Mobile Marketing Magazine

Openwave and F5 Team Up for Policy Solution

Openwave Systems has announced a partnership with F5 Networks. Through the technology partnership, Openwave Smart Policy a context-aware policy management solution, and Openwave Integra, a traffic and policy management solution, will be integrated with F5 BIG-IP solutions.
The integrated Openwave/F5 solution makes extensive use of F5’s advanced layer 7 functionality including F5 iRules, an event-driven scripting language that provides operators with the control to directly manipulate and manage IP traffic. Leveraging F5’s scalable VIPRION platform as the policy enforcement point, the solution is designed to provide a cost-effective way for mobile operators to apply dynamic and context-aware policy rules using a set of data sources, including existing policy and traffic management systems, enabling operators to more effectively monitor, manage and monetize the mobile Internet.
“Data usage is growing tremendously on mobile networks, with the potential for creating network congestion and poor experiences for customers,” says Jan Dawson, Chief Telecoms Analyst at Ovum. “Even with the increased capacity and efficiency gains expected from LTE and other 4G technologies, operators need to pursue other options for managing traffic on their networks to ensure the best possible experience for customers.”
Openwave Smart Policy adds application-specific policy dimensions, complimenting overall network policy, to mobile broadband traffic. Through dynamic feedback and greater visibility into the traffic flow, says Openwave, Smart Policy enables creative service plan options. Policies based on factors such as the access network used; the user social group; the volume consumption per service and/or time of day/week; and the bandwidth usage level in different areas of the network, allow operators to have better control of the user experience and cost of the service delivery.
Openwave Integra can seamlessly update an operator’s WAP environment to embrace Internet protocols, preserving and maximizing existing investments with new opportunities to develop revenue. OPenwave says that Integra is focused on orchestrating and mediating a set of mobile Internet services, which are driven by a rich policy rules-engine that allows each transaction processed to be appropriately treated, depending on factors such as user profile, device capabilities, content being accessed and network. Integra’s plug-in services architecture enables all value-added services provided by Openwave to be easily installed and deployed on top of Integra. The operator may also choose to develop or avail of other third party services through this plug-in API.

EARTH Aims to Save the Earth

A group of 15 telecommunications service providers, component and infrastructure vendors and academic institutions have launched ‘EARTH’ (Energy Aware Radio and neTwork tecHnologies), a consortium whose goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in the energy consumption of advanced 4G mobile networks within two-and-a-half years. Other members include Ericsson, DoCoMo, and Telecom Italia, as well as a number of universities.
EARTH’s approach will be to consider the energy efficiency of mobile networks at a comprehensive system level rather than focusing on discrete network elements. The consortium members say they will research approaches to allow for unprecedented energy savings in the area of wireless networks, their components, and radio interfaces. Based on this, EARTH will develop a new generation of energy-efficient network equipment and components, craft energy-oriented deployment strategies, and conceive energy-aware network management solutions.
The EARTH initiative supports the European Union’s Work Programme for Information and Communication Technologies under the objective “Network of the Future”, which has the goal to realize the new generation of telecom infrastructure, network and Internet technologies. The project is funded within the EU's Seventh Framework Program (FP7) that seeks to play a crucial role in achieving goals of growth, competitiveness and employment by bundling all research-related EU initiatives together under a common roof.
Dr. Rainer Fechner, Head of Bell Labs in Germany and member of the management board, Alcatel-Lucent in Germany, says: “What makes EARTH so compelling is that it has the potential to deliver tangible benefits to society on a number of levels: reducing energy consumption of networks and their impact on the environment, while making broadband wireless service available to a greater number of people in Europe. The value of our contribution derives from deep experience and innovations in both green technology and advanced wireless systems.”
The EARTH research project was launched in January 2010 and will run until June 2012. There’s more information here.

Flytxt Rolls Out Latest Version of Neon

Flytxt has launched the latest version of its mobile marketing platform, Neon. Flytxt says it delivers a step change in marketing agility and effectiveness, compared to existing marketing systems, enabling mobile operators to run closed loop marketing campaigns within minutes, from a single web desktop, without the help of IT specialists.
The entire marketing loop, comprising of behavioural analytics, segmentation, campaign execution, ROI tracking, reward fulfilment and reward confirmation, is automated in real time in a single integrated platform. 
“With existing marketing systems, it takes days or weeks to draw in necessary subscriber intelligence, design, run and analyse campaigns,” says Flytxt Co-founder and Senior Vice President - Product and Technology, Thomas Schuster. “They are too slow and unsuitable for the real-time medium, mobile, and the dynamic and diverse marketing environments of mobile operators. The latest release of Neon addresses the above challenges and shortens campaign cycles to the point where it is quicker to test a campaign concept than to debate it in a meeting.”
A major part of the new release is the centralised inventory management function, which gives mobile operators complete control and visibility over their marketing inventory across channels. Neon automatically manages and intelligently maximises the return of all marketing impressions, and at the same time increases customer satisfaction, as communication frequency limits are automatically and centrally enforced.
“This version of Neon sets a new benchmark in mobile marketing as it transforms marketing agility for operators and allows scaling marketing processes across different product teams, business partners and advertisers with a single centralised technology,” says Schuster.

Siano Goes Big in Brazil

Mobile TV chip maker Siano Mobile Silicon has revealed that three Brazilian mobile operators - Vivo, Claro and TIM Brazil - are promoting products using its MDTV (Mobile Digital TV) receivers. Siano is powering mobile phones and 3G modem cards equipped with digital TV for mobile subscribers in Brazil, in partnership with Chinese firm ZTE. The Siano-powered terminals enable viewing of dozens of channels comprised of sports, news and entertainment, culminating with the FIFA World Cup in 2010, beginning in June.
"We want Brazilians to fully experience the World Cup and be able to watch the games anywhere and anytime," Hugo Janeba, Executive VP of Marketing and Innovation in Vivo, the largest mobile operator in Brazil, said publically last week. “And when soccer fans have their own pocket TV, the experience certainly becomes much more complete.”
The new data terminals were designed by ZTE and are based on Siano’s multi-standard receiver chip, which supports the Brazilian ISDB-T DTV format. The 3G data-cards are compatible with all standard notebooks, netbooks, and desktop PCs.
Brazil is leading the roll-out of mobile digital TV services in South America, with MDTV services having recently debuted also in Argentina and Chile. Other countries likely to join include Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and Paraguay – who are expected to launch ISDB-T services within the next fifteen months. If they do, this will generate one of the largest unified Mobile DTV markets worldwide, totalling more than 300 million potential viewers.
“Sports broadcasting and the evolution of Mobile TV go hand-in-hand,” says Dr. Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst at Juniper Research. “Given the football-mad Brazilians and the World Cup in 2010, and with Brazil also hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, there’s fertile ground for Mobile TV to really take-off.  With the help of major sporting events in the coming years, Brazil could prove the first market in S. America to make mobile TV a success.”

GetJar in Indian Apps Alliance

Independent app store GetJar has announced a strategic alliance with Indian telco Reliance Communications. The alliance will see GetJar offering Reliance’s 100 million+ subscribers its extensive catalogue of over 65,000 free mobile applications through Reliance’s VAS (Value Added Services) platform, R-World.
Reliance Communications will offer the GetJar Apps Store across GSM and CDMA networks. Customers will have access to applications including games, social networking, sports, entertainment and productivity applications. Popular apps such as Facebook Mobile, Yahoo!, Opera Mini, and Nimbuzz can be downloaded to more that 2,300 handsets across all major platforms. RCOM will offer the service at 50 paise per MB of usage, with the app download and offline usage free. GetJar currently averages over 1 million downloads per day globally. India is currently adding more mobile phone subscribes each month than any other.
Reliance’s application store strategy is directly linked to a move to increase data traffic, increase data plan adoption, and the sale of other services through the use of free applications. Reliance believes the strategy of giving away free apps will help achieve mass mobile data plan adoption and mobile Internet use.
“We wanted to partner with the largest, most experienced, “open” application catalog provider to address virtually any device being used by our customers,” says Anil Pande, Head – VAS at Reliance Communications, “Our partnership with GetJar means that all Reliance Communications customers will instantly have access to thousands of applications, ranging from games, shopping and lifestyle, to sports, entertainment and productivity applications.”

Comverse Turbocharges Mobile Internet Hub

Comverse has taken the wraps off a new, ultra-high capacity configuration for its Mobile Internet HUB platform to manage today’s booming mobile data traffic growth without the immediate need to build out network infrastructure.
With a throughput of up to 40 gigabits per second, the Comverse Mobile Internet HUB handles tens of thousands of web transactions per second, or hundreds of thousands of multiple data streams, yet requires only a single cabinet of front-end servers.
“With such applications as video streaming and file sharing driving up data consumption, operators today are challenged to meet skyrocketing traffic demands,” says Gabriel Matsliach, President of Products and Operations at Comverse. “By better using existing resources, Comverse’s ultra-high capacity solution allows operators to delay expensive capital outlays and lower operating costs, while still knowing they can deliver superior mobile broadband service long into the future.”
The Mobile Internet HUB’s ultra-high capacity is made possible by the optimised processing core, controlled by an accurate and efficient real-time smart service policy manager, enhanced with fully integrated deep packet inspection (DPI). The modular design of Mobile Internet HUB’s blade-based server technology also helps reduce cabling and power consumption, the company notes.
Comverse adds that the Mobile Internet HUB effectively enforces traffic management and charging decisions at fast rates, by applying real-time identification and processing for multiple traffic layers, including layer-7 applications like web browsing and video streaming. Users enjoy consistent high-quality service, and operators benefit from dramatically improved network use and increased profitability, it says.
The Mobile Internet HUB is part of Comverse HUB Value-Added Services, spanning voice, messaging, mobile internet and mobile advertising.

WIN Powers Mobile Music in Qatar

WIN has launched a mobile music service called Mozaic Music* with Qtel, a telco in Qatar. WIN built and delivered the service and will manage it on Qtel’s behalf. The service is live now and available to Qtel’s 2.2 million customers in Qatar. WIN already provides similar mobile music services for companies including Orange and Sony Ericsson.
WIN’s fully managed mobile music service has been integrated directly into the existing Qtel Mozaic portal, providing a range of local and international full-track music as well as ringtones and music videos. WIN is also responsible for the marketing promotion of the service which includes refreshing and adding content, updating the news and charts, and aligning closely with Qtel’s marketing team in order to place and highlight the latest offers and promotions.
“Mobile music is a key growth area and one that mobile operators around the world are looking to deliver,” says WIN CEO, Graham Rivers. “We’re thrilled to be working with Qtel in this exciting growth market and we’re confident that our tried and tested mobile music service will be a hit with Qtel customers.”
According to a September 2009 IE Market Research mobile music revenues in the Middle East, are forecast to reach $274 million (£177 million) in 2013.  

