Interesting calculation showing that data cost to operator is €1/per GB

The 'Cost per Bit' issue...

Cost per bit has always been an issue from operator point of view. The other day an operator tried to show a comparison of data transfer with SMS. Though this may make some of us feel guilty that we are ripping these poor operators off ;) in reality most of us agree that it is the other way round.

A slightly older report from Ericsson suggested that from operator point of view, 1GB data transfer can cost as low as 1 euro.

So if we now plug in the above information into the slide below, presented by Moray Rumney of Agilent in the LTE World Summit, we can see that the operators have been earning massive profits on our behalf.



With Mobile broadband becoming more common and cheaper, users may not be willing to pay any more than they are now. At the same time, they may expect the speeds to keep increasing at regular intervals. The operators will soon be forced (if not already doing so) to offer QoS based packages which can help them boost their revenue and provide better QoE to the higher paying users.

I will cover this issue of QoS, QoE and DPI in the upcoming posts.

If you are wondering along the lines of how to reduce this cost per bit then I would recommend you to go back and have a look at this discussion on Martin Sauter's blog.

If you are thinking along the lines of increasing ARPU with LTE, then please see my presentation here.

50 Billion Connected Devices by 2020 (2025?)

Back in April, Hans Vestberg, CEO and the President of Ericsson declared that there will be 50 Billion connected devices by 2020.

In the recently concluded LTE World Summit, this statement seemed to have gained lots of attention. Everyone quoted this left, right and center. The interesting thing was that some said that this would happen by 2025 and some also said 2030.

While we can make a generic statement that there will be some 50 Billion connected devices sometime between 2020 and 2030, not everyone was sure how they would be connected.

My understanding is that a device is connected if it has a valid IP (IPv6) address. That means that the PC's at home are included and anything connected over WiFi are included as well.

So by this definition, it wont surprise me if we probably have 100 Billion connected devices by 2030.

Redefining the wireless Quality of Experience (QoE) with LTE

Ken Wirth, President 4G/LTE Networks of Alcatel-Lucent showed us the following video in the LTE World Summit 2010. Its been available on Youtube for quite some time but I missed it before:

Using LTE to boost ARPU

Here is my presentation from the LTE World Summit 2010. The presentation was prepared for discussion during the Breakfast briefing on the 19th May 2010.

Using LTE to boost ARPU

View more presentations from zahidtg.

You can also see the discussion on Linked group here. (Sorry, you may need to register).

Agilent Demo at the LTE World Summit 2010

Here is the Agilent Demo. I have blogged about Agilent's demo from last year here.

Anritsu Demo at the LTE World Summit 2010

I have blogged about the Anritsu MD8430A here and about their RTD product here. Recently they have become first test equipment vendor in the world to achieve GCF-approved test case validations for both LTE (Long Term Evolution) RF and protocol conformance testing.

Here is their Demo from LTE World Summit 2010.

Mobile Phone Developments May 2010

HTC's 4G [sic] Phone is al ready to be rolled out. It is supposed to allow to transfer data averaging speeds of 3 to 6 megabits per second, and bursts hitting 10 Mbps. Ok, I can visualise some suspicious smiles but that's marketing. Its the data speeds of a normal HSPA network but it sells.

Inside the Evo is a 1 gigahertz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of ram, and 1 gig of built in memory. On top of those screaming specs are a 480×800 display, as well as two (count em!) cameras, the better of which packs 8 megapixels. Running it all is the newest version of Android (2.1), as well as HTC’s Sense UI for a little extra eye-candy. All told, this looks like an amazing phone to finally make use of Sprint’s fancy new network, and it may just be their best bet for reversing their falling fortunes.

The Evo 4G will allow for simultaneous voice and data and will be the first smartphone to ship with a YouTube HQ player and a video chat app from Qik to be used with the front-facing camera. Though Sprint's onstage Qik demo didn't work, we were impressed with the Evo 4G's speed (Sprint brought in a 4G tower for the event) as well the handset's 3D gaming capabilities and HDMI output.

As we learned at CTIA 2010, other goodies include an 8-megapixel camera on back, a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, Android 2.1, and an extra-large 4.3-inch capacitive touch screen.

Tired of losing your cell phone? Maybe you need a Zomm.

