IP Carrier

LTE Drives Global Network Equipment Spending

2012-02-12T17:09:00.001-07:00

Equipment purchased to support mobile networks will reach $398 billion in 2012, up 17 percent from $340.8 billion in 2011, according to an IHS iSuppli.

A substantial portion of the spending is for fourth generation networks, especially based on use of Long Term Evolution.

Although growth this year is down somewhat from the 32 percent growth rate of 2011, the market is expected to grow at double-digit rates until about 2015.

MEF Launches Mobile Backhaul Initiative

2012-02-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

The Metro Ethernet Forum has launched a “Mobile Backhaul Initiative for 4G/LTE,” aiming to create standards for backhaul that could provide a potential 25 percent backhaul savings for mobile operators.

The initiative seems to build on support for multiple classes of service (Multi-CoS) contained in the MEF 23.1 Multi-CoS Implementation Agreement.

“Mobile Operators all agree that the industry’s single biggest challenge and operating cost is in delivering the bandwidth needed for 4G/LTE backhaul” says MEF President, Nan Chen.

The “Mobile Backhaul Initiative” will feature an integrated suite consisting of the MEF 22.1 Mobile Backhaul implementation agreement, MEF 23.1 Multi-CoS implementation agreement, and a technical business paper clarifying the urgency and justification of migrating to Multi-CoS.

The program focuses on providing technical guidance on best practices and a new paper on packet-based frequency synchronization as well.

Why Data Consumption Forecasts So Often are Wrong

2012-02-12T15:06:00.002-07:00

Bandwidth planning has become a tricky business since data traffic completely displaced voice as the driver of consumption. Not only is demand more variable and uncertain, growth is more dynamic, by an order of magnitude or two.

That raises an obvious question for mobile service providers: how much bandwidth do they need to be ready to supply to customers? The question might be easier to answer if demand were not if end user demand was predictable, but demand is not predictable. Sometimes growth is "only" 40 percent a year; sometimes it is higher.

Some might say, for example, that over the past year, AT&T has revised its own forecasts of bandwidth consumption in significant ways.

In a March 2011 presentation AT&T projected that data volumes would grow by eight to 10 times between the end of 2010 and the end of 2015.

That forecast appears to be based on an expectation that volumes would roughly double in 2011 and then increase by a further 65 percent in 2012.

Consider this 2008 forecast, which presents a not-unusual rate of growth in potential speeds, which has a direct bearing on consumption, since faster speeds tend to be associated with higher consumption.

Keep in mind that access speeds are different from consumed gigabytes. But the former drives the latter. And nobody currently predicts anything but a continual shift to higher potential access speeds on fixed and mobile networks.

Instead, AT&T now seems to be seeing 40 percent annual growth. Now, 40 percent annual growth is significant. It means bandwidth consumption doubles about every two to three years. But annual bandwidth growth of 50 percent a year would be well within historical ranges, on an aggregate basis, in terms of long-haul bandwidth consumption. But policies and end user behavior can change the demand curve.

The most-recent AT&T forecast would mean that data volumes would increase by five to six times by 2015. Whether that means existing spectrum, and newer methods for handling traffic using that spectrum, are sufficient to handle future growth is debatable. Some might argue additional spectrum is not required.

Others might say the possible growth of between 500 percent and 1,000 percent, in just four years, is challenging enough that additional spectrum is likely to be needed, especially if the higher range of growth turns out to be the case.

Network planners might point out that supplying additional bandwidth takes prodigious amounts of capital and significant time.

Some might speculate that AT&T’s forecasts about data growth have changed because supplier policies and end user behavior have changed.

Perhaps users have become quite sophisticated about offloading their data usage to Wi-Fi, as service providers have been urging them to do.

Or, perhaps the heaviest users, with "prodding" from the carriers, are modifying their own behavior. Why it is so hard to make accurate bandwidth forecasts

Some observers would not be sanguine about moderating rates of bandwidth consumption. It is true that carriers can provide incentives and dis-incentives for consumption. But it also is the case that video consumption keeps growing, and it is video that drives bandwidth demand.

Use a Smart Phone as a Desktop PC?

2012-02-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

A sufficiently motivated researcher can, in fact, use a smart phone as a desktop PC. The results might be "sort of" reasonable.

But such experiments simply point out that behavior is, and ought to be, different on devices with different form factors, user interfaces, screen sizes and software loads.

To use an analogy, in the history of media, we always tend to begin using a new medium on the pattern of the older medium. So, when "stage" was the dominant mass performance medium, and the movie business began, what did movies look like?

The experience was pretty much the same as a live performance, only captured on film. In fact, the new medium arguably was less rich, as an experience, since the "audio track" was missing.

In the realm of devices, we likely have a tendency to envision "how to use" a new category of devices through the prism of older devices we already are familiar with, as well.

The point is not so much that some common experiences (using email or messaging) will be common to most or all of the platforms. Beyond that, we will eventually discover that each device category creates a distinctive "highest and best use," despite the common features.

You Have to See This

2012-02-11T13:06:00.002-07:00

What Drives Enterprise Tablet Adoption?