Solaris Expands Hybrid Mobile/Satellite Network

Solaris Mobile is expanding its Paris-based network to cover Rennes and Nancy (France) and the surrounding areas. The company says its network, launched in November 2009 to demonstrate the broadcast of TV and radio services to mobile phones, other handheld devices and cars within Paris has been very successful to date.
Solaris Mobile and its partners in the collaboration, Alcatel-Lucent and towerCast, have built a hybrid network based on satellite and terrestrial mobile technology. Based on its success within France, Solaris Mobile says it is looking towards a pan-European roll out programme in the near future.
The collaboration sees Solaris Mobile providing satellite capacity and spectrum rights, while Alcatel-Lucent manages the system integration and is providing transmission equipment, and towerCast is providing its antenna sites, in and around, Paris.
The resulting ‘hybrid network’, under the overall management of Solaris Mobile, combines the instant coverage of satellite with the deep network capabilities of cellular mobile systems, making it the first such network to be deployed within Europe.
Such networks, operating across the whole of the EU, in frequency bands adjacent to the existing 3G mobile bands around 2GHz, will open up new opportunities to deliver next generation broadband and broadcast services to people on the move. Video, data downloads and ubiquitous voice services delivered to people’s phones, or cars, will soon match the range currently available only with fixed-line services in their offices or homes, the company says.
The hybrid network was enabled after the European Commission and the 27 EC member States authorised Solaris Mobile to operate services in 2 x 15 MHz blocks of S-Band spectrum across Europe in May 2009.

Starhome Welcomes Anti-SoR Ban

Starhome, which provides roaming services for mobile network operators, has welcomed the decision made by the GSM Association's (GSMA) BARG (Billing and Accounting Roaming Group) to prohibit the use of Anti-SoR (steering of roaming) tools.
Anti-SoR is defined as “any technical network-based methods that can effectively frustrate, counteract or undo the effect of SoR when applied without the consent or participation of either the Roaming Subscriber or the HPMN Operator” (BARG BA.30).
In layman’s terms, Anti-SoR solutions are able to block update location messages from reaching the steering platform and are also capable of sending misleading signalling to deceive the steering application. Anti-SoR practices not only result in a substantial loss of revenue for operators, but also disrupt subscriber services by not supplying the optimum services given by the home network operator.
To identify potential Anti-SoR activities, the home network operator must instigate a lengthy three-phase manual process that includes a daily examination of roaming revenue distribution, signal tracing and testing.
The Starhome Anti-SoR Detector continuously monitors traffic statistics, and allows the operator to detect potential revenue leakage by identifying Anti-SoR activities, such as the blocking of update-location messages from reaching their steering of roaming platform, locking roamers into a network, and simulation of manual selection.
Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector has built-in logic to identify exceptional drops or peaks in traffic statistics, as well as unexpected signaling. Upon detection, the Anti-SoR Detector has the ability to apply resistance signaling to defeat Anti-SoR attempts, and to trigger the appropriate alarm to the operator. Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector solution interoperates with Starhome's NG-IPN (Next Generation Intelligent Preferred Network) solution).
On user request, the Anti-SoR Detector displays the top 10 networks with the highest gaps. Operators can then focus on these networks and generate detection reports to discover whether Anti-SoR techniques have been employed.
“The roaming market is an extremely competitive market, and, unfortunately, illegitimate tools, such as Anti-SoR, are still being used to steer traffic away from preferred networks, which, of course, results in a substantial loss of revenue for the operator,” says Starhome Co-founder and COO, Shlomo Wolfman “Starhome’s Anti-SoR Detector detects potential use of Anti-SoR activities to protect the operator’s business.”

Optus Goes Social with Myriad

Australian mobile network operator Optus is to offer its 8 million customers social networking services, powered by Myriad, whose software is in over 2 billion mobile phones worldwide.This is the first social networking deal announced by Myriad since acquiring Xumii, which pioneered the use of cloud-based technologies to simultaneously connect mass-market phones to multiple social networks.
The Myriad-powered Optus SocialView service seamlessly adds social networking features to Optus’ existing mobile portal, Optus Zoo. Using a mobile phone browser, Optus users can now view friends’ messages from Australia’s most popular social networking sites – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr. Users can also post their own updates and tweets, either to a specific site, or to all of their social networks simultaneously.
The service requires only a standard mobile browser, and customers also have the option of receiving free text alerts, including social network updates and one-click access to SocialView.
“Social networking services are a sure-fire way for Optus to increase the appeal and popularity of Optus Zoo,” says Jennifer Zanich, Myriad’s General Manager for Xumii services. “Viewing friends’ updates and changing status are the most common actions on social networks. Enabling these features on a single screen creates a quick and easy way for mobile users to stay in touch throughout the day, which will increase visits to Optus Zoo and ultimately drive the adoption of other services on the portal."

Sony Ericsson and 3 Team Up for Spotify Offer

Sony Ericsson and 3UK have unveiled the final phase of their Spotify promotion, with the launch of  www.sonyericsson.com/musiceverywhere  which is home to a selection of personal playlists from an eclectic mix of artists ranging from The Stereophonics, Keane and Ellie Goulding to The Courteeners and Mumford & Sons.
The artists have collaborated to provide a playlist of songs inspired by recent journeys they took. The Stereophonics for example, created a playlist inspired by their tour bus travels from Newcastle to Glasgow, while Keane travelled a lot by night train on their last tour and have put together a soundtrack for rail journeying through the night. Other playlists can be found from Amy MacDonald, Erick Hassle and Delphic.
The campaign was created to support the partnership between 3UK and Spotify that gives customers buying the Sony Ericsson Xperia  X10 or Vivaz a free Spotify Premium subscription for two months.
To take advantage of the offer, XPERIA X10 and Vivaz owners should text ‘Spotify’ to 39000. They will then receive a link by text which will let them create a new Spotify ID, or use an existing Spotify ID to get the 2-month pass. Just make sure you remember to cancel it if you don’t want to keep it running, because if you don’t, you’ll find a fee for £9.99 per month on your mobile phone bill until you do.
Other campaign elements include a series of print adverts, along with a competition on 3UK & Sony Ericsson’s Twitter site, Twentertain_Me, offering consumers the chance to win a trip to a concert or festival of their choice.
The Xperia X10 is Sony Ericsson’s first Android phone on 3. The handset features multi-tasking applications like Timescape which includes a scrolling application that shows updates from Facebook, Twitter, recent photos, text messages, emails and Spotify tracks.
Spotify is a digital music service that offers access to millions of tracks from major record labels. With Spotify Premium users can stream their favourite music to their PC and mobile instantly.

Orange Sees 3-fold Increase in Mobile Data Usage Among SMEs

The last year has seen a phenomenal rise in the use of data on mobile devices, according to the inaugural ‘Business Index’ from Orange. Usage is up an average of 150% on the previous year across Orange’s entire business customer base, with SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) seeing the greatest leap – up 290%. Business Index is a new report from Orange which provides a snapshot on business trends within the mobile market, and how data use continues to explode in businesses of all sizes.
Anthony Keyworth, Director of Products at Orange UK, says the huge increase in mobile data usage has been driven largely by the rise in popularity of mobile email and web browsing from mobile devices.  “Without a doubt, 2009 was the year of mobile email,” he says. “With more Smartphones on the market than ever before, accessing email and browsing the web have never been simpler. In particular, small businesses have truly embraced Smartphones to help them stay in touch, whether this is in the office, out with a client or on the way home. Now, when a customer is looking for the right phone, email is at the top of their requirements. In 2010, we expect this figure to grow even more.” 
Keyworth adds that while email drove most of the increase in mobile data usage continue to be a key driver during 2010, Orange is also expecting to see mobile applications for businesses to thrive throughout this year.
“We are already seeing increasing demand for solutions that allow remote workers to transmit data directly back to head office, as well as growing use of office apps and CRM solutions via Smartphones,” he says.

Skype Hits Out at Mobile Operators

Jean-Jacques Sahel, Skype’s European Director of Government & Regulatory Affairs, has hit out at mobile network operators who are trying to charge Internet companies fees to run their data on their networks, justifying the move by arguing that the practice of accessing the Internet via mobile devices is a drain on their networks.
This issue of heavy data usage, of course, was a key one at this year’s Mobile World Congress, and there seems to be a consensus from executives that we have spoken to that network operators will begin restricting heavy data usage at peak times for people on basic flat-rate plans, or ask for more money from users who want guaranteed bandwidth.
But in a blog post, Sahel says the idea of networks charging content providers a fee to enable people to access their services via mobile is not on, making the point that the Internet “does not belong to anyone – it has grown thanks to more than 40,000 networks voluntarily interconnecting to form an open, decentralised network of networks. The operators making the complaints right now only carry the data for a small part of its journey around the web. The rest of the Internet ecosystem is based on a successful business model that does not and never had such subsidising of infrastructure companies by content providers. Should water companies be allowed to charge garden centres, pasta makers and coffee producers for encouraging demand for water consumption?”
Sahel also argues that charging online companies threatens the very innovation that will drive people and businesses to start using the Internet on their mobile device. He writes:
“In Europe and across the world there are teams of software developers creating apps and services that will drive demand for data plans sold by operators. These are not get-rich-quick-teenagers making millions of dollars every day. They are hard working small and mid-sized companies that are fighting for survival in a tough environment.
“Alongside these heroes of the (mobile) Internet are thousands upon thousands of companies, big and small, who rely on the Internet to distribute their goods and services. It is an affront to ask all these engines of economic growth to pay a fee to large multinational telecommunication companies.”
It was clear from Mobile World Congress that operators would have to address the issue of heavy data usage among their subscribers. But if they are hoping to get money out of big web players like Skype, Facebook and Google to invest in increasing the capacity of their networks, then if Sahel’s comments are any sort of guide, they’re going to have a fight on their hands.
You can read the full post here.

