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      Key Topics: Applications, Business Models, IP Telephony, Marketing, Mobility, Unified communications

  1. Thoughts on Carrier Evolution

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    1. Western Europe Mobile Operators Need to Reduce Access Network Investment 50%

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (7 hours, 3 min ago)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      With mobile data traffic growing and revenue per gigabyte falling, mobile service providers in Western Europe need to reduce network carriage costs by 50 percent  or they will face an eight-fold increase in the costs of radio access network (RAN) equipment, according to a new report from Analysys Mason.That analysis suggests that if operators in Western Europe simply try to meet the growing demand for data traffic by deploying more base stations, RAN costs ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Analysys Mason

    2. Simultaneous Theatrical and On-Demand Release Windows No Financial Danger for Studios?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (7 hours, 33 min ago)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      BTIG Research media analyst Rich Greenfield does not think Hollywood revenues would be harmed if studios released new movies simultaneously in theaters and on demand, if the on-demand product cost $20 to $25. Survey bolsters his views.

      In other words, Greenfield believes the 90-day window between theatrical release and on-demand can be compressed to "zero," with no threat of increased piracy. Few in the content business are likely to be persuaded. And theater owners will ...

      (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   BTIG Research

    3. Google Developing an In-Home Entertainment Device Using Wi-Fi

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 4 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Google appears to be developing a wireless in-home entertainment device that requires testing outside the laboratory environment, and has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission for permission to conduct such testing in the homes of several employees. The device is in the prototyping phase, Google says. Apparently Google wants to test the throughput and stability of home Wi-Fi networks using the entertainment device.  The device will use both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The planned testing ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google   Bluetooth   U.S. Federal Communications Commission

    4. Mobile and Untethered Devices Create New Platforms for Content Consumption

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 3 2012) Applications , Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      According to the GSMA, there now are nine billion connected devices in the world today. By 2020, there will be 24 billion, and over half of them will be non-mobile devices such as household appliances. But a large number of those devices will be used for content consumption.Tablets and e-readers are primary examples, but smart phones and other devices also increasingly are being used to consumer content of various types. Pandora, Spotify, Rdio and ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Amazon.com   Sirius

    5. Amazon Bet on Kindle Fire Might Pay Off, Despite Investor Short-Term Focus

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 3 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Analysts were not so happy with Amazon’s fourth quarter 2011 financial results, in particular the lower profit margins due in large part to spending to support the Kindle Fire effort. But Amazon has been pricing the Kindle Fire at a slight loss, in hopes of spurring more shopping on Amazon.com, including content products. According to a new survey by Changewave, Amazon might have bet right. When Changewave recently asked tablet owners whether they ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Amazon.com

    6. France Telecom FTTH Payback is 30 Years to 40 Years

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 2 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      France Telecom will double its investment in fiber to home networks in 2012 to 300 million to 350 million euros, Reuters reports. There’s both good and bad news in that announcement. The good news is that the heavy spending is likely crucial for the survival of France Telecom’s fixed network business. The bad news is the huge risk. France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard said fiber to home investments were key to the firm ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   France Telecom

    7. Can Cloud-Based Voice Apps Cut Churn?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 2 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Since March of 2011, Telefónica has been using fonYou to provide its mobile users access to a second number, visual voicemail, call registers and advanced call screening. The cloud player has developed a range of services that it seeks to white label to carriers as a competitive defence against the rise of over the top players, at least in the area of voice-related services. FonYou does have its own MVNO in Spain, which is hosted ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Telefonica

    8. Do Devices Rule?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 2 2012) Marketing , Mobility
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      If casual observation is an accurate indicator, consumers make their mobile purchasing decisions based solely on devices available from any particular mobile service provider. This raises the question of whether other service bundle components matter to consumers. The question quite crucial for mobile service providers, globally, for several reasons. First, if the device now drives demand for the service, value has shifted within the ecosystem. Second, if devices are that important, there are devices a ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment

    9. How Big is Hosted IP Telephony Business?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 2 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Shoretel is acquiring hosted IP telephony provider M5 Networks, allowing Shoretel to offer its potential customers either hosted or premises-based business voice services. The deal will significantly grow Shoretel revenues.  But it might be reasonable to ask what the deal suggests about the volume of revenue hosted IP telephony represents.  A recent report by Gartner shows the IP voice-as-a-service market growing at a 36 percent compound annual growth rate in North America through 2015 to ...

