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Future growth trends in mobile industry - Greener pastures ahead !!
2007-06-26 11:33:00
During last few months I have come accross several reports on future growth projections on mobile industry. Some of this data have already been posted on my blog. I thoought it was a good idea to compile some of these projections at a single place so that the readers can conviniently co-relate them. The various sources from where these projctions have been taken are also quoted below.Mobile advertising worth $14 billion in 4yrs (2011)Predictions and suppositions on the future evolution of mobile advertising have been going by for some time now. The latest comes from a Strategy Analytics report and says that advertisers hope on reaching more than USD14 Billion by 2011.Still, just recently, debates have emphasized the fact that mobile advertising is considered by many companies as being rather risky and less profitable than the TV alternative. This comes from the fact that the video content they use is still in a primary state and there is room for a great amount of improvement. One t...
More About: Industry , Trends , Future , Growth

Braodband satellite industry revenues to increase at an average annual rate
2007-06-26 10:52:00
According to Northern Sky Research Ltd. (NSR), service revenue for the broadband satellite industry will increase on a global basis at an average annual rate of more than 11 percent during the next five years, with the fastest growth coming for consumer-class satellite broadband Internet access services like North America's WildBlue and HughesNet.Broadband satellite Internet services and satellite IP trunking are experiencing rapid subscriber growth, which in turn translates into greater service revenue. In addition, single-site satellite broadband services have had success in markets outside of North America, like Thailand and Australia, and new service launches in Europe and possibly elsewhere in the world will help to generate service revenue growth in excess of 22 percent per year through 2011.Service revenue from the IP trunking segment actually will decline on a global basis as demand for trunking continues to shift from satellite to undersea cable and fiber, the group says, ...
More About: Industry , Satellite , Ease , Rate , Venues

Oiling the rural connectivity - Idea Cellular uses biodiesel to fuel its BT
2007-06-26 10:41:00
Indian mobile operator Idea Cellular , in an attempt to bring cellular phone service to remote areas where the electric supply is at best spotty, has begun installing mobile base stations powered by fish oil and used frying oil from local restaurants. It's believed to be the first time in the world that biofuel has powered a cell phone installation.The oil is processed locally into biodiesel fuel and used to fuel the generators that power the base stations. So far four base stations have been installed in the Indian state of Maharashtra by Ericsson for Idea, using a grant from the GSM Association's Development Fund. The four sites were described by Ericsson as "greenfield sites that have not previously had access to a mobile network and are located in areas with unreliable power supply."Exploring alternative power solutions, such as biofuels, is key to the development of cost-effective ways to extend mobile networks to the 20 percent of the world's population that don't have cove...
More About: Biodiesel , Fuel , Connect

Saudi Arabia's Cellular operator 'Hits' planning to create a pan-African ne
2007-06-26 10:36:00
Saudi Arabia cellular carrier Hits has set up an African subsidiary funded with $1 billion and chartered to attempt to create a pan-Africa company operating across eight countries by 2012.The new unit - Hits Africa - starts out life with a controlling stake in Liberian mobile operator Liberiacel, to soon be renamed Hits Liberia; Hits bought the Liberia property in March. The company reportedly is on the verge of receiving licenses in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, and it says it is seeking more in at least four other countries, reportedly including Nigeria, Niger, Burundi and Ethiopia. Hits' goal is said to be to create the "first African converged player" with between 4 million and 6 million subscribers within five years.The new African unit of Hits reportedly already has put together the team it expects to use to build its African empire. That group starts with China's Huawei, which apparently will provide the wireless network hardware. Others chosen include Devo...
More About: Planning , Saudi , Cellular , Operator

Mobile WiMax will connect 8 percent of world's 1.1 billion mobile broadband
2007-06-03 15:34:00
According to new research from Parks Associates - Mobi le WiMax will connect 8 percent of the world's 1.1 billion mobile broadband subscribers by 2012, accounting for nearly 88 million users worldwide, The firm also forecasts 52 percent of these subscribers will be from Asian countries, while North and South America will account for another 28 percent.Today, most existing WiMAX deployments are the province of aspiring start-up service providers or incumbent telecom carriers looking to fill coverage gaps. The imminent availability of commercial products and increasing availability of spectrum around the world will change the market for Mobile WiMAX and make it viable among major service providers. Taiwan alone will have 8 million Mobile WiMAX subscribers by 2012.Approximately 160 million cellular subscribers (6 percent of all cellular subscribers) were using a mobile broadband service at the end of 2006, Parks adds. Two-thirds of these mobile broadband subscribers used UMTS technolog...
More About: Broadband , Wimax , Connect