Study Finds Smartphones Threaten Operator Profitability

The increasing popularity of smartphones is threatening mobile operator profitability, according to new research from WDSGlobal. The company cites research from Yankee Group that notes that a combination of expensive subsidies, fixed data tariffs, complex service set-up, and high support costs mean it can now take up to 16 months just for carriers to break-even on a subscriber.
WDSGlobal's own research found that consumers are increasingly looking to connect their Smartphones to their Internet, email and social networking accounts out-of-the-box. However, problems in setting up these more complex data services on Smartphones means that, on average, Smartphone support transactions take 30% longer to resolve than feature phone transactions (source: Nielsen).
The WDSGlobal survey of 1,000 UK consumers, carried out in March, found that almost one third experienced set-up problems with email; 21% experienced problems setting up the Internet on their device; 18% had problems with MMS. Almost 10% of those who ran into problems did not try to find a resolution, choosing instead to abandon, while 27% of respondents did not find any of the support options available to them to be effective.
 “It’s something of a perfect storm,” says WDSGlobal Vice President of Marketing, Tim Deluca-Smith. “The cost of selling and supporting Smartphones is significantly higher than it is for the traditional feature phone segment. Operators are therefore keen to ensure their subscribers maximise the advanced revenue-generating features of Smartphones. Unfortunately, a large percentage of consumers are struggling with the advanced functionality of the Smartphone, and are defaulting back to more familiar voice and SMS services. Combine these conditions, and it’s clear to see how operators’ margins are quickly being eroded.”
Smartphones already represent a third of all handsets sold, and are expected to overtake feature phones by the end of 2011, according to Nielsen. This consumer demand is driven by the desire to access a wide range of advanced content and services. However, this shift into the mass-consumer market creates problems for carriers – around half of people questioned make a purchasing decision based on price, which in turn has led carriers to heavily subsidise Smartphones.
“Consumers are being sold on the idea that smartphones can deliver complete connectivity, keep you entertained and offer exciting apps. Get it right and operators can build highly-loyal and highly-profitable subscriber bases. Unfortunately, the out-of-box experience can be very different,” adds Deluca-Smith.

T-Mobile Launches Movie Service for HTC Desire Users

T-Mobile is launching a video-on-demand (VOD) service for owners of the HTC Desire Android handset. The service will be powered by Saffron Digital, and will offer a selection of Warner Bros. Movies that users can watch, pause and resume playback between their PC and mobile phone. Saffron Digital already powers a video-on-demand service for T-Mobile called VOD+ which launched last year.
T-Mobile customers who buy the HTC Desire in the first month of its availability will get two free Warner Bros. movies from a list of eight titles, including ‘Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince’ and ‘The Hangover’. These will be available on a 48-hour rental basis, playable on the HTC Desire or on a PC. More Warner Bros. films will be added to the  service over the next few months, and will cost £3.49 for new releases and £2.49 for back-catalogue titles.
Working in partnership with both HTC and T-Mobile, Saffron Digital has created and will host a mobile Internet destination which T-Mobile customers who have bought the HTC Desire will be directed to, via an SMS mechanic and in-store posters. A follow-up email will also be sent to users who have activated their handset, but not used the promotion. The site will be linked to T-Mobile’s VOD+ site, also created and powered by Saffron, where a wide catalogue of films from Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. are available for purchase.
“We anticipate the Desire being one of our most popular handsets of 2010, and the VOD+ service makes it even greater value for our customers – giving them even more functionality on top of an already impressive features list,” says Nicola Shenton, Head of Handset and Device Marketing at T-Mobile. “As the service is unique to T-Mobile, it will also be a key differentiator for us as we compete with other networks.”

Orange Signs Eco-friendly MVNO Partner

Orange UK has signed C Mobile, a new, environmentally-focussed Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) on the Orange Partner Platform, via Transatel, Orange’s mobile virtual network aggregator (MVNA).
C Mobile is an online mobile reseller that is ethically accredited with The Ethical Company Organisation. It will launch its Prepay MVNO nationally across the UK later this year with both SIM-only and handset deals, targeting the ethical and eco market. C Mobile gives consumers the opportunity to fund ecologically sustainable energy projects via profit-based grants. More details of the proposition will be revealed by C Mobile nearer the launch.
“We are extremely pleased to sign up to the Orange Partner Platform with Transatel for our UK MVNO operations,” says C Mobile Managing Director, Jon Lobb. “The ease of access to market which this opportunity represents is the first step in our growth strategy, and we look forward to working with both Orange and Transatel as we move towards our UK launch.”

NSN Wins £400m MBNL Network Contract

Mobile Broadband Network Limited (MBNL), the 50:50 3G network infrastructure joint venture formed by T-Mobile UK and 3 UK to has awarded a £400 million contract for the provision of 3G radio network infrastructure, mobile network planning, implementation, optimization and maintenance, to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN). The provision of equipment and services is already underway.
The two operators are on course to complete their joint network infrastructure program by the end of 2010. When completed, it will be Europe’s largest shared network, and NSN points out that it requires fewer masts, consumes less energy and provides customers with a superior mobile broadband service. The HSDPA 3G network already offers outdoor coverage to more than 90% of Britain’s population. By the end of this year, the network coverage will be expanded to more than 98% of the population.
To date, MBNL has consolidated more than 7,000 sites out of a total of over 12,500 T-Mobile UK and 3 UK mast sites due to be brought together by October this year. When completed, the integration program will also result in more than 3,000 redundant sites being switched off
“Smartphone and mobile laptop data traffic growth in the UK has been unprecedented, and every sign is it will continue growing fast,” says MBNL Managing Director, Graham Payne. “With Nokia Siemens Networks, we are confident of providing the UK’s most Smartphone-friendly, high-speed 3G network to more people in the UK than any other operator, delivering exceptional services to both T-Mobile UK and 3 UK subscribers.”   
To ensure that both operators can enjoy the benefits of the MBNL network expansion, while continuing to function independently, NSN has implemented its Multi-operator Radio Access Network (MORAN) platform, which offers flexibility while merging two networks, enables the re-use of existing infrastructure, and allows a reduction in the number of sites.

Openwave Launches Analytics Express

Openwave Systems has launched Openwave Analytics Express, a cloud-based analytics solution which features analytics and a set of reporting tools designed to perform essential monitoring of mobile internet usage and behaviour, enabling operators to improve operational efficiency without significant infrastructure investments. Analytics Express is the latest addition in Openwave’s Analytics product family, which also includes Mobile Analytics: Mediation Edition, a fully featured solution launched in March 2010.
Analytics Express enables operators to gain key network- and usage-related insights across a wide array of operator data sources, and includes reporting functionality that can help mobile operators build profiles and segments, and leverage insights into new revenue streams.
As a hosted solution, Analytics Express is designed to provide these insights at a low-cost, with a low hardware footprint and rapid time to market. Openwave says the offering is also highly scalable and can address specific customer requirements with rapid customisation. Analytics Express is also jointly offered with Openwave Media Optimiser, which enables operators to analyse and measure their video optimisation initiatives in real-time, and helps them to proactively address network capacity issues.
 “Analytics Express is designed for operators who are looking for insights to solve immediate network capacity problems and who are interested in new revenue opportunities arising from a better understanding of data traffic patterns and subscriber usage,” says Openwave Diector of Product Management, Anand Chandrasekaran. “Analytics Express allows operators to quickly realise the benefits of operational insights in improving their network’s performance, with the option to upgrade to our fully featured Analytics offering as their needs evolve.”
 Key features of Analytics Express include reporting across devices, subscribers, destinations and data traffic; rapid customisation, with the ability to add reports based on specific metrics and key performance indicators rapidly; fast integration of new data feeds supporting diverse log formats and transactional data with custom reports; and seamless integration with other Openwave products.
Openwave Analytics Express solution is expected to be generally available through Openwave by the end of the Q2 2010.

Alcatel-Lucent Launches Operator Ad Solution

Alcatel-Lucent has unveiled its Optism Mobile Advertising Solution, a while-label offering that enables mobile operators to offer preference-based mobile advertising services to their subscribers on an opt-in basis.
Optimism includes a media arm, which brokers relationships between mobile operators and advertisers, simplifying the media selling process for aggregated operator inventory. Since the service is aggregated across multiple operators, media buyers can make a cross-network mobile media buy via the Optism web-based interface.
The solution is based around a scalable, hosted advertising platform that reduces barriers to entry for mobile operators and easily and directly connects them with advertisers. Alcatel-Lucent takes a share of the revenue from advertising spend.
The platform uses permission and stated preferences to deliver advertising to subscribers’ mobile phones. Interactions are tailored to their specific interests and lifestyles, such as discount offers on products and services related to subjects they have expressed an interest in.
The first two operators to sign up for the service are E+ in Germany and Orange Austria, whose Senior Business Developer (Advertising Solutions), Juergen Pillinger, says: “By working with Alcatel-Lucent, we can provide value to our subscribers by ensuring that ads are interest-based, while growing our revenue without adding complexity to our operations. The Mobile Advertising Solution allows us to deliver targeted ads that subscribers actually want to receive, while providing a highly responsive channel for brands and media agencies.”
Eden Zoller, Principal Analyst, Ovum Consumer Practice, notes that fragmentation and lack of scale have acted as a brake on mobile advertising, deterring the advertising community and slowing overall growth,” describes Alcatel-Lucent’s move as “a positive step in the right direction.”
And David Kyffin, Global Chief ROI and Direct Marketing Officer at media agency Mediacom has also welcomed Optim, saying: “The most desirable inventory involves user permissions supplemented by explicit preferences and must offer broad scale to truly harness mobile as a marketing channel. Clients are increasingly asking if they can run campaigns over multiple regions and at scale. Alcatel-Lucent's operating model and access to multiple mobile operators is a big step towards meeting these requirements.”

Lebara Launches Multi-language Mobile Portal

Mobile Virtual Network Operator Lebara Mobile has launched a mobile portal with nationally-focused sites in multiple languages. To celebrate the launch, the company is offering customers free mobile Internet browsing for the first three months.
The portal provides the latest news, sport and entertainment information, and helps customers access the wider mobile web via Google search and quick links to sites including Facebook, MySpace and Hotmail. At launch, there are six sites, focusing on the Indian, Pakistani, Arabic, Nigerian, Polish and Filipino communities, available in English and Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, English, Polish and Filipino respectively.
The portal is also host to thousands of downloads sourced from customers’ home countries, including  games in different languages, and ringtones and wallpapers from local artists. The price quoted for each download includes data transfer charges.
The new services are now available to all Lebara UK customers with mobile Internet-capable handsets. Lebara is offering free browsing as part of the launch promotion until 30 June, up to 10MB per day. The normal daily rate is 50p per day, but the uk.lebara.mobi portal will continue to be free to use after the promotion.
“To millions of customers around the world, Lebara is seen as leading the way in providing services which bring them closer to their friends, family and community. The launch of our mobile portal and downloads further emphasises our commitment to this goal,” says Lebara CEO, Yoganathan Ratheesan. “Lebara is building on its position as the global leader in international mobile services, and we will continue to innovate to provide the best possible experience to our customers throughout the group and within the UK.”
Dario Talmesio, Senior Analyst, Mobile Operators, and Head of Europe for Informa Telecoms & Media, believes the launch of the portal is a positive development for the Lebara Group. He says: “Our recent analysis of virtual operators identifies light-VAS (Value Added Services) strategies as key areas of differentiation and future growth in crowded ethnic MVNO markets such as Europe. Of course, Lebara will need to also remain committed to its core business of value for money communication."