The new gadget is billed as a wireless leash for mobile phones reminding you when you've left your cell phone behind. Here's how it works:

You just pair the nugget sized Zomm with your phone over Bluetooth. Then you clip the Zomm onto you or attach it to your keychain. When your cell phones gets more than 30 feet away from Zomm, the Zomm unit starts to vibrate, flash lights and then eventually lets out a wail.

You can also use the Zomm as a Bluetooth speaker so you can answer calls through it, instead of talking straight into your phone.

The leash idea can work in reverse too. If you're the type who loses their keys more than their phone, you can just attach Zomm to your keys and then whenever you lose your keys, you can call Zomm and set off its alarm.

There's also a panic button. In case of emergency you can just press it and get help immediately, without dialing on your cell phone.

Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has named ZOMM as ‘One to Watch’, because of its innovative use of Bluetooth technology and universal appeal.

“Through the use of Bluetooth wireless technology, ZOMM provides an array of convenient applications for users,” said Michael Foley, Ph.D., executive director of the Bluetooth SIG.

“Its simple application of Bluetooth technology appeals to the masses – nobody wants to lose their mobile phone.”

Verizon Wireless and LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A., Inc. announced the LG Ally™ will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores beginning May 20. The first Android device from LG, the Ally is the perfect assembly of futuristic, stylish design and 3G Android power for customers looking to tackle life's most challenging feats and everyday ventures. Verizon Wireless customers can pre-order the phone at www.verizonwireless.com beginning May 13.

Until now, mobile users have been faced with a choice -- either type on a tiny keyboard or use a touchscreen keypad.

Neither is perfect but, so far, tiny but real keyboards have been winning out for many people. One of the many reasons cited by some BlackBerry users for not switching to an iPhone or similar device is that sensitive touchscreen keypad.

Some manufacturers have tried to give users the best of both worlds, a touchscreen and a pull-out keyboard, but search giant Google has another idea: make all mobile-phone keyboards obsolete.

With the recent release of its own phone, the Nexus One, users are beginning to experiment with what Google hopes is the future of mobile search: voice-and picture-based searching.

"Voice, we think, is just a natural way to solve a problem that exists on all phones, which is that typing is quite difficult, especially in certain languages like Japanese," said Alex Nicolaou from Google's office in Waterloo, Ont..

"Input methods are relatively onerous, whereas saying a brief phrase . . . is extremely fast . . . and there are just times when a picture really is worth 1,000 words.

"If you're standing outside a landmark and you want to know about it, it's obviously going to be much, much simpler to take a photo of that landmark and have the system tell you what it is, than it would be to figure out what name to type in, especially in a foreign country."

Google admits both are still in relatively early development stages and are not very reliable.

For voice searches, short strings of words work best. Even in noisy cafes, most four-or five-word searches worked well during testing. Nicolaou said one misheard word won't necessarily throw off your search results.

Google has hinted at some future features incorporating voice and image recognition. Engineers are working to improve the ability to photograph a printed page so it can be accurately scanned into text and quickly translated into another language. In a video posted online, a Google employee scans a menu from a German restaurant and uses his phone to translate it into English.

Google also hopes that, eventually, travellers will be able to speak a phrase into their phone, have it translated into another language and played back through their phone's speaker.

This season, big handset makers including Nokia, Microsoft and Motorola are betting you’ll want to flaunt cute, palm-shaped devices that look more like compact powder cases than brick-shaped mini-tablets.

Motorola is likely to introduce a new phone next month called Flipout that will have a 2.8-inch display, a 3.1-megapixel camera and a twist-out keyboard. We haven’t tested it yet, but on looks alone, it’s fabulous, darling.

Motorola’s square-shaped phone follows the release of Microsoft’s fresh-looking Kin One earlier this month. The Kin One has a 2.6-inch display, a slide-out keyboard, and looks like a rounded square when closed. In September, Nokia introduced the Twist on Verizon, a squarish phone with a 2.5-inch display. Even LG has a square-shaped phone called the Lotus, which has been available on Sprint for more than a year, and though it’s not exactly been a big seller, its looks are hot, hot, hot.

Microsoft released the final version of the desktop Office 2010, along with which it made available a flavor aimed at mobile phones, namely Office Mobile 2010. The owners of a device powered by Windows Mobile 6.5 can now take advantage of the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint editing capabilities of the application while on the go.