Mobile handset accessories will generate $80 billions of revenues by 2012!!
2007-06-03 15:32:00
According to ABI Research - The market for mobile-phone accessories will generate more than $32 billion in revenues this year, more than the $28 billion expected from the smartphone market.Some 77 percent of these revenues will come from the sales of "after-market" accessories and the remaining from "in-box" accessories shipments. The firm expects the market for handset accessories to grow steadily in the next five years, generating more than $80 billion in revenues in 2012.Handset vendors and mobile operators are showing greater interest as accessories provide high margins and also opportunities to promote their brand and expand their product offerings. The growing interest among mobile operators is also driven by the realization that mobile phone accessories can lead to higher ARPUs.Handset vendors now recognize that to increase sales of their high-end wireless handsets and smartphones, they need to provide accessories that allow users to fully enjoy and benefit from the features ...
More About: Mobile , Accessories , Mobi , Esso

Average American cell phone user keeps his handset for 17.5 months!!
2007-06-03 15:21:00
According to a new study by J.D. Power and Associates, the average cellular phone user is keeping his handset 17.5 months, longer than has been the case in the past. The length of ownership is up from 16.6 months in just half a year - the consumer survey house's last reporting period was November. While the difference may not seem that great, it is the first increase in average ownership spotted by J.D. Power since way back in 2002, when the average length of ownership was 18.4 months."One possible reason for this significant increase in the length of handset ownership is that more customers are initiating or renewing their service contracts for a longer period -- typically for two years, as opposed to just one year, which was customary a few years ago," said Kirk Parsons, senior director of wireless services at J.D. Power.Parsons also warned that the increasing length of ownership may be a double-edged sword for carrier. "While these longer contracts help wireless carriers recover...
More About: Phone , Cell Phone , Cell , American , User

Idea weds Spice - How ? Remains to be answered
2007-06-03 15:06:00
Idea Cellular and Spice Telecom along with Telekom Malaysia (TM) that holds 49% stake in Spice, are yet to work out an amicable arrangement between the deal between the two - Merger or acquisition. While Idea, in which the Birlas own 57% stake, wants to fully acquire Spice, the Modis-promoted company is keen for a merger.Spice has 2.8 million subscribers, largely high-end, in Punjab and Karnataka circles where Idea is not yet present. Idea, which listed on the bourses in March this year, has grown through the organic as well as the inorganic route in the past. While an acquisition of Spice will give Idea a ready entry into two new circles and a good user base, the Birlas are not willing to pay over the top. Spice is said to be quoting a price of more than a billion dollars for the two-circle operation, to which the Birlas are not agreeing. “We are a fast-growing company and our valuation is definitely higher than a billion dollar,” a Spice executive said. However, going by the f...
More About: Idea , Mains

VSNL rolls out WiMax services in Bangalore
2007-06-03 15:02:00
The Tata-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam (VSNL) has rolled out WiMax services in India. To begin with, the global communications company will offer the services to enterprise customers in Bangalore . VSNL will extend its WiMax network to about 120 cities across India for enterprise customers and in five cities for retail customers by the end of this financial year. A number of companies from sectors like retail, financial services and automobiles are using VSNL’s Wimax services. VSNL has launched WiMax after conducting pilots in Bangalore and other locations VSNL is also the leader in the Wi-Fi space, with nearly 300 public hotspots in India. Among operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) is also planning to launch WiMax services very soon, having undertaken pilots at 14 locations. While Motorola as well as Nortel are offering equipment for WiMax, Alcatel-Lucent has completed the country’s first live WiMax field trial using Aircel’s licensed spectrum. WiMax also allows applications in...
More About: Services , Vice , IMAX