WiMP Goes Danish

Aspiro is launching its ‘WiMP’ music streaming service in Denmark with Telenor. When the service launches in mid-April, it will become Denmark’s first music streaming service for PC, Mac and mobile. The service will be localised for Danish users
Telenor's Danish customers will have access to the entire WiMP library via PC, Mac, Linux and Android phones. Aspiro has also recently submitted its iPhone client for WiMP for approval for distribution via Apple's App Store.
Telenor customers will be able to access the service for 99 kroner (£12) per month. WiMP will be beta launched in Denmark on 15 April, with the full launch slated for May.

Voda Opens Up 360 Shop Access Via JIL

Vodafone is enabling developers to publish applications to the Vodafone 360 Shop through the JIL.org website. The announcement marks the next milestone in the progression of the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) partnership, enabling developers to use open web technologies to create, monetise and distribute apps to customers with JIL-enabled handsets.
Developers can choose to select from one, some or all of the selected markets for each app they publish. Developers can select from 20 price points ranging from €0.49 to €9.99 (£0.49 to £9.99 in the UK) and set separate prices for each Vodafone market. A standard 70/30 revenue share is offered, with developers paid monthly, approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which revenue was earned. Vodafone can pay developers in Euros, British pounds or US dollars.
Developers’ apps will be reviewed within 10 business days. Accepted apps become available in the Vodafone 360 Shop for the local markets the developer has selected immediately. Reports available on JIL.org enable developers to see how many downloads or sales each app has had at each price point in each market. Both daily and monthly reports are available. For paid apps, there are additional monthly reports, showing the revenue share split and any applicable tax calculations, as well as invoices and remittance reports, detailing and confirming payment.
Apps published to the Vodafone 360 shop are supported by 50 different handsets, including the Vodafone 360 H1 and M1 phones from Samsung, and many Symbian/ S60 phones from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Samsung.  Developers can choose to select from one, some or all device classes for each app they publish. Because apps published through JIL.org are based on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, developers will be able to design apps that scale across a range of phone models. 
Vodafone has also launched http://developer.vodafone.com - a dedicated site providing developers with information on the Vodafone 360 platform, including technical guidelines to consider when building a mobile app.
“Through the JIL.org site, we are providing developers with simple upload methods, a transparent review process and greater insight, thanks to enabled country-specific market and pricing information,” says Lee Epting, Director of Content Services at Vodafone Group. “Combined with our new dedicated developer.vodafone.com site, we can help developers quickly tailor their apps to local markets, making them more relevant and generating more downloads.”

Men Dominate Orange Mobile Data Usage

Orange has published its sixth Digital Media Index (ODMI), a detailed report offering insight into how digital media is consumed across its mobile network. The latest findings reveal that whilst the consumption of mobile data continues to increase, there are interesting differences between men and women on what they use their handsets for.

Mobile Social Networking
The popularity of social networking sites continues to soar, with men more likely to spend time, and view more pages, to keep up-to-date with friends’ news, status updates and pictures. As well as accounting for 64% of unique users, men also view 33% more pages than women on social networking sites overall. Almost 2 million Orange customers now use their handsets for social networking, generating over 1 billion page impressions on social networking sites each month

Mobile Internet
Men use their mobile phones more regularly than women to keep up-to-date with the latest sporting news. This explains why Saturday is the most popular day for customers to use the mobile Internet, as men check out the latest football scores on their mobile whilst on-the-move. Sport updates are also driving mobile Internet traffic, with men accounting for 57% of customers accessing Orange World, Orange’s mobile Internet portal, Orange World, which attracts over 3.4 million unique users per month.

Mobile TV and Video
Sport is the main driver for Mobile TV viewing, and is more popular with men than women. In total, sport accounts for 50% of Mobile TV content consumed, with Sky Sports 1 being the most popular Mobile TV channel, attracting 24% of users.
With increasing Smartphone adoption, more people than ever before are experimenting with new services. It seems that men are leading the way – accounting for 75% of mobile videos and 71% of Mobile TV clips purchased.

Mobile Gaming
Whilst mobile gaming is enjoyed by both genders, the report reveals that men like time-related challenges such as Tetris, whereas women prefer strategic games with less time pressure, such as SIMS and Monopoly. Orange customers downloaded nearly 650,000 games in the three months covered by the report, with Sunday the most popular day for downloading games

SMS/MMS and Mobile Data
With an average of 63 million SMS messages sent every day by Orange customers, texting remains as popular as ever. The report reveals that women send more text and picture messages than men to keep in touch with friends and family. Also, the difference between the numbers of picture messages sent between men and women increases with age – with women over 60 years old sending 48% more than men in the same age group.
The consumption of mobile data also continues to grow, with over 5.34 million customers now using Orange 3G mobile handsets and/or dongles, and over 435,000 gigabytes of data being used each month.
“As this is the sixth issue of our Digital Media Index report, we were keen to delve deeper and offer an insight into how customers use their mobile handsets,” says Deborah Tonroe, Head of Entertainment and Information at Orange UK. The report shows that users really are using their mobile handsets for more than just voice and text.”

Vodafone Tops Kaizo Advocacy Index

The results of the latest Kaizo Advocacy Index show Vodafone leading the way among UK mobile operators, with the network increasing its score considerably, thanks to a raft of positive coverage around the launch of the iPhone on Vodafone. A poor perception of network coverage and quality of customer service affected the majority of mobile brands’ scores, however.
The biannual Kaizo Advocacy Index measures the online reputation of 20 major brands across four sectors: Mobile, Airlines, Food and Software. In the Mobile sector, Vodafone scored 38%, followed by Orange (1%), O2 (-5%), 3 Mobile (-19%) and T-Mobile (-26%).
Vodafone topped the sector and, indeed, the entire Kaizo Advocacy Index, alongside food brand Del Monte, on the back of the availability of the iPhone on its network. The operator went some way to eradicating the problems that led to a 0% score in the last report, whilst improving customer satisfaction and introducing well-received new products and services. The release of the iPhone on the Vodafone network has put O2’s domination of the product to an end, prompting comments on Twitter such as “Can't wait to switch my iPhone back onto Vodafone”.
“Association with a strong brand clearly helps a brand’s online reputation, and Vodafone has seen this with the iPhone,” says Kaizo Managing Director, Rhodri Harries. “Overall, though, the sector suffers, as we all rely so much on our mobile, that when there is an issue, it is a high priority for us, and one which we will be vocal about. With many brands still feeling the effects of the downturn, social media is playing an ever-increasing role”.
T-Mobile was the biggest loser in the mobile sector, moving from first to last place with a decrease in score of 35%. This was due to customer service issues and poor reception, particularly with mobile broadband. With comments such as “finally getting rid of T-Mobile, of course they are messing up this as well” a regular occurrence, Kaizo says that mobile brands must do more to deal with customers efficiently, in order to avoid the levels of frustration currently being vented online. 3 Mobile also fared badly, with similar issues to T-Mobile. leading to a decrease of 24 points.
Orange received a similar number of positive and negative comments, which neutralised its overall online reputation. Positive coverage was generated through the pending release of high definition voice calls, while negative content surrounded poor customer service, and fears that a merger between Orange and T-Mobile will evoke a leviathan of both their problems.
Poor signal was an issue for O2, as well as negative comments following several instances of its network crashing. 3 Mobile received more negative coverage in this report than in the last. Overall, however, this was recouped by the quantity of positive comments it received. These consisted of information about new offers and services, such as the implementation of Twitter.
While Vodafone and Del Monte performed the best across all sectors researched, brands with the worst scores included Ryanair, Easyjet and T-Mobile.

Voda and Opera Bring Mobile Web and Apps to Emerging Markets

Vodafone is seeking to bring the benefits of the Internet to more people in developing markets through the launch of a customised version of the Opera Mini browser, designed to run on low-cost handsets on 2G networks. The move aims to enable as many people as possible to experience the Internet for the first time, and to enjoy the social advantages it can bring through the spread of email and commerce-based applications. 
Vodafone has worked alongside Opera Software to develop an enhanced version of Opera Mini 5 which is able to give a good Internet experience on lower- to mid-tier handsets, connected to second generation networks. The Opera Mini 5 browser has been embedded in a range of 20 devices, and can also be downloaded to over 250 GPRS-supported handsets in Vodafone’s customer base. The move is backed by a string of affordable data tariffs, designed to make a day’s data usage as affordable as possible.
Since the Opera Mini 5 browser can compress data by up to 90%, it requires less processing power on the handset, and uses less network capacity, resulting in a richer Internet experience in more challenging conditions.
Vodafone is also creating an on-screen browsing experience that is designed to help someone who may have little experience of the Internet. The on-screen experience will feature step-by-step, simple instructions in local languages, with a strong emphasis on the use of intuitive icons to help those with lower levels of literacy.
A range of Vodafone applications is also in development, most of them designed to deliver social benefits to users, such as access to email; finding a job; buying and selling products and services; and  learning foreign languages. The initiative is initially being rolled out in India, S. Africa, Turkey, Tanzania and Egypt, with other markets expected to follow in the near future.
“With this product, we can transform even basic handsets into very capable Internet-browsing devices, enabling millions of people to enjoy the social and economic aspects of the internet that many already take for granted,” says Jonathan Bill, Head of Emerging Markets at Vodafone Internet Services. “By significantly enhancing the customer’s Internet experience, this initiative will help to boost local economies, by encouraging entrepreneurs to create a range of locally-inspired business models and services.”
Vodafone notes that mobile technology is ideally suited to bringing Internet connectivity to developing markets, as it is easier to roll out than fixed technology in areas that are hard to reach. The move is the latest in a string of initiatives launched by Vodafone in order to encourage the wider use of digital communications in developing markets, to boost productivity and encourage economic growth. On 15 February, Vodafone announced the launch of the world’s cheapest voice and text handset: the Vodafone 150, which retails at under $15.  The handset, along with the $20 Vodafone 250 handset, will be available in the first instance in India, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Turkey, Mozambique, Qatar, S. Africa and Tanzania.
Vodafone also recently announced proposals to launch the M-Pesa money transfer service in S. Africa. With approximately 26 million people in South Africa without an official bank account, M-Pesa will enable millions of mobile phone subscribers to send and receive money via their mobile phones.
At the same time Vodafone has developed a range of solar powered and wind technology driven base stations, designed to bring networks into rural areas which may not have their own power supplies.

Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom Complete UK Merger

Without much fanfare, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom announced the successful completion of the UK merger transaction and the formation of the companies’ new Joint Venture last week.
Tom Alexander, former CEO of Orange UK, is the Chief Executive of the new Joint Venture, and Richard Moat, the former CEO of T-Mobile UK, is Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO. A Board of Directors has also been formed, on which Tom Alexander and Richard Moat will serve as Executive Directors. Tim Höttges, CFO of Deutsche Telekom, will lead the board as Non-executive Chairman for two years. After this time, the leadership will rotate to Gervais Pellissier, Deputy CEO and CFO of France Telecom, for two years.
Also joining the six-person Board as Non-executive directors are Philipp Humm, Chief Regional Officer Europe for Deutsche Telekom, and Olaf Swantee, Executive Vice President Europe at France Telecom.

Ofcom Plans Cut in Mobile Termination Rates

Communications regulator Ofcom has published proposals which will make it cheaper to call mobile phones from a landline. Ofcom proposes slashing mobile termination rates, which are the wholesale charges that operators make to connect calls to each others’ networks. Under Ofcom’s plans, these wholesale rates would fall from around 4.3p per minute today, to 0.5p per minute by 2015. The proposals will also mean that both landline and mobile operators have more flexibility in designing competitive call packages.
Commenting on Ofcom’s announcement, Mike Wilson, mobiles manager at moneysupermarket.com, says: “It’s been clear for some time that termination rates don’t reflect the real costs of calling a landline or another mobile network. The vast majority of customers are unaware they even pay mobile termination rates, despite the fact they make up a significant cost of a call. We feel this penalises customers unfairly – that’s why we backed the campaign from the start – so it is great to see that Ofcom agrees that this hidden charge has to pretty much go.”
Ofcom is also proposing to reduce the time taken to transfer a mobile number to anther network from two working days to one. In addition, the Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) that consumers need to switch provider and keep their number will in future be issued immediately or within a maximum of two hours by text message. Currently, the time and way in which PACs are issued varies considerably between providers. Some networks only issue PACs by letter, which can take several days to arrive.Following a six week consultation on legal implementation and timing of the proposal, Ofcom expects the changes to come into effect in the first half of 2011.

Open Invitation

Pierrette de Leeuw, Product Marketing Manager at Acision, urges mobile operators to embrace the open services framework model in order to leverage their unique assets

During this year’s Mobile World Congress, 24 operators, along with the GSMA, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG jointly announced the formation of the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) - an alliance designed to build an open platform for delivering applications to all mobile phone users. The operators and the handset makers are committed to creating the applications ecosystem.
While this is undoubtedly a positive step for the industry, confidence in the success of the alliance has been less than enthusiastic, with industry analysts muting concerns over co-operation on such a large scale. Acision believes that an open platform is the right way to go, yet operators need to leverage the strengths of their network assets with the (application) services creation from their developer ecosystem.

Network assets
Acision believes that the WAC could bring the potential for operators to create an environment for application and services developers, especially when leveraging the full breadth of their network assets and capabilities. The global nature of the alliance, and number of operator groups participating, will drive the standardisation the industry needs to ensure continuation of the value of applications purchased by their subscriber. To illustrate: if, today, a subscriber loses their iPhone, or after years of use decides to change the device for a Nokia phone, contacts can be easily migrated via the web or PC, and you can keep your same mobile number, yet the purchased applications, like navigation or office applications  -costing between €5 - 100 are left useless on the old device.
The alliance will drive a single worldwide application and developer platform, offering device-agnostic applications and services. Acision believes that combining this with the capability to add unique assets to these services, like location awareness, subscriber identity and personal preferences – assets that are often out of reach for applications developers today – will enable them to orchestrate unique and rich data services, in a highly secure messaging ecosystem.

Open services framework
If the operators that join the WAC stick to just offering open access to their mobile network and subscribers, but fail to ensure a unique value add, there is a chance that this will drive them to become mere bitpipes. To ensure that operators will be able to add value, their messaging ecosystem should include an open services framework with a separate developer environment, for transparent services creation, and connectivity to messaging functions, as well as the unique network assets.
If the operator is able to disclose and manage these assets and intelligence, and provide these to third parties like service providers and developers, they can jointly offer better services to mobile users. This way, the messaging ecosystem also creates new revenue opportunities by enabling mobile operators to offer unique cloud services to Internet and enterprise customers, leveraging the unique mobile network assets.

Have a Night In on T-Mobile

T-Mobile UK has unveiled a loyalty programme called ‘Night In’ which aims to encourage customers to plan more nights in with friends and family during the week. The deal sees T-Mobile partnering with movie and game rental company Blockbuster to offer everything customers need for a night with friends and family.
Night In, which launches next week, allows T-Mobile customers to rent a game and a movie or two movies for two nights and grab some snacks and a bottle of soft drink for £5. Customers can choose from hundreds of DVDs, Blu-ray discs and games. The promotion is valid in all UK Blockbuster stores from Monday – Thursday each week, and can be used once each week by T-Mobile customers.
“Customers tell us that more than anything else, they love spending time with family and friends, and with the ongoing trend of staying in rather than going out, Night In is our way of saying thank you to them for their loyalty,” says T-Mobile UK  Head of Brand and Communications, Lysa Hardy. “This Night In offer with Blockbuster is a great value deal that gives our customers everything they need for a perfect night in, and is a great excuse for people to pile in front of the TV and enjoy the latest movie release or computer game.” 

TDC and Vodafone Extend Partner Market Agreement

Danish communications company TDC and Vodafone have extended their strategic Nordic Partnership to include Sweden and Norway, in addition to an existing agreement covering Denmark.
The companies says that the non-equity Partner Market agreement, effective from 1 April 2010, will allow them both to better serve their respective customers within the Nordic region, as well as internationally.
Vodafone and TDC have had an agreement addressing the Danish market since 2001. Under the broader Partner Market agreement, TDC has exclusive access to a range of products, services and devices from Vodafone, promoted under a co-branding model, in three Nordic countries, as well as the acquisition of enterprise customers and improved network inter-working.
"Our partnership with Vodafone will make life easier for our global-oriented customers based in the Nordic region,” says TDC Nordic Director, Jens Munch-Hansen. “Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group and therefore I am pleased they have chosen TDC as a key partner in three Nordic countries. It underlines the strength of TDC and the high quality of our products and service in the Nordic business market.”

ROK Launches iPlayer with MTNL in India

ROK Entertainment Group has announced the launch of its iPlayer mobile video service with Indian mobile network, MTNL.
Priced at 30 Rupees (approximately £0.45) per month, subscribers are able to receive, streamed or for download, up to 90 video clips per month, including live breaking news, daily astrology predictions, Bollywood news, Bollywood music, sports news, comics and comedy clips on their mobile at  http://mtnl.rokd.tv
MTNL has begun promoting the ROK iPlayer service to its 2 million-strong customer base in Mumbai via a daily SMS promotion.
“This MTNL-version of ROK’s iPlayer is a new mobile entertainment service which we have developed specifically for India,” say ROK Chairman and CEO, Jonathan Kendrick. “We are very excited to be launching the service with MTNL and because iPlayer offers such excellent value for money with regards to mobile entertainment, we look forward to significant subscription uptake.”
ROK, best known for its Mobile TV service which is streamed over mass-market 2.5G GPRS as well as 3G and wi-fi, has amassed a portfolio of revenue-generating mobile applications which it licenses to mobile operators around the world.

Orange Scores Mobile Games Hat-trick

Orange UK has taken the wraps off three new mobile gaming offerings, including games for the iPhone.
Orange iPhone Games, launching late April, offers all UK iPhone customers access to mobile games designed and produced by Orange, via the Apple App Store. Games on offer include off-road racing, plus a selection of card games, including Blackjack and Poker.
Playtomo is a social gaming service, launching today, that allows UK customers to play card and action and adventure platform games for free. Playtomo integrates with social networks so users can share their scores, and challenge their friends to get involved. Contact lists are easily imported to the service so friends on other networks can be invited to join in.
Finally, Games Zone, launching this Wednesday, is a £5-a-month subscription gaming service offering Orange customers two free games each month, exclusive competitions and a 20% discount on additional purchases(2)
Games Zone is also available on a 1-month free trial to new or upgrading Pay Monthly customers as part of Orange’s new multimedia Animal tariff refresh.
“This is an exciting time for Orange, with the launch of these new mobile gaming offerings forming a key part of our strategy to evolve our business through entertainment,” says Orange’s Head of Gaming Products and Services, Neil Holroyd. “Innovative gaming services such as Playtomo and Games Zone give customers the best possible gaming experience and value for money on their mobile phone, while enabling us to develop our offering.” 

Cole Tops Orange Digital Media Index Charts

She may have had a few issues in her private life in recent months, but Cheryl Cole is as popular as she has ever been, according to the latest Orange Digital Media Index (ODMI).
The ODMI provides an insight into the behaviour of consumers in the digital world, using statistics from Orange’s 16.5 million active customers in the UK. The report looks at usage patterns across Orange’s entertainment and communications services to show how consumer habits are changing.
The latest ODMI findings reveal that the X-Factor star is the UK’s most searched-for celebrity by customers, raking in 40% more mobile searches than her nearest rival, Miley Cyrus or Twilight star Robert Pattinson.
The singer also tops the list of the most downloaded music tracks with her single, ‘Fight for this Love’. She also tops the video download chart for good measure, with the music video for the same song.
The latest ODMI findings reveal that celebrity searches have increased by 800% since the previous report, with the biggest upsurge in any search term, including ‘music’, ‘entertainment’ and ‘social networking’.

