projects with over 2,000 employees. The company has partnered with 4G researchers including those housed at Tsinghua University, Southeast University and Beijing Jiaotong University, said Hu Jian, chief of ZTE’s Communications Standard Department.

Source: JLM Pacific Epoch

Motorola demonstrates LTE over-the-air in 700 MHz spectrum

Motorola, Inc. announced it has completed the industry’s first over-the-air Long-Term Evolution (LTE) data sessions in the 700 MHz spectrum using its LTE Radio Access Test Network and LTE eNode-B platform with a prototype LTE device. This testing milestone, achieved in Motorola labs and at an outdoor location in central Illinois, demonstrates the progress Motorola is achieving toward bringing its LTE solutions to market in 2009.

The sessions included mobile video streaming and various high data rate applications. The demonstrations also included execution of applications priority which guarantees throughput using quality of service (QoS) aspects of the LTE standards.
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Casio unveils 830CA camera phone in Japan

Casio unveiled its 5.2M camera phone, model 830CA, featuring face detection and auto-focus functions, which will be available in Japan at the end of November via SoftBank.

The handset incorporates a 3″ display with 240×427 resolution, supports HSDPA, 1-Seg and a global roaming service. Color options include white, black, orange and gray. The unit measures 50×106.1×15mm and weighs 111g.
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Huawei predicts June 2009 for first commercial LTE infrastructure

Huawei said that they will provide LTE/SAE infrastructure to mobile operators based on multi-standard base stations and their first commercial LTE/SAE network is expected to be ready by June 2009.

“The rapid development and benefits of wireless technology has seen mobile broadband evolve from UMTS / HSPA / HSPA+ to LTE which offers more efficiency than other networks,” said Ihab Ghattas, Assistant President, Huawei Technologies Middle East during the SAMENA Telecommunications Council’s Convergence to Jordan 2008 conference this week. “Expectations are that by 2015 LTE subscriber base will reach 400-450 million generating revenues of almost EUR 150 billion.”
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Small-Medium Business Mobile Broadband Adoption is Higher than in Large Enterprises

Companies larger than 1000 employees have highly mobile workforces driven by the global reach of their operations. They also have extensive IT support, which offers globetrotting employees assistance with mobile services. These characteristics bode well for adoption of mobile broadband services. However a new study from ABI Research based on survey analysis of United States mobile business customers shows that enterprises are not the highest adopters of cellular modems and mobile broadband access.

According to principal analyst Dan Shey, “The survey data demonstrate that mobile broadband reaches across all sizes of company with greater adoption in small and medium businesses. Our research identifies two key drivers: first, all businesses are familiar with data access from a PC, and laptops and mobile broadband simply make this access portable. Second, there is no distribution favoritism towards business customers. Mobile broadband can be purchased from big box electronics and operator retail stores.”
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