      (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Gartner

    10. How Do You Offer Text Messaging Without SS7?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Feb 1 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      It's just a thought, but since text messaging uses the Signaling System 7 out of band signaling channel, how does a service provider create and support text messaging once POTS and SS7 have been replaced?  Presumably that could be done, somehow, using similar techniques as instant messaging, at least up to a point. Whether it can be done in ways that still preserve current profit margins might be a bigger question. Or, does text ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment

    11. Value and Power Shifting to App Providers, Execs Believe

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 31 2012) Business Models , Mobility
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Rapidly evolving mobile Web technologies have introduced a period of hypercompetition in the mobile sector, analysts at Deloitte say. As a result, new entrants are chipping away at incumbent advantages and profits.The Deloitte study also suggests the mobile power structure is changing. According to 49 percent of our respondents (70 percent of which are from network carriers), Web companies, rather than network carriers or handset makers will dominate the mobile business in five years ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Deloitte

    12. "Satisfied" Customers Still Churn: 66% Did So in 2011

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 31 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Two out of three (66 percent) wireless and cable TV consumers switched companies in 2011, even as their satisfaction with the services provided by those companies rose, according to Accenture.The paradox is that “customer satisfaction” does not lead to “loyalty.” Also, there are new precursors to churn, especially the growing pattern of consumers adding a second provider of a service, without dropping the original provider. That of course puts a potential full replacement provider ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment

    13. BSkyB Faces Slowing Growth

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 31 2012) Business Models , Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      BSkyB has been a major player in the United Kingdom subscription TV market for decades. But BSkyB faces a maturation of its base business, as do all other video entertainment and communications providers in Europe, North America and elsewhere.     “The company made a number of announcements which confirm that, beyond the near term slowdown, structural issues are looming,” Bernstein analyst Claudio Aspesi argues.   “While we believe the pay TV business is inherently more defensive than ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Cagr   BSkyB

    14. FCC Opens Inquiry on GPS Interference with LightSquared

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 31 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      The Federal Communications Commission has opened an inquiry seeking public comment on a petition filed by LightSquared that essentially argues GPS receivers aren't entitled to protection from interference.LightSquared says GPS receivers, such as cellphones, car navigation units and aviation equipment, improperly use its licensed frequencies because they were built with inadequate filters. Engineers probably will scratch their heads, even as lawyers for LightSquared try to make the argument that there is some sort ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   GPS   Federal Communication Commission

    15. Service Provides Looking at New Charging Schemes

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 30 2012) Applications
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Comment "Hi Gary, Nice summary on the trends. We can confirm that the mobile carriers are looking to roll-out these types ..." - tsachson

      Though it remains unclear precisely which new charging systems might gain favor, a survey of some 30 tier one service providers, sponsored by Tekelec and conducted by Heavy Reading, suggests several approaches are being considered. In any industry long accustomed to “usage-based billing,” it will come as no surprise that bandwidth caps prompt thinking about ways to offer temporary “overage protection,” for a fee.More controversially, executives also are looking at application-based tiers, where customers ... (Read Full Article)

      1 Comment Mentions:   Heavy Reading   Tekelec

    16. Global Service Provider Capex Will Grow about 3% Through 2017

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 30 2012) Business Models
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      To a growing extent, capital investment in the global telecom business is mobile network investment. Mobile share of total capex will grow from 56 percent in 2011 to 62 per cent in 2017, according to Ovum. Last year also might have been a bit of an anomoly for global telecom revenue and capital investment, if Ovum forecasts prove accurate. Capital investment grew 12 percent in 2011 while revenues grew seven percent in 2011, with capex ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Cagr