Top 10 searched for celebrities:

1. Cheryl Cole
2. Miley Cyrus
3. Robert Pattinson
4. Emma Watson
5. Amanda Holden
6. Vanessa Hudgens
7. Taylor Lautner
8. Danielle Lloyd
9. Billie Piper
10. Lindsay Lohan

Top 10 downloaded music tracks:

1. Cheryl Cole – Fight for this Love
2. The Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
3. Lady GaGa – Bad Romance
4. JLS – Everybody in Love
5. Taio Cruz – Break Your Heart
6. Jason Derulo –Whatcha Say
7. David Guetta feat – Sexy Bitch – Featuring Akon
8. The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
9. Michael Buble – Haven’t Met You Yet
10. N-Dubz – Playing with Fire

Top 10 video downloads:

1. Cheryl Cole: Fight For This Love (Music clip)
2. Twilight: New Moon trailer (Film clip)
3. X Factor Final: Winner Joe sings The Climb (TV highlights clip)
4. Angry Kid: Darkside (Cartoons/animation clip)
5. Paranormal Activity trailer (Film clip)
6. South Park: Cartman v Bart Simpson (Cartoons/animation clip)
7. Taio Cruz: Break Your Heart (Music clip)
8. X Factor Final: Joe sings Don’t Stop Believing (TV highlights clip)
9. South Park: Spook-tacular – Chef sings Thriller (Cartoons/animation clip)
10. Angry Kid: Queen's Speech (Cartoons/animation clip)

The full Orange Digital Media Index will be available early next month.  

Voda Powers British Gas Smart Meters

Vodafone UK is working with British Gas on the rollout of smart metering in the UK. A multi-million pound contract will see Vodafone provide nearly 1 million GPRS connections within household meters to help families monitor the energy they use, leading to cost savings and reduced CO2 emissions.
Families will no longer need to wait in for someone to read their energy meter. Instead, they will automatically receive a bill for exactly what they’ve used, with the energy use data sent from the in-home smart meter back to British Gas over the Vodafone network.

Openwave Launches Smart User Repository

Openwave Systems has launched the Openwave Smart User Repository for operators. It's a scalable, reliable user data storage solution, offering high speed, low latency user profile and policy access that is specifically designed to assist operators in managing their increasing data traffic. Openwave says that because of its scalable and reliable architecture, the solution is an excellent candidate for operators’ 3GPP user profile repository (UPR) and user data repository (UDR) requirements, particularly as operators move quickly to deploy policy infrastructure to address ever-increasing traffic loads.
Smart User Repository allows for configurable deployments based on the operator’s environment and traffic profile. Openwave’s previous version of the offering, Openwave Directory, provides an easy transition for operators evaluating a replacement path for systems that are not scalable. Smart User Repository’s architecture allows the operator to define different levels of spare capacity depending on the criticality of the application. Openwave notes that the repository’s predecessor, Openwave Directory, has demonstrated greater than 99.999% availability over the last five years at the company’s largest deployment.
The solution also boasts extremely low latency.  Its lightweight replication mechanism of enables implementation of geo-distribution working to ensure low latency across wide areas. Replicas can serve single entry requests in less than three milliseconds depending on the hardware platform. 
“As operators continue to witness unprecedented data traffic volumes, it is incumbent upon them to consider integrated policy management tools that will help them rapidly access user profile and policy  information as is common in the web world,” says John Giere, Senior Vice President of Products and Marketing at Openwave. “One of our longstanding Tier 1 North American operators has already deployed our repository and is currently processing in excess of 2.5 billion queries a day.”

Cellcom Israel Selects Mobixell Video Solution

Cellcom Israel, the largest Israeli mobile operator, has deployed Mobixell Networks’ Videon mobile video optimisation, adaptation and delivery platform, to further improve mobile video quality on the widest selection of mobile devices. Mobixell says the solution will also allows the operator to enable multiple video services and  optimize video traffic in order to reduce costs.
Cellcom Israel is consolidating its video services from a variety of separate systems onto the Videon platform to enable it to increase the variety of video formats and number of supported devices using a single, centralised adaptation and delivery platform, which optimizes and adapts both live and streamed video content from various sources in real time.
The Videon solution enables operators to maximise the opportunities for generating additional mobile video content offerings from a variety of sources, including the web (web-cams and broadcast content available only on the web such as 24/7 reality shows); live TV; and VOD (video on demand) libraries. The video quality is optimised to the changing network conditions to maintain a connection.
Mobixell says that Cellcom Israel will benefit from video traffic optimization and management, and real time transcoding support for many different handsets, delivering the optimum video quality for each handset or mobile device. Another key advantage of using Mobixell’s Dynamic Bit Rate Adaptation technology, embedded in the Videon solution, will be to allow different types of video content to be optimised on-the-fly for each mobile user, based on available bandwidth, network and device type.
The deployment - completed in February 2010 - was initiated by the desire to find a more efficient way to automate and streamline the delivery of enhanced video services, including both live channels and on-demand content. These included broadcasting a variety of live webcam feeds, located in public places such as clubs and bars, holy places and traffic hot spots, as well as user-generated content) and a VOD catalogue. The Videon solution offered support for all these different video formats on a single platform and enabled broadcast content, to be sent to mobile users using the same feed as the Internet portal. Videon is tightly integrated into Cellcom Israel’s network elements and billing system to perform user Authorization, Authentication and Accounting (AAA); handling this integration in one centralized system for multiple services and different devices enables cost savings.
“We are focused on delivering the optimal variety and quality of video for our mobile users, whilst reducing expense,” says Cellcom Israel Engineering VP, Isaiah Rosenberg. “Mobixell’s Videon scores in all these areas, allow us to capitalise on the growing demand for mobile video services, whilst keeping costs under control.” 

GSMA Moves on Spam

The GSM Association (GSMA) is piloting a solution to address mobile messaging misuse caused by spam, which is a growing issue for consumers and mobile operators. The GSMA Spam Reporting Service will provide a worldwide clearinghouse of messaging threats and misuse which have been reported by mobile users. The GSMA Spam Reporting Service is in trials with a number of mobile operators, including AT&T Mobility, Korea Telecom and SFR.
The GSMA Spam Reporting Service, which is operated on behalf of the GSMA by Cloudmark, will analyse SMS traffic and identify and aggregate reports of misuse submitted by mobile subscribers of participating networks via a shortcode. The shortcode ‘7726’, which spells “SPAM” on  most phones, will be used where local national numbering plans permit, in conjunction with an additional code ‘33700’, to encourage consumers to report instances of SMS spam. With this reporting mechanism, consumers will be able to direct alleged spam to a responsive feedback system, which will acknowledge the report and inform their service providers so that appropriate action can be taken. This action can include investigations, warnings, and blocking of senders who have been repeatedly reported by end users as sending unsolicited or fraudulent messages. 
“The issue of mobile messaging misuse is a global, inter-operator problem, and the GSMA Spam Reporting Service, along with other spam mitigation solutions such as spam filtering, is an important component of a comprehensive spam mitigation strategy for the industry,” says Alex Sinclair, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at the GSMA. “We have learnt from the online experience where spam is prolific and this service will enable mobile operators, mobile users and legitimate mobile marketers to take action as we work together to help users and their service providers to tackle mobile spam.”
Each mobile operator participating in the pilot will receive correlated reports, with data on threats and misuse originated both within and outside of their network. The reports will include data on misuse patterns, volumes and top originators of spam, regionally and worldwide. The GSMA says the service is designed to help protect the entire mobile ecosystem against sophisticated and evolving messaging threats and misuse that could negatively impact the user experience, as well as available network resources. 

Starhome Awarded Shortcode Patent

Roaming services provider Starhome has been awarded a patent for its ‘Home Short Code’ solution. The Home Short Code is converts unrecognized home shortcodes into valid international formatted numbers, and provides the mobile operator with a basis to increase its revenue potential from both the inbound and outbound roaming markets. In addition, the solution supports CLI delivery for both inbound and outbound roamers, and is not bound to a specific international carrier.
More than 100 Starhome customers have already deployed the Home Short Code solution, that allows both inbound and outbound roamers seamless access to their home VAS (Value Added Services). Using the solution, says StarHome, mobile network operators can quickly expand their earning potential, by continuing to serve their subscribers whenever and wherever they travel, and also by attracting inbound travellers for the duration of their visits, and encouraging the use of further VAS and international airtime.
When an inbound international traveller dials a shortcode that has not been defined as a valid local shortcode in the mobile operator’s MSC (mobile switching centre), the call is transferred to the visited Starhome IntelliGate platform for processing. The IntelliGate analyzes the validity of the shortcode in relation to the caller’s home country and HPMN (Home Public Mobile Network) and with respect to the roaming network shortcodes and dialling rules. Finally, the IntelliGate converts the dialled shortcode into an internationally-formatted number and routes it back to the visited network MSC.
The Home Short Code is a complete service that supports postpaid and prepaid market segments for both CAMEL and non-CAMEL. The solution can also be used for one roaming segment only.

Novarra Champions Data Optimisation

Novarra has released the findings of a report that it says demonstrates how the rising tide of mobile web, video and app usage from data-hungry Smartphone and netbook subscribers impacts underlying network costs and capacity. With the right modelling and analysis of mobile web usage, says Novarra, operators can understand the metrics for profitability and investment which lead to reduced annual capex and opex costs. Using a cloud-based data optimisation architecture, for every 10 million data subscribers, $1.5 billion (£1 billion) can be saved annually for LTE networks, and over $5 billion for HSPA, the company says. 
According to Novarra, findings from the report show that cloud-based mobile data optimisation improves profitability for network operators by reducing delivery cost per megabyte, from $0.026 to $0.013, on HSPA and EV-DO; servicing 2-3 times more data traffic and subscribers with given network infrastructure; enabling cost-effective video services for portable devices and Smartphones; improving consumer experience through faster load times without buffering delays; and deferring costly network capacity upgrades by 18 months for HSPA networks.
The analysis tool includes a data traffic model developed using industry statistics and projections, as well as Novarra usage data from Smartphones and other mobile devices. Novarra says that a precise financial impact scenario can be generated by customising parameters including device mix, data and video usage forecast, network throughput, and equipment costs that are specific to each service provider. This aids network operators in determining how best to allocate funding and resources to profitably address the data traffic tsunami.
“Profitability from mobile Internet growth is being threatened by network congestion and the escalating cost of data delivery,” says Greg Johnson, Office of the CTO at Novarra. “We created this model because we recognise that simply upgrading the radio access network is not a timely or cost effective solution to handle exploding consumer usage patterns. It is imperative that operators take steps immediately to manage over the air data traffic, beyond the network core, which has traditionally been difficult and costly.”
Novarra’s currently provides services to Verizon Wireless, Vodafone UK, Turkcell, Telecom Italia, Hutchison Three Group and Yahoo! You can download the whitepaper here.

