Mobile Broadband Survey Finds Business Model Change Key to Maintaining Profitability
October 30, 2008
Survey of 16 Operators Provides Insight into the Need for Designing New Business Models for the Mobile Broadband Market
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Camiant, Inc. announced newly published research from Parks Associates, “Mobile Broadband in North America and Europe: Change is Key to Maintaining Profitability,” that explores mobile broadband adoption and growth trends in Europe and North America as well as operators’ capabilities to control and monetize growth. The custom research outlines the challenges in the mobile broadband marketplace and proposes a set of elements for new business models to alleviate expected negative consequences of broadband commoditization.
Research firm Parks Associates interviewed executives at 16 mobile broadband providers in Canada, Eastern and Western Europe, Turkey, Scandinavia, and the United States to determine adoption and predominant usage patterns as well as operator capabilities with respect to network and user control and interest in pursuing new mobile broadband business models. The study’s definition of broadband follows the FCC (U.S. regulatory) definition of more than 200 Kbps in either direction (upstream or downstream). This definition permits low data rates services offered by GSM and CDMA operators to be considered as consumers saturate the data portion of the network.
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ORR Technology Announces Mobile WiMAX Device Guide
October 15, 2008
ORR Technology, LLC today announced availability of its Mobile WiMAX Device Guide. The guide is the definitive source for announced and commercially available mobile WiMAX devices. Mobile WiMAX refers to products that conform to the IEEE 802.16e-2005 technical standard for mobile broadband access.
The Mobile WiMAX Device Guide is the first to provide network operators and ecosystem vendors with a comprehensive view of product announcements and specifications for mobile WiMAX devices. Developed through extensive industry experience, the Mobile WiMAX Device Guide includes the breadth of information to accurately portray the evolution of mobile broadband equipment.
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U.S.: WiMAX is here, proclaims Sprint and Intel
October 8, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
“It’s not slideware - WiMAX is here now,” said Sprint chief Dan Hesse as he addressed the crowd assembled in Baltimore, Maryland today for the formal launch of Sprint XOHM mobile broadband service. “It will take time to build it everywhere. Sprint will be launching 3G/4G multimode devices later this year for ubiquitous coverage.” What will people do with 4G services? “The killer application is video,” added Hesse. “And a lot of other great applications too. For example, public workers can pull down detailed, bandwidth-intensive architectural plans.”
Executives from Intel and the XOHM business spoke about the milestone and brought vendor and ecosystem partners on stage to be recognized during the event that culminated in the “ribbon cutting” of cables. The ritual signified the focus on delivering multi-megabit speeds to business and consumer customers without the restriction of location associated with DSL, cable and leased copper T1 lines.
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LG Electronics picks Ericsson for HSPA modules
September 29, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Ericsson announced today that it has been selected by LG Electronics to provide mobile broadband modules based on high speed packet access (HSPA). LG Electronics notebooks and netbooks will include the modules starting in Q3 2008.
Ericsson developed its own HSPA chipset technology, based on a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. Two standards, HSDPA and HSUPA, have been established by ETSI and a further standard, HSPA+, is soon to be released.
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Alcatel-Lucent launches location-driven services platform and mobile social network
September 11, 2008
be Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Alcatel-Lucent announced a location-driven services platform called the Geographic Messaging Services Platform (GMSP). The platform supports targeted mobile content messages, push advertising and social networking services through use of a “geofencing” engine.
Geofencing is the concept of establishing a virtual “fence” around a particular location or individual. When a mobile phone user crosses a given “fence,” it triggers the delivery of an SMS text message or multimedia message that is relevant to that individual and that location, such as a promotion for a particular store, or the presence of a friend or colleague in the area.
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Top Global launches TD-HSPA Mobile Router at the 2008 Olympics Games
August 7, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Top Global announced its Time Division High Speed Packet Access (TD-HSPA) Router was launched during the 2008 Olympics Games opening day. Top Global’s Mobile Routers were used to provide network connectivity to numerous bank ATMs, information and payment Kiosks in an effort to help to increase the efficiency, safety and convenience of the visiting dignitaries, volunteers and spectators during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Top Global developed and patented its MobileBridge platform, which serves as a gateway/router linking Third Generation (3G) Cellular network and Wi-Fi/LAN networks. Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA) is a 3G mobile telecommunication standards being pursued in China. The national commercial trials of the TD-SCDMA network launched on April 1, 2008 and is expected to reach 60,000 users by the end of the year. TD-HSPA is the high speed data evolution of the TD-SCDMA, and can reach 2.8 Mbps peak speed. Multiple products from Top Global can support TD-HSPA including the MB8000, MB6800 and MB5000. Enterprises in China can get wireless Internet connectivity anywhere, at anytime within the coverage of a TD-HSPA network.
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LG launches HB620T DVB-T phone in Germany
June 2, 2008
by Jeff Orr
Editor, Mobile Broadband News
LG Electronics announced the launch of the first DVB-T phone in Germany, model HB620T. DVB-T stands for terrestrial digital video broadcast. DVB-T services are expected to provide mobile TV at no additional cost for programming. An existing service in some European countries, DVB-H or handheld digital video broadcast, is a paid mobile TV service in markets such as Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The HB620T is a folding handset designed around a 2″ screen. The handset features: 7.2 Mbps HSDPA downloading, a full Internet browsing experience, an MP3 player and Bluetooth connectivity. LG also incorporates a noise-deadening processor called Mobile XD Engine to improves signal clarity.