    17. Report Illustrates Where Value Lies in Internet Ecosystem

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 30 2012) Applications
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      A new Boston Consulting Group perspective piece about the inescapable role of the Internet in economic life raises obvious questions about where value now lies, as “every business needs to “go digital.” By 2016, there will be three billion Internet users globally, and the Internet economy will reach $4.2 trillion in the G-20 nations, BCG argues.“No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon,” BCG says. But that doesn’t mean every ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google   Apple   Facebook

    18. Is the Industry Past it's Peak?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 28 2012) Business Models
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Most executives are familiar with the notion of a “product life cycle.” What might be a more provocative idea is the notion that collectively, the global communications industry might be entering a period where communications  itself hits something of a industry life cycle peak. To be sure, most would agree that voice and messaging revenues now are under pressure, and that broadband services will be the near term growth driver, in both fixed network and ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Martin Geddes

    19. First White Spaces Network Launches

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 27 2012) Applications , Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      The first commercial white spaces network has launched, and the logical question will be “how important” white spaces might be, as a factor in the broadband market. In the initial deployments in Wilmington, NC, security camera feeds will be backhauled to a monitoring center, and other sample applications are expected later. Some hope white spaces could be used to enable new broadband access networks in rural and other areas. Whether that is a realistic hope ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Wi-Fi Alliance

    20. Is DSL "Toast?"

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 27 2012) Applications
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      DSL as a product has many competitors, notably cable modem service, but also fiber to the home, mobile broadband and satellite broadband, in some contexts. DSL also is a product with its own telco substitution occuring, namely in the form of customers who drop DSL to buy a fiber to home service, notably Verizon’s FiOS service. During the fourth quarter of 2011, Verizon lost 103,000 DSL lines. AT&T lost 636,000 DSL ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   AT&T   Time Warner Cable

    21. Texting is Displacing Talking

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 27 2012) Mobility
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      The latest data from CTIA: The Wireless Association provides more evidence that texting is displacing talking among U.S. consumers. Since about June 2008 some 60 million additional users have become mobile subscribers. Since that time, though, the amount of voice traffic has been flat. Usage has shifted dramatically to texting, rather than talking.That doesn't mean a mobile device is useful "only" as a messaging device. People still do talk.It's just ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Wireless Association

    22. Latency is a Big User Experience Issue on Smart Phones, Tablets, PCs

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 26 2012)
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Latency is getting to be a bigger deal for mobile user experience. Apps that load quickly on a PC take much longer to load on a smart phone or tablet, Yankee Group reports, using Keynote Systems data. Also, according to Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe, typical users now carry as many as five different mobile devices. But each of those devices might be optimized in different ways, in terms of latency. Load times among sites ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Google   Apple   MSN

    23. Tablets, E-Readers Changing Content Consumption Patterns, Maybe Fast

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 24 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Consumer and business content consumption patterns appear to be changing as tablet and e-reader ownership grow super fast. In fact, one might argue that tablets and e-readers are being adopted faster than any other consumer electronics or communications products of all time. The share of adults in the United States who own a tablet of some sort nearly doubled from 10 percent to 19 percent between mid-December 2011 and early January 2012. That’s a ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Amazon.com   RBC Capital   IDG

    24. Are Android Users Subdizing iPhone Users at Verizon Wireless?

      Explore Thoughts on Carrier Evolution (Jan 24 2012) Marketing
      by Gary Kim (garykim)

      Subsidies Verizon Wireless is paying to entice consumers to buy Apple iPhones might also be penalizing Android devices and users, some now argue. Though top Android devices cost as much as Apple iPhones, high-end Android devices often sell for prices $100 to $200 higher than the iPhone.In other words, Verizon is trying to recoup some of its cash flow and operating margin by making Android handset users pay more for their devices than Apple ... (Read Full Article)

      Comment Mentions:   Samsung   Motorola   Apple

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