Openwave Launches Passport 3.0

Openwave Systems released the latest version of its Openwave Passport traffic mediation solution. Passport 3.0 is designed to help operators more effectively manage network resources and tap into new revenue streams by offering subscribers personalized, context-aware Internet services.
“Mobile spectrum is a finite resource; the tension between operators and consumer demand is definitely beginning to grow,” says Graham Finnie, Chief Analyst at Heavy Reading. “The ‘all-you-can-eat’ data plan approach is no longer sustainable, and operators need usage-based pricing as a means to better manage their precious network resources, while still providing value to the chain. Solutions that empower users to have a hand in their own data usage management, while improving upon the overall mobile Internet experience, will help operators remain competitive.”
With Openwave Passport, a roaming user can be immediately informed of roaming data charge options and make a choice that best suits their needs. They might opt to purchase a roaming day pass, pay per megabyte (MB), or pay per block of 100 MBs. This could work to ensure that the operator adheres to any relevant regulatory matters around control of data roaming charges, while at the same time keeping the user informed and providing them with choices.
Passport 3.0 allows the operator to offer a range of different data access plans to their subscribers, from a monthly recurring plan with specified ‘fair usage’ limits, to a more flexible pay-as-you-go, time-based pass that might be more suitable to the casual data user. Passport monitors the user’s activity (by time or traffic volume) and can proactively inform them of events such as allocated quotas being reached, changes to their service plan, new data changes that may apply, or new services that may be of interest. The subscriber may also manage their service plans directly with on-demand access to time and/or volume meters and options for extensions or upgrades.
In a separate move, Openwave has announced a joint collaboration with research firm The Nielsen Company to develop an insight engine. This will be a combined demographics and analytics-based solution that features “deeply refined reporting and the ability to compare a wide variety of demographics segments”. The solution combines the Openwave Analytics platform with the Nielsen PRIZM consumer segmentation system. It is intended to help mobile operators more effectively analyze rich profiles and data segments by using insights such as time-spent and clickthrough rates, for more accurate content recommendations.

NSN Unveils TV-anywhere Solution

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has launched a software platform that enables mobile operators to provide live, recorded or video-on-demand TV to mobile phone, Internet-connected PC, or satellite or digital terrestrial TV screens. The solution also offers an open platform for creating new applications, and provides remote personal video recording, catch-up TV, operator-to-subscriber messaging, and enhanced IPTV picture stability.
“This new software platform lets subscribers enjoy video content and manage it in a consistent way, whether inside or outside the home,” says NSN’s Head of Media and Entertainment Solutions, Brook Longdon. “By offering quality video on a range of different devices, across different networks, and by providing an open environment for app development, we free operators to partner with developers, without being bound to any one vendor's roadmaps.”
NSN notes that supporting a consistent user experience across a range of devices and networks, while compelling for the consumer, can be complex and costly for the operator. It says its new platform resolves this by supporting different environments from a single, cost-efficient control point based on the DVB-IPTV and Open IPTV Forum's Baseline Managed Profile specifications.
The platform supports several types of network-based personal video recording, including user-controlled and operator-controlled recording functionality, to allow flexibility in business models and in navigating content rights issues. This allows people to watch one channel while recording another for later viewing.
The platform also sees the introduction of network-based catch-up TV, whereby previously shown content is automatically made available for later viewing. It also offers operator-to-subscriber messaging, enabling operators to send relevant operational and marketing messages to all or a subset of their subscriber base. It is a component of an end-to-end solution that enables operators to introduce advanced TV services rapidly. NSN points out that it has extensive experience as an end-to-end IPTV system integrator and middleware provider, and delivers a wide range of related professional services, including business and technical consulting, systems integration, and installation.

NSN Upgrades Enables Faster Mobile Internet Services

Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has unveiled an upgrade to its core mobile network technology that lets operators provide faster, more efficient mobile Internet services. The upgrade allows operators to offload Internet traffic at an optimal point in the network – typically close to an Internet peering point – in order to minimize the distance it is transmitted. This saves transport and traffic processing costs.
 “Operators typically need to deploy relatively costly servers to process mobile data traffic,” says Matti Palomaki, Head of Packet Core Product Management at NSN. “Our new approach allows a high volume of Internet traffic, or any operator-specified traffic, to bypass these processing servers and legacy packet core gateway nodes (GGSNs). In the era of Smartphone-induced data growth, such “offloading” of traffic can deliver significant savings in next-generation HSPA and LTE networks.”
Traffic offload can be deployed across Nokia Siemens Networks’ Flexi Network Gateway (NG) and as a simple software upgrade to the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN). The Flexi NG and SGSN are key elements of Nokia Siemens Networks’ evolved packet core (EPC). Traffic offload can be deployed in both distributed and centralized gateways in 2G, 3G or LTE networks. The first phase of traffic offload is already available.
The network architecture for traffic offload is the simplest possible, says NSN. As offloading takes place in the Flexi NG mobile gateway, it does not require additional network elements along the signalling and data paths. The company says that the solution supports subscriber mobility in an optimal manner and can reduce delays in data transmission to improve the experience for people using real-time applications over mobile networks. In instances where an operator has distributed Internet peering points, the Flexi NG can easily be deployed as a distributed gateway at each of these points to reduce transport network costs, while the SGSN intelligently selects which of the distributed mobile gateways is closest to the subscriber.

Making an Opportunity Out of the Data Problem

As network congestion continues to dominate industry debate and discourse, Scott Cotter, Senior Director of Marketing at Novarra, discusses how mobile data optimisation solutions may offer an immediate answer to an ever-growing problem

Now that the dust has settled on another Mobile World Congress, the industry is left to reflect on the key trends from this year’s event. Undoubtedly, applications took centre stage, with the prominence and success of the inaugural App Planet an indication of how fundamental the entire ecosystem views them to the future of the mobile industry.
If apps were the predominant theme of this year’s show, then the impending network data tsunami was certainly the key issue. This is not surprising: the rise in apps and Internet browsing - a direct result of the growth in Smartphone usage - combined with the surge in mobile broadband and the rising popularity of mobile social networking, has finally propelled mass-market adoption of Internet offerings and services on the mobile platform. AT&T recently reported that data traffic has increased 50-fold since the introduction of the iPhone, with 3% of Smartphones responsible for 40% of network traffic. Similarly, according to statistics from Vodafone, data traffic is now 2.5 times voice traffic. O2 recently reported that data traffic is doubling every four months.

Explosive growth
This explosive growth of mobile data usage is now overloading the operators’ networks to the point where their reliability and, crucially, quality of service is suffering. O2’s reported series of data outages towards the end of last year and AT&T’s capacity constraints in major metropolitan areas are high-profile examples of this. The industry has been so focused on driving mobile Internet use, it seems surprising that operators did not anticipate the strain which this would ultimately place on network capacity.
The roll-out of 4G and LTE technologies are touted as the solution, but there are two problems with this. Firstly, the examples of O2 and AT&T highlight the immediacy of the issue. Verizon Wireless went on record earlier this month to state that its first 4G-ready handsets would not be ready until mid-2011, while Telefonica was, until recently, only piloting its 4G network. Secondly, regardless of the timeline for roll-out, new spectrum acquisitions and the deployment of additional base stations are no longer sufficient or economically sustainable to meet shifting usage patterns and ever-growing subscriber demand.
As an example, Cisco is predicting that by 2013, video – much more bandwidth hungry than today’s typical apps and mobile web - will comprise 64% of data traffic. This highlights how data traffic will continue to grow faster than the capacity growth afforded by new technologies such as LTE. Simply put, we should learn from the 2.5G – 3G transition that we can expect data consumption to grow rapidly and fill the capacity of the pipe.

Effective options
While there is no one single solution to the problem, there are immediately-available and effective options outside of infrastructure investments for operators looking to capitalise on the revenue opportunities presented by mobile apps and the mobile Internet.
One such route is through mobile data optimisation solutions, which offer financial benefits for the operator, while simultaneously enhancing the end-user experience. Such solutions use content transformation, compression and network layer efficiency improvements to enable operators to deliver double or triple the amount of data using their existing radio access network (RAN) and backhaul network. Recent data from a third party study commissioned by Novarra demonstrates that one operator in a developed market reduced over-the-air payload from 31.7 TB (terabytes) to 4.18 TB per month across its mobile Internet user population.
The Novarra study further quantifies the financial benefits for operators who implement data optimisation techniques to address network traffic growth. Operators of HSPA networks can extend time to capacity depletion from just 12 months to 30 months. LTE network operators can service more than twice as many subscribers with the same build-out of cell sites. Aside from providing an immediate solution to the growing bandwidth crunch, these immediate savings are critical in the current economic environment.

Data optimisation
The industry is just starting to recognise that there are viable and immediately- available options, aside from network offload and costly network build-outs, which can serve as effective antidotes to the network malaise. Resolving the issue of congestion will require the deployment of a variety of techniques - mobile data optimisation is at the top of the list for immediacy and return on investment. As all-you-can-eat data plans give way to tiered offerings or peak hour restrictions, consumers will appreciate the ability to get reliable, high quality mobile web and multimedia services as a result of data optimisation. At the same time, operators will lower opex costs and defer network investments to improve the bottom line and continue down the path of stemming voice ARPU decline with profitable data services.

You can access the Novarra study, ‘Profiting from the Mobile Data Tsunami’ here.
 
 

Orange and HMV Team Up for Mobile Games

Orange UK is launching a mobile gaming service in partnership with HMV. HMV mobile games, powered by Orange, will be available next week to customers across any network and on over 1,000 Java-enabled handsets. Customers will be able to access the service by following a weblink to an online portal. Customers can text ‘HMV’ to 87010 and they will be sent an SMS with a link to access the site. Here they will find  reviews and previews of the latest games, free demo downloads, and games to buy.
Hmv mobile games will provide customers with access to a library of over 400 games, with new titles available every week. Games available at launch include ‘Fifa Manager 10’, ‘Call of Duty MW2’, ‘Tetris’ and ‘PAC-MAN’. Games will be priced from £1, while new releases and premium games will cost between £3 and £5. The service will also include free demos.
Orange customers will be billed directly for their mobile game-play, while customers on other networks can use the ‘Payforit billing system, where they will be charged for the individual cost of each game.
“Orange is proud to be introducing this new service in strategic partnership with HMV, which will enable both parties to deliver greater value, products and services to our customers,” says Orange UK Business Development Director, Stephen Harris. “It will also allow us to increase our reach in mobile gaming and build on our success as the number one mobile gaming operator in the UK. Our partnership with HMV is a key part of our strategy to grow and evolve our business, while giving consumers even more convenient ways to play games on their mobile phone.”