Record growth of mobile customers in China; Pakistan market also booming
2007-05-29 17:22:00
Net additions of mobile customers in China in April 2007 topped 6.9m, breaking the record of 6.8m set just a month ago in March. 2007 has clearly been the strongest year ever in the Chinese market, so far at least, with a total of 26.3m new connections being added in the first four months of the year, against 21.9m over the same period in 2006, 18.6m in 2005 and 20.7m in 2004.The total customer base in China grew to 469.8m at the end of April, with all but 38.5m of these being connected through GSM networks. Whilst the proportionate growth rate declined very marginally between March and April from 1.494% to 1.493%, these are the highest monthly rates that have been seen in the market since December 2004.Of the 6.9m net additions, 5.27m were accounted for by China Mobile - 76.3% of the total, up from 75.2% in March. This was an improvement for the world's largest operator, but it should be noted that its share of the total in March 2007 was the lowest recorded since August 2005. Tha...
More About: Market , Customers , Pakistan

MVNOs are here to stay and grow
2007-05-29 17:17:00
A new report published by BroadGroup Tariff Services suggests that MVNO s will continue to grow on a global basis ? with worldwide subscriber numbers more than doubling for the period from 2007 to 2012.However the report warns that business models and distribution will need to change.The research reveals a wide range of different approaches and market drivers. The mobile market globally is becoming more fragmented with the power of brands and distribution ? together with the emergence of new low-cost MVNE aggregators ? favouring the development of emerging niche MVNOs based on a small social community.Retailers and non-telecoms companies with strong customer relationships are using the MVNO model as a marketing tool to broaden and improve their existing customer experience to improve customer retention for their core business.The distinction between pure MVNO and pure MNO is likely to become increasingly difficult to sustain as the MNO is utilising the MVNO technique of sub-brands or...
More About: Stay , Grow

Vodafone directors resigns from Bharti Airtel's Board
2007-05-29 17:08:00
The two Vodafone directors on the Board of Bharti Airtel have left the company following its takeover of Hutch-Essar. Bharti Airtel chairman and managing director Sunil Mittal said that both the directors - Gavin Darby and Paul Donovan - have resigned. In January, the Vodafone directors had abstained from the Board meeting when Vodafone started its pursuit of Hutchison Telecom's stake in Hutch-Essar.Bharti Airtel has also announced that it has crossed the 40 million-mobile customer milestone. With this, Bharti Airtel becomes the first Indian mobile services provider and it says, the 10th in the world to join an exclusive list of global telecom operators with more than 40 million customers from a single-country.It took Airtel 11 years to reach the 20 million customer landmark and just another 13 months to add the next 20 million customers. The Company's overall wireless market share catapulted to over 23.2% as of April 2007 from 20.4% as reported in FY06.Currently, Airtel is presen...
More About: Director

Wimax subscriber base grew by 85% in 2007
2007-05-29 16:57:00
According to research firm Maravedis, increased global deployments of WiMAX technology has lead to an 85% spike in subscribers and a corresponding growth in service revenue . The main findings of research are -* 52% of the deployments still used proprietary equipment, 36% applied the 802.16-2004 standard, and 12% applied wave 1 802.16-2005 standard.* United States, Spain and Australia were the top 3 countries in number of subscribers. In Q1 2007, they accounted for 0.5 million BWA/WiMAX subscribers.* APAC accounted for 38% of deployments, Europe 33%, North America 17%, and CALA 13%.WiMAX service revenues in 2006 totaled US$322 million, with recorded ARPUs of US$40.76 and US$145.54 for residential and business subscribers, respectively.* The split by subscriber type operators was 58% residential and 42% business.APAC operators offer higher speeds compared to other regions, yet APAC has the lowest ARPU at US$30.45 for residential.*The price difference between WiMAX and DSL tends to be...
More About: Wimax , Subscriber , IMAX , Base , Subs