Among the features that Office Mobile 2010 comes around with, we can count SharePoint integration (users can easily access and edit documents stored on a Microsoft SharePoint 2010 site), Bluetooth controller mode for PowerPoint presentations, access to SharePoint Workspace Mobile, the possibility to easily take notes on the phone and to insert voice clips or pictures in them, and others more.

“Effective today, Office Mobile 2010 will be available for free via Windows Phone Marketplace for all Windows Mobile 6.5 phones with a previous version of Office Mobile. People using Office Mobile 2010 can perform lightweight editing of Office documents and take notes on the go.

As if mobile phone cameras weren't complex enough, Sharp has just announced a tiny 720p 3D camera for its mobile devices.

The 3D Camera Module has been made to fit inside either a compact point and shoot or a smartphone. The camera is crammed full of the latest technology, all of which enable it to capture both moving and still high resolution 3D images.

Things like colour synchronising processing, as well as 'fast readout' technology, help the tiny little camera to produce its images.

Sharp has made use of complicated high-density mounting technology in order to pack so many features in to this tiny device.

The company insists that the cameras will go into mass production by the end of the year.

World Vendor Awards 2010

Winners of the first World Vendor Awards were revealed during a dinner at the UnderGlobe in London on the 5 May 2010.

Outstanding Vendor of the Year

Open to

All hardware and software vendors and OEMs who are able to demonstrate organisational scale, strategy and procedures of a truly global standard.

About this category

The winner in this category will demonstrate outstanding innovation backed by quality of service, reliability, and sales support. It is most likely that the winner will offer a strong portfolio of products and solutions, and will be able to demonstrate evidence of strong and disciplined management providing a sound business footing, and strategic direction and future scope for development of the company.

Criteria

Entrants for Outstanding Vendor will be judged on the degree to which they fulfil the following conditions:

Address customer needs in terms of quality, reliability and customer service

Provide strong and innovative product and/or solution offerings

Show sound management, clear strategic direction and strong performance

Demonstrate revenue generation/growth.

What features make your operation stand out from the competition? How have you responded to customer and/or market changes?

Winner: Huawei Technologies

Other Nominees:

BroadSoft

Intec Telecoms Systems

Highly Commended: Juniper Networks

Oracle Communications

Best Specialist Vendor

Open to

All hardware and software vendors and OEMs specialising in provision of a particular product, solution or group of solutions. The Best Specialist Vendor may be a division of a larger company, but must be able to demonstrate their autonomy as a specialist in their own right.

About this category

The winner in this category will demonstrate how their products and solutions address the needs of a specific part of the telecom market and how their foresight and innovation is improving business for their customers.

Criteria

The winning company must have been offering commercially available products prior to the closing date for the award entries. The judges will be looking for evidence of:

Innovation

How easy it is to implement and customer ?

What are the benefits to the users

Value for money

Features that stand out from competitors

Evidence of customer satisfaction e.g. testimonials

Winner: ip.access

Highly Commended: Ipanema Technologies

Other Nominees:

Mformation

RAD

Telmap

Best Mobile Device

Open to

Manufacturers and vendors of all mobile devices, including but not limited to handsets, PDA’s, and netbooks.

About this category

The judges will be looking for the device that has in their opinion best combined innovation and usability to create a mobile device that provides the greatest benefit to the intended users, whether business or consumer.

Criteria

The device must have been commercially available prior to the closing date for the award entries

The judges will be looking for evidence of:

How easy is it to use and implement?

What are the benefits to the users

Value for money

Evidence of customer satisfaction e.g. testimonials

Winner: Apple iPhone/ iPhone 3G

Other Nominees:

BlackBerry BOLD

HTC Hero

Motorola DROID

Nokia E71

Best Brand Campaign

Open to

All hardware and software vendors, OEM’s, device manufacturers, outsourcing companies, systems integrators.

About this category

This category will recognise the organisation that has created the most effective and compelling brand campaign for its products or services in one or more branches of the media. This may be through a single campaign or series of campaigns. Only in this category can supporting material be accepted, in the form of printed or audio/visual material from the campaign, for review by the judging panel. Please email supporting material to vendorawards@totaltele.com.

Criteria

The campaign must have run or be running during the calendar year 2009.