Mobitel Bulgaria Selects RealNetworks for Mobile Music

RealNetworks has revealed that it transitioned Mobiltel Bulgaria’s music service to the Real platform on 10 March, adding ‘all-you-can-eat’ functionality and continuing its strong momentum across Europe. This is the third deployment under Real’s 4-year agreement with mobilkom Austria group (MAG), providing Mobiltel’s 5.4 million subscribers with access to Real’s mobile music service. 
Mobitel’s migration to RealNetworks’ music platform provides subscribers with flexibility and choice for downloading music to their mobile devices. By subscribing to the Music Unlimited package for 9.90 Bulgarian Lev (£4.64) per-month, Mobitel subscribers can download and sync music to their mobile phones from the PC. They can also download through WAP or web stores, or from native apps residing on their handsets.
“RealNetworks is a global leader in mobile music and with its strong presence in Eastern Europe, is a perfect fit for MAG and Mobiltel,” says Evgeni Karakanovsky, Marketing Data Director for Mobiltel Bulgaria. “We believe that our subscribers will be more likely to utilize mobile music, as we’ve seen happen with our sister company A1 in Austria, due to the increased simplicity and elegance of the interface, and dual download capability.” 
Real powers mobile music services for hundreds of millions of subscribers, including mobilkom austria group’s A1 in Austria and Si.Mobil in Slovenia; SFR in France; and Vodafone music stores in nine countries. Real’s music service is deployed with 15 communications service providers in 15 countries around the world. In total, Real’s ASP services are currently available through 85 different mobile operators in 48 countries worldwide, making them available to 901 million subscribers. Real offers mobile operators a wide choice of mobile services, including music; video; personalisation features such as ringtones, ringback tones and multimedia rRingback services; and messaging services. 

Let the MVNO Battle Commence

John Strand, CEO of Strand Consult, looks at the growing importance of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), and considers which UK operator has the best MVNO strategy

After the merger between Orange and T-Mobile was approved, the UK mobile market is facing a paradigm shift, and it’s one in which MVNOs will play a central role in the battle to attract and retain the highest number of customers, in the most cost efficient manner. Up to now, the English mobile market has been divided between the four main operators (Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and O2), with a smaller share of the market going to the 3. In reality, the market has had four players that have battled over having the dominant market share - but without success. Almost everything has been tried, including acquiring shops, launching more shops, launching mobile phone models that one operator has had exclusive rights to market and sell etc. None of the above strategies, however, has resulted in any one of the four operators having a dominant share of the market.
Both Orange and T Mobile have admitted that in a market with decreasing prices and increasing costs of building and running future mobile networks, they need to have a market share of more than 25% to create a business large enough to give shareholders a sensible future return on their investments. The merger between Orange and T-Mobile in the UK proves that the price development on mobile broadband, combined with the general price development will be one of the driving forces behind the market consolidation we expect to sweep across Europe during the coming years.

Dangerous game
Future mobile operators need to focus on two things: reducing acquisition costs and being able to build and run a ‘factory’ large enough to ensure that they will have the most cost efficient factory for ‘manufacturing’ voice, SMS and data. Operators that believe that they can charge more for their services based on a premium brand are naive and are playing a dangerous game with their shareholders’ money. Telephony is becoming increasingly commoditised.
Strand Consult knows that the most successful European operators today are those with the most aggressive MVNO strategy, and we know that a number of mobile operators have used MVNOs in combination with effective cost-reducing programs to increase their profitability. One of the best examples is how Stan Miller from KPN Mobile international, together with his team at E-Plus in Germany, reduced the company’s mixed SAC (Sales Acquisition Cost) by 56% and increased its EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) from 22% to 37% in just 12 months. Today, three years later, it has passed an EBITDA margin of 40% and Vodafone and T Mobile's margin in Germany has decreased from more than 40% to around 30%. You can read more about this here.
 
MVNO strategy
In the UK, there is no doubt that the changes in the market after the merger between Orange and T Mobile will result in all the other operators needing to examine how they can use MVNOs as an active part of their distribution strategy, and as an efficient tool to reduce their SAC. The big question is how each individual operator will implement its MVNO strategy, and the significance this will have on the UK market in the short, medium and long term.
In practice, we often see operators use one of two strategies; a segmentation strategy where they only sign deals with MVNOs doing business in market areas where the operator is not strongly represented (MVNOs as a supplement); or a strategy like E-Plus, where the operator welcomes everyone on its network and combines its MVNO strategy with a number of MVNEs (Mobile Virtual Network Enablers) as an efficient tool to quickly launch even more MVNOs.
We believe that the UK will experience an explosion in the number and types of MVNOs on the market, and we believe that the market will come under pressure from a combination of the existing large MVNOs (Virgin, Tesco, Lyca, Labara etc) and a number of new market players - a scenario we have already experienced in Denmark, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Simply put, the UK is the next battlefield, and the merger between Orange and T-Mobile is the fuse that will ignite competition and fuel the role of MVNOs in the future.

Voda and Mobcast Team Up for eBook Giveaway

Vodafone UK has teamed up with digital book service provider Mobcast to offer its customers the opportunity to download five bestselling eBooks for free to their mobile phone tomorrow, Friday 12 March, as part of the network’s ‘Free Fridays’ campaign. The promotion follows the success Voadaone has  enjoyed with ebooks on its Vodafone 360 platform, where Mobcast’s ebooks are available in English and local European languages.
The free books include the first title of the bestselling Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’, which is now a major motion picture; Sophie Kinsella’s current chart-topper ‘Twenties Girl’; another bestselling offering from thriller-writer James Patterson, ‘The Murder of King Tut’, fiction from Alex Preston, ‘This Bleeding City’, and in conjunction with the Tim Burton film release, the classic ‘Alice in Wonderland’ by Lewis Carroll. Customers will also have a chance to win a private film screening of ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’.
Vodafone has set up a dedicated microsite to promote the giveaway. Alternatively Vodafone customers can see a video explaining how to download books to their phones here.

Orange Switzerland Selects MCTEL for Self-care Solution

Orange, the second largest mobile operator in Switzerland, has selected MCTEL to deploy its USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) browsing solutions on its network and to deliver an attractive suite of services to its mobile customers.
As the number of subscribers increased, Orange was looking for an alternative to IVRs and Call Centres that was both cost-efficient and satisfying for its customers. Orange Switzerland chose MCTEL USSD solutions to create the most convenient self-care solution for its pre and post-paid customers.
MCTEL has provided Orange with a reliable USSD platform, and developed a suite targeted services for the network’s subscribers. The Monaco-based software firm  aggregated all relevant USSD services into a single menu based service - an easily- configured USSD portal - that gives access to different services in an easy and seamless manner. By dialling a simple, easy-to-remember code (e.g. *123#), Orange subscribers enter the USSD Customer Care portal and are invited to explore a wide-variety of services, including Credit Balance Check, Last Call Information, Recharge Me and Call Me Back.
“By selecting the MCTEL USSD solutions, we clearly chose the right strategy,” says Orange Switzerland PrePay Product Manager, Federico Quevedo. “Our subscribers are far more involved and interested in our new USSD services. We are very pleased that we found a better self-care alternative to IVRs”

Working Towards a Mobile Future

Anthony Keyworth, Director of Products at Orange UK, chooses four mobile applications with the potential to revolutionise the way we work 

The mobile industry has a tradition of innovation, and new applications have the potential to change the way the business world operates almost beyond recognition. Technologies we once only dreamt of, such as touchscreen technology and voice activation, are now a reality, and play a vital role in our everyday working lives. With phones that can translate form one language to another being readied for launch, it is hard to imagine where mobile devices will take us next.
Such developments are testimony to the future potential of the mobile industry and mobile applications in the business world moving forward. Here are four mobile applications I think are going to have a big part to play in the future for business users.

Augmented Reality (AR)
Have you ever stared at your computer screen in confusion or gazed blankly at the printer manual when faced with an error message? Well, here’s where AR holds the potential to come to the rescue. For instance, by scanning the error notice using your mobile, this application will analyse the message then provide a visual step-by-step guide on how to solve the problem. Businesses, especially those without dedicated IT teams, can use AR to save time and money by acting as a virtual stand-in. 

Personal health monitoring
Businesses across the UK could save up to £13.2 billion (the amount of money lost through ill health in the UK each year, according to the CBI) by keeping their workforce healthy and happy. A personal health monitoring application could give staff the power to check their own health, ensuring they receive any early warning signs of potential illness. Though this is no replacement for a fully qualified medical professional check-up, it could help employees better manage certain aspects of their health, such as blood pressure. The application also holds the potential to ensure the safety of lone workers, by reducing their risk of falling ill in isolated situations. By continually monitoring their vital statistics, any health alerts can be immediately transmitted to emergency services, and reported to their place of work.

Mobile/office synchronisation
Cutting carbon emissions and reducing energy costs is a priority for most businesses. However, ensuring that all staff turn off their computers or switch off the lights when they leave work can be difficult to enforce. The synchronisation application will link your mobile device with your office and by determining your location and activity, alter your work environment accordingly. This means that it will be possible to switch on the computer when you are nearby, turn it to standby when you leave, activate the printer, and maybe even boil the kettle when it’s time for tea.

Personal identification
The days of carrying multiple wallets and personnel documents, especially when travelling for business, could soon be over, with the advent of personal identification applications. We’re already on our way with the ability to conduct monetary transactions via your mobile; in a few years time, we could even be boarding a plane with a mobile passport.

As the above examples clearly show, the lines between the physical and digital worlds will continue to blur, with the mobile industry able to use its unique position to encompass this growing trend through mobile devices and applications – all of which will go a long way in continuing to shape the business world of the future.

aql Hands Hardware Task to Data Select

Telecoms firm aql has chosen Data Select as a mobile hardware partner, as part of its relationship with UK mobile operator 3.
Following over a year of design and engineering, aql recently ‘unbundled’ the 3 network, selling wholesale minutes and data access into the network. aql is an MVNE (MVNO-Enabler) for 3. It can build virtual networks and brands on the 3 network and allow a rapid and competitive route to market for new mobile entrants.
“3 are actively looking for new MVNO channels and aql is building up a one-stop fulfilment solution for specialist business comms providers,” says 3’s Head of MVNO,  David York.
With many channel partners in the fixed line industry, including many of the UK’s IP telephony operators, aql intends to mobilise existing telephony offerings. In order to do that, aql needed to identify a reliable, robust supplier for handsets and mobile hardware such as broadband dongles, and has chosen Data Select for this role.
"It’s an exciting time for us,” says aql Managing Director, Adam Beaumont. “We’re actively creating a new market for the fixed line operators and providing innovative services, such as call recording, landline numbers and centrex – all on a mobile platform and available to resellers and partners under their own brand”.
Aql has created an array of wholesale resources, including a national network and also over 12 million landline numbers (covering every UK area code) for its channel to choose from. These numbers can be overlaid on the aql wholesale mobile service and provisioned instantly.