WiMAX market in India is warming up!
2007-05-29 16:33:00
Reliance Communications (RCOM) is all set to launch its wireless broadband technology commonly known as WiMax in Pune and Bangalore in June. After assessing the market response, the company will extend the WiMax service to other cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Delhi. The move that targets the three million wireless internet users in the country, is expected to give first-mover advantage to the company. It is said that Bharti Airtel, VSNL and BSNL have also tested the new technology and planning to roll out in the near future. In India , WiMax has been launched by Aircel Cellular in Chennai for business customers.The news comes when the global WiMax Forum has sought the Indian government’s support in its endeavour towards getting the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to include WiMax as part of International Mobile Communications – 2000 (IMT-2000) standards. The Indian cellular operators have, however, opposed the move and said that the DoT must...
More About: Market , Wimax , Ming , IMAX

VoIP revenues in North America to increase by 1431% by 2009 !
2007-05-19 15:57:00
according to an Infonetics Research report , Voice-over-IP service revenues are poised for phenomenal growth in North America . That report predicts a growth rate of 1431% for VoIP service revenues, as they increase from $1.3 billion in 2004 to $19.9 billion in 2009.That increase is predicted despite the fact that most businesses recently surveyed by Infonetics expect to provide their own VoIP, using a service provider pipe and premises-based VoIP gear.VoIP revenues in 2004 represented less than 1% of total wireline carrier revenue.Many service providers are still trying to figure out how to structure their hosted voice offerings, as well as how to bill for, manage and secure VoIP services. Particularly in courting business VoIP customers, service providers have to develop a mix of offerings that takes into account both hosted services and managed IP-PBX offerings. Service providers must be able to mix and manage customer premises solutions with hosting solutions even for one custom...
More About: North America , Voip , Ease

Fight for the scarce resource - "THE SPECTRUM"
2007-05-19 14:41:00
Entry of Foriegn players in offering 3G mobile servicesAs per reports in economic times - A committee of Department of Telecom is said to have given its clearance on entry of foreign players in offering 3G mobile services and allocation of spectrum through auction. The group is said to have so far finalised two things -- that 3G is not an extension of 2G, implying that there is price to be paid through auction for spectrum to start 3G services, and entry of foreign players. Other issues including allocation of spectrum to public sector undertakings and pricing criteria are also being worked out.At a time when voice revenues are falling, high-end value added services through 3G hold big potential for telcos to arrest the top line fall. The report indicated that the final policy is not likely to come out before July as lots of nitty-gritties have to be worked out along the broad framework of 3G, including allocation, auction methodology, benchmark price, number of players, PSUs (BSNL ...
More About: Fight , Resource , Spectrum , The Spectrum

Growth in Indian rural tele-density not an easy task - says E & Y !
2007-05-19 14:33:00
Research firm Ernst & Young (E&Y) has said while the government and private operators continue to push for rural telephony, its proliferation in the hinterland will be faced with many challenges. “The cost of delivery is likely to be high in view of the specifics of the Indian reality. Hence, connecting rural India would mean incurring a much higher cost per subscriber to capture low ARPU subscribers,” said E&Y telecom industry practice leader Prashant Singhal.Tele com operators may be banking big time on the untapped rural markets for the next wave of growth, but the number of connections in hinterlands will not increase beyond 150 million by 2011, according to a study. “Mobile connections in rural geographies will be constrained by coverage of network infrastructure and affordability of handsets which will limit consumption,” London-based Centre for Telecoms Research (CTR) has said. The government has set a target of 500 million cellular connections by 2010 and DoT expe...
More About: Growth , Easy , Grow

Battle at cable landing stations
2007-05-19 14:28:00
While international telecom majors such as AT&T, BT, France Telecom, Verizon, Cable & Wireless, the Asia Pacific Carriers’ Coalition and domestic players such as Bharti and Reliance Communications have endorsed telecom regulator Trai’s proposal that cable landing stations (CLS) in India be opened up, and regulations be enacted to mandate access for all players to existing CLS facilities, VSNL, part of the Tata Group, has opposed the move. It’s a confrontation between the incumbent and entrants. According to industry estimates, the mandatory sharing of cable landing stations, coupled with allowing the resale of international bandwidth in the country will help to reduce bandwidth rates by 40%. If Trai issues final recommendations as per its current proposal, and if this were to be accepted by the government, then international submarine cables coming into India and new cables being built by operators here will be access the cable landing stations (CLS) of BSNL, Bharti, VSNL ...
More About: Battle , Stat , Landing