Entrants should provide details of:

Reason for the campaign(s)

The rationale behind choice of media, company or service name/ slogan, etc

Scope and target audience

Stated business objectives behind the campaign

Raised brand awareness and positive impact on market share, valuation or bottom line.

Winner: Juniper Networks

Best Outsourcing Initiative

Open to

This category is open both to dedicated outsourcing companies and to vendors, consultants and integrators running outsourcing initiatives.

About this category

It covers all forms of outsourcing initiative, including BPO, IT outsourcing and network outsourcing, and the winner will be the organisation that can demonstrate an initiative best delivering its planned benefits, whether these be cost saving, skill improvement, or resource release. The judges will be particularly looking for evidence of innovation that has delivered tangible benefits.

Criteria

The campaign must have been initiated or have delivered its first measurable results during calendar year 2009. In addition to evidence of innovation, judges will seek to understand what the key project objectives were, how successfully the project was implemented and how success is being measured. Credit will be given for being able to supply independent testimonials supporting project success or process improvement.

Winner: Comviva Technologies

Other Nominees:

Firstsource Solutions

Huawei Technologies

Infosys BPO

ITS

Clean Technology Initiative

Open to

All Vendors, OEMs, integrators and consultants

About this category

This category seeks to reward the company that has best reduced the environmental impact of telecommunication services through its products and solutions or utilisation of products and solutions. The judges will be seeking evidence of eco-friendly products, innovations, and specific programmes or initiatives.

Criteria

Entrants should be able to demonstrate:

Evidence improved energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, recycling, conservation, manufacturing and logistics cost reduction and eco-friendly consumption.

A measurable programme, delivering against and reaching set targets for improvement.

Future plans to continue to address corporate, social & environmental issues

How your clean technology programme has benefited stakeholders including customers/end users, employees, and the wider public.

Winner: Eltek Valere

Other Nominees:

ADTRAN

Huawei Technologies

Technology Foresight

Open to

All equipment vendors, OEM’s and developers of software solutions, as well as outsourcing companies and integrators that have deployed or trialled a new technology by an operator, service provider, or enterprise telecom customer.

About this category

This award will go to the individual or organisation that has shown the greatest foresight in developing or fostering the development of a technology used or able to be used in delivering or receiving communications services via carrier networks.

Criteria

Entrants should be able to demonstrate:

The development of a technology with potential for far reaching effect on business or consumer markets

That the technology and/or its application are the original work of the entrant, and that they are not simply implementing another company’s technology.

That it represents an innovative approach to an existing aspect of communications networks or services, or opens up an entirely new area

That the technology works and has potential in a commercial environment.

What revenues do you expect your technology to produce? How do you intend to grow revenues and/or business from your technology or product over the next three years?

Winner: SpiderCloud Wireless

Highly Commended: Huawei Technologies

Other Nominees:

Juniper Networks

Evolving Systems

ECI Telecom

Best Software Solution

Open to

Software vendors and developers, as well as integrators providing software solutions.

About this category

The judges will be looking for an organisation that is providing or utilising a predominantly software driven solution. This could be in any part of the telecom sphere, including using software in place of hardware upgrades, or a traditionally software driven solution such as billing, network management etc.

Criteria

Entrants should be able to demonstrate why their solution is the most appropriate for the problem addressed, the commercial performance/cost savings brought by the solution, and highlight innovations brought to the sector. Customer testimonials should illustrate the degree of satisfaction delivered by the solution.

Winner: Comviva Technologies

Other nominees:

cVidya Networks

Juniper Networks

Nokia Siemens Networks

Novarra

Sybase

Technologist of the Year

This will be a public vote looking for the CTO, IT Director or senior technology leader of a telecom software or hardware vendor who has demonstrated outstanding vision in driving forward the organisations product and solution offerings, innovations and realising the potential to turn research into commercially successful products.

The Total Telecom team will seek nominations from the industry of senior technology leaders who are perceived as driving change, innovation and success in the industry, as a shortlist of which will be put to the public vote.

Winner: Thierry Klein, Founder and CTO, Alzette Venture Alcatel Lucent

Other Nominees:

Rupert Baines, VP Marketing, picoChip

Ajay Bhatt, Architect, Intel

Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEO, RIM

Antonio Nucci, CTO Narus, Inc.