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Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 11 - The first mobile WiMAX Forum Certified products announced
April 9, 2008
Mobile Broadband News Podcast: Episode 11 for 9 April 2008 is now available.
The MBN Podcast is an audio recap of top stories in the mobile broadband industry. Click on the link above to download the MP3 file, or add Mobile Broadband News to your iTunes Podcast list.
WiMAX Forum announced today that 8 products have achieved the WiMAX Forum Certified mark for 802.16e-2005. What does this mean? I tell you everything you could want to know in about 10 minutes.
First Mobile WiMAX products receive WiMAX Forum Certified mark
April 9, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
The first eight products — four base stations and four mobile stations — receiving the WiMAX Forum Certified mark based on the IEEE802.16e-2005 standard have been announced by WiMAX Forum.
These products must meet or surpass the certification program requirements using WiMAX Certification Program Release 1.0 Wave 1 requirements. Wave 1 systems are not tested for advanced antenna capabilities such as beamforming or MIMO, which is addressed in all other Mobile WiMAX certification profiles dubbed “Wave 2″ also starting the certification testing process today.
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How will WiMAX in the US reach 10m users by 2010?
March 31, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
The recent VON.x conference in San Jose hosted a WCA panel entitled, “Whither WiMAXâ€. Moderated by M:Metrics analyst Seamus McAteer, the panel consisted of:
- Rohini Chakravarthy, Principal, New Enterprise Associates
- Ron Resnick, President and Chair, WiMAX Forum
- Ben Vos, VP Core Technologies, Sprint Nextel
- Greg Welch, Market Development Director, WiMAX Program Office, Intel
- Paul Sergeant, Sr Manager WiMAX Marketing, Cisco Systems (formerly Navini Networks)
- Tom Gruba, Sr Director Marketing MOTOwi4 and WiMAX, Motorola
The highlight was an excellent question posed by moderator McAteer – “when will the US reach 10 million WiMAX subscribers?†Most panelists raised their hands for 2010. Putting this into perspective, McAteer noted that about 220 million Americans (ages 13+) have mobile phone service. Ten million WiMAX users, roughly 5% of the mobile phone population in a 2-year period, could prove challenging. The Apple iPhone will not reach 10 million subscribers at its 2-year anniversary. Why will WiMAX ramp at a faster rate than the iPhone?
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AT&T stumps for Mobile TV debut in May
March 31, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
AT&T continues to predict the availability of its Mobile TV service intended to compete with Verizon’s VCAST. The company announced plans to release the AT&T Mobile TV service in May. The previous prediction was January 2008.
The service will run on the MediaFLO USA network, a subsidiary of Qualcomm. MediaFLO is the same network beneath VCAST. AT&T plans to launch the service with two devices: LG’s Vu and Samsung’s Access.
The channel line-up for AT&T will consist of: CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon, in addition to two exclusive AT&T channels.
The company announced its plans to launch a mobile TV service in February 2007, but failed to meet Q4′2007 estimates. In late October, the operator delayed until “early 2008″.
While the two US operators have locked themselves into the MediaFLO network, Europe recently endorsed use of the DVB-H standard. Asia has had the greatest success with mobile TV, specifically in South Korea and Japan. The number of mobile TV subscribers is expected to grow to 462 million, according to a January study published by ABI Research.
Mobile Broadband News podcast now available through Podcast Alley
March 24, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
The Mobile Broadband News podcast can now be accessed through Podcast Alley. Podcast Alley provides listings for over 39,000 audio and video shows with more than 2.4 million episodes.
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Pricing for Intel’s Echo Peak WiMAX/Wi-Fi modules announced
March 24, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
DigiTimes shared pricing for Intel’s upcoming Echo Peak WiMAX/Wi-Fi modules with volume shipments of the wireless modules for Montevina-based notebooks expected to begin shipments during the second and third quarters of this year.
According to Intel data collected by DigiTimes, the Echo Peak wireless module that supports both WiMAX and 802.11n technologies will be available in prices ranging from US$43-54, depending on specifications.
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China’s MII starts handing out TD-SCDMA HSDPA network licenses
March 21, 2008
by Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
China’s MII has started issuing TD-SCDMA network licenses, according to a report from ChinaTechNews. Equipment providers ZTE and Potevio are among the first to obtain their licenses.
A company’s equipment must undergo indoor and in-field tests to obtain a license. The equipment specifically must support the TD-SCDMA HSDPA protocol.
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Alcatel-Lucent Launches 9900 Wireless Network Guardian for Mobile Broadband Network Management
March 10, 2008
By Jeff Orr, Editor
Mobile Broadband News
Alcatel-Lucent today announced the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian (WNG), the industry’s first mobile broadband network management solution. Alcatel-Lucent’s research found that all IP traffic should not be treated equally. Instead, the patterns and the consumption are analyzed enabling smarter decisions about application and network optimization.
The 9900 WNG looks at a wireless IP network differently than a wired IP network or even a wireless network that is not based on IP. “The increased use of mobile broadband applications and devices is impacting resources of operators now – creating a blind spot,†said Mike Schabel, General Manager for the 9900 WNG. The product addresses a gap in current mobile operator networks that could lead to network disruption as wireless network operators increasingly support new data services, devices, and applications based on Internet protocol.
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