Smartphones are now the majority of mobile phones in countries such as the United States, and at the end of 2011, nearly 15% of U.S. consumers went online using a tablet,
Just as cable and wireline telecommunications providers did before them, wireless network operators are getting smarter. They’re recognizing the need to make their networks smarter as well.
To the chagrin of some, Apple has recently come under attack (again) for its history of sourcing its profit-heavy hardware from factories in China that have a history of questionable working conditions.
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, there was a new category of product making its debut as consumer electronics, and it was the automobile.
The LTE spectrum auctions are changing competitive dynamics in mobile markets. Leading mobile operators are paying billions to achieve long-term spectrum dominance, while challengers are hoping to use acquired spectrum to deploy smart network solutions and boost their competitiveness. In this article, we assess who may be the winners and the losers of the spectrum poker.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we...
The case for deploying smaller cell configurations – such as picocells, microcells and femtocells – to supplement traditional macro-cell-network architectures, both for LTE and existing 3G networks, is becoming more compelling as traditional macro cells will soon not be able to cope with traffic demand in urban areas.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Brazilian Picture
The number of mobile broadband capable accesses in Brazil grew 82.18% last year, totalizing 18.6 million new devices, according...
2011 was another year of diversity for the mobile industry. With a raft of new smart devices, tablets, applications, services and new pricing plans, consumers and enterprises alike have had more choice than ever when making use of the mobile device.
The enthusiastic acceptance of Apple’s Siri, with its combination of speech recognition and natural language understanding, has demonstrated the practicality and attractiveness of a voice-enabled personal assistant user interface.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers, we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but we...
Operators have reacted to the swell in data usage with a variety of strategies that include volume-based tiers, usage caps, time-of-day usage pricing and data-speed throttling. While this may address the immediate challenge of preserving network integrity for the majority of users, it has also led to increased customer confusion and “bill shock,” higher support costs and, ultimately, higher customer churn.
Telecom analyst prediction pieces often seem to walk a fine line between, “I think this is going to happen” and “I hope this is going to happen.” I can’t say that I’m immune from this tendency. I’ll do my best to make it clear which side of that line is driving my thinking in terms of the themes I’m looking for in 2012.
As mobile data matures in developed markets, we expect several significant evolutions in 2012. The biggest for subscribers will be pricing plan innovations, providing new personalized service and cost options. In addition, we forecast rapid cloud service adoption, new content business models and new device segmentation.
Recently, a lot of people have been asking me: “Will small cells be the end of the macro network?” No way. Small cell growth will be explosive, to match the need for higher data capacity in mobile networks … but the macro layer is still the best way to handle about half of the anticipated traffic on future networks.
I try to not feel sorry for huge, multi-national conglomerates. This is due mostly to the fact that they always seem to forget my birthday, unless they want me to buy something.
Mobile connectivity for objects and devices is growing enormously. Never before have so many devices been able to “talk to each other” like they can today – from mobile hotspots being embedded in cars to a home security system alerting its owners that a tornado is approaching. The machine-to-machine market enables some of the coolest consumer apps to the most critical emergency communications.
The wireless industry has settled on a single interface for 4G networks, LTE. Gone are the holy wars, first pitting GSM against CDMA; then W-CDMA against EV-DO; and finally HSPA/LTE against WiMAX.
As we turn the page into 2012, we believe it is an opportune time to offer our own version of a Top 10 list to take a page out of Mr. Letterman’s playbook.
During the last two years we’ve seen an increase in attacks on smartphones and mobile devices. We’ve run across rootkits, botnets and other malware. Attackers have moved on from simple destructive malware to spyware and malware that makes them money.
One of the biggest stories of 2012 will be whether anyone credibly challenges Apple and Google in mobile phones and the apps, content and services ecosystems that support them. Time is running out for Microsoft and RIM to convert consumers upgrading from featurephones; stealing subscribers away from iOS and Android will be an even more difficult task.
2012 is forecasting to be a pivotal year for regional wireless carriers across the United States. Many of the issues we have been combating for several years will still be plaguing regional carriers, along with new issues that arise every day in this dynamic industry. Several of these issues will reach a crucial turning point for carriers. We begin 2012 with numerous questions and not enough answers.
We expect to see some traction on the TD-LTE front in India in the second half of 2012. Maravedis forecasts that the TD-LTE subscriber base in India will reach 2.25 million by the end of 2012. RIL, a pan-India license holder, is expected to lead the market in terms of the number of TD-LTE subscribers with a 62% market share in 2012.
Although smartphones seem like old news, their impact on the wireless industry is only beginning. In 2012, as these phones become truly mainstream consumer devices, sales volumes and data network traffic will skyrocket, forcing the wireless industry to completely rethink how it designs, sells, deploys and operates wireless services.