Best Support System

Open to

All vendors of support systems, including, but not limited to Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS)

About this category

The judges will be looking for the support system that has created the greatest service improvement, cost saving, or enabled the greatest increase in business income. They will be seeking product innovation, ease of use and application, and delivery of customer satisfaction.

Criteria

The support system should have been in operation during 2009 and the entrant should be able to demonstrate

How has your product or application improved customer satisfaction levels?

Provide evidence of improved customer acquisition or retention levels?

That the solution is simple to operate and easy to understand with good customer training and support

That the solution is scalable and flexible, that it can cater for new service delivery platforms, service combinations and business models.

Winner: Comptel Corporation

Highly Commended: Aito Technologies

Other Nominees:

Martin Dawes Systems

Sigma Systems

More about the World Vendor Awards here.

Whitepaper; MIMO and Smart Antennas for 3G and 4G Wireless Systems

3G Americas has published an educational white paper titled, MIMO and Smart Antennas for 3G and 4G Wireless Systems: Practical Aspects and Deployment Considerations. The report is a complete tutorial reference document that outlines the considerable importance of various smart antenna schemes for improving the capacity and coverage of the emerging generations of wireless networks.

With the rapid growth of wireless data traffic, now greatly exceeding voice traffic in many developed markets, operators are anxious to quickly expand the capacity and coverage of their wireless networks. To address these demands for increased capacity in a cost effective way, 3GPP standards have incorporated powerful techniques for using “smart antennas.”

“The gains in spectral efficiency being advanced by new wireless air interface technologies, such as LTE and LTE-Advanced, will be enabled by the application of MIMO and other smart antenna technologies,” stated Kevin Linehan, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer – Base Station Antenna Systems, Andrew Solutions. Linehan, one of the project leaders for the creation of the 3G Americas report continued, “It is critical that operators and others in the industry appreciate these advanced technologies and their practical application.”

The term smart antennas refers to adaptive array antennas – those with electrical tilt, beam width and azimuth control that can follow relatively slow-varying traffic patterns; intelligent antennas, which can form beams aimed at particular users or steer nulls to reduce interference; and MIMO antenna schemes, predominately featured in LTE and LTE-Advanced.

The white paper was created by a 3G Americas technical work group and concentrates on the practical aspects of antennas and their deployment for 3G and 4G wireless systems, specifically downlink antenna techniques available in 3GPP LTE Release 8. The comprehensive report highlights a substantial and growing body of theoretical and field experience that provides reliable guidance on the tradeoffs of various antenna configurations. Some of the areas addressed in the paper include:

• Smart antennas provide the next substantial increase in throughput for wireless networks. The peak data rates tend to be proportional to the number of send and receive antennas, so 4X4 MIMO is theoretically capable of twice the peak data rates as 2X2 MIMO systems. For another example, in upgrading from HSPA (1X2) to LTE (2X2) a gain of 1.6x is seen (Rysavy Research, 2009).
• The practical tradeoffs of performance with the realistic constraints on the types of antennas that can be realistically installed, cognizant of zoning, wind loading, size, weight and cabling challenges and constraints from legacy terminals and other equipment. Constraints are, of course, present in both the base station and the terminal side of the air interface, where MIMO technology promises useful gains if multiple antennas, amplifiers, receivers and baseband processing resources can be made available in terminals.
• Beyond the single antenna or beamforming array cases, 3GPP Release 8 of the LTE standard supports MIMO antenna configurations. This includes Single-User (SU-MIMO) protocols using either Open Loop or Closed-Loop modes as well as Transmit Diversity and MU-MIMO. Closed-Loop MIMO mode, which supports the highest peak data rates, is likely to be the most commonly used scheme in early deployments. However, this Closed-Loop MIMO scheme provides the best performance only when the channel information is accurate, when there is a rich multipath environment and is appropriate in low mobility environments such as with fixed terminals or those used at pedestrian speeds.

The white paper, MIMO and Smart Antennas for 3G and 4G Wireless Systems: Practical Aspects and Deployment Considerations, was written collaboratively by members of 3G Americas and is available for free download HERE.

While MIMO and Smart Antennas for 3G and 4G Wireless Systems concentrates on the practical aspects of deploying antennas in emerging wireless markets, 3G Americas’ June 2009 white paper, MIMO Transmission Schemes for LTE and HSPA Networks, provides additional background information on the processing gains feasible with smart antennas.