2012-02-10T09:42:00.001-07:00

An informal survey of 70 enterprise executives suggests a number of reasons why enterprises are adopting tablets. One driver is increasing amounts of work conducted by workers outside normal working hours and outside the office.

That trend isn't new, but workers are telling information technology staffs that they would prefer replacements for bulky laptops, and smart phones aren’t quite meeting their needs.

Business partners, especially independent sales representatives, also are asking for content support for iPads from partner sales organizations, as well.

To bring down costs, retailers are looking for ways to reduce space, and are replacing training kiosks with tablets.
By providing employees with tablets, companies can significantly reduce the use of paper and improve their efforts to "go green," as well. Enterprise tablet adoption drivers

Google May Open Retail Store

2012-02-10T06:08:00.000-07:00

Google may open its first stand-alone retail store at its European headquarters in Dublin, Bloomberg reports. The move follows reports that Amazon will open its first retail outlet as well, in its home city of Seattle.

The Google Store would be open to the public and sell unspecified “Google merchandise,” Google’s Irish unit said in a local planning application. Google May Open Retail Store

There is a decades-long history of PC manufacturers, especially those selling heavily online, to open branded retail locations, Dell being among the firms that have done so, and retreated. Apple itself was heavily criticized for opening its Apple Stores, the thinking being that Apple earnings would be harmed.

But with Apple's wild success, even Microsoft and Sony have committed to retail outlets.

So retail may be a new front in Google’s competition with Apple Inc., whose 361 stores have fueled sales of iPods, iPhones and iPad tablet computers.

Google earlier opened a store inside of a London branch of Currys and PC World, units of Dixons Retail Plc, as a trial for selling laptop computers, some would also note.

Retail stores, though not a feature of the network-based video entertainment business or fixed line services (cable TV and satellite TV, or landline telephone services, for example), have become essential for sales of mobile services. Apple has shown how retail can help sales of devices. What remains to be seen is if similar results are possible for intangible "services and apps," or whether the winning formula will wind up being devices such as Kindles for Amazon, and smart phones for Google.

New Mobile Devices are Changing Behavior

2012-02-09T19:49:00.002-07:00

Wireless and untethered devices are starting to change the ways people interact with, and consume, all sorts of media and content.

In 2011, the majority of all mobile phone owners consumed mobile media on their smart phones and tablet devices, marking an important milestone in the evolution of mobile from primarily a communication device to a content consumption tool. At the end of 2011, more than eight percent of all digital traffic was consumed beyond the “classic web” across devices such as smart phones and tablets. Content consumption is the big change

To put the rapid uptake of tablets in perspective, it took seven years to reach nearly 40 million smart phones compared to less than two years to reach nearly 40 million tablets, demonstrating the vast appeal of these devices and consumers’ desire for connection.

It would not be stretching matters to argue that widespread adoption of smart phones and now tablets has significantly changed digital media consumption patterns.

In December 2011, 8.2 percent of all web page views occurred on devices other than PCs, for example, with mobile devices accounting for 5.2 percent of traffic, tablets driving 2.5 percent.

Americans spend more than 33 hours per week watching video across their available screens, according to the latest Nielsen Cross-Platform Report.

The shift to wireless (using the mobile networks) and connected devices (using Wi-Fi) also seems to be accelerating. It is no secret that sales volumes in consumer electronics and computing devices now have shifted strongly to smart phones, tablets and e-readers, and away from PCs.

As but one example, PC shipments in Western Europe totaled 16.3 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, a 16 per cent decline from the same period of 2010, according to Gartner.

For the full year, PC shipments also declined 16 percent from 2010, dropping for four straight quarters.

"Despite aggressive pricing and special holiday deals for PCs, consumers' attention was caught by other devices, such as smart phones, media tablets and e-readers," said Meike Escherich, principal analyst at Gartner. And those devices are changing the way people behave.

One of Google’s studies of tablet use over a two-week period, which had users recording every occasion that they used their tablet, shows that tablets really are not PCs, any more than smart phones are used in the same way that PCs are used.

Most consumers use their tablets for fun, entertainment and relaxation while they use their desktop computer or laptop for work, Google User Experience Researchers Jenny Gove and John Webb say. About 91 percent of the time that people spend on their tablet devices is for personal rather than work related activities.

And, as it turns out, when a consumer gets a tablet, they quickly migrate many of their entertainment activities from laptops and smart phones to this new device.

The most frequent tablet activities are checking email, playing games and social networking. The study also found that people are doing more activities in shorter bursts on weekdays (social networking, email) while engaging in longer usage sessions on weekends (watching videos/TV/movies).

Tablets are multi-tasking devices with at least 42 percent of activities occurring while doing another task or engaging with another entertainment medium. Tablets aren't PCs

As it turns out, lots of things people can do on PCs don’t “need” to be done on PCs. Content consumption, email and other communications actually represent most of what many business users really “have to do” on a PC.

Also, tablets are more accurately described as “untethered” devices than “mobile” devices, to the extent that tablets primarily are used at home. Unlike smart phones that go everywhere and laptops that travel between work and home, few consumers take their tablets with them when they leave the house.

That shipments of tablets are expected to grow from 72.7 million units in 2011 to 383.3 million units by 2017, according to NPD, would not surprise many observers.

Growth in emerging markets, expected to account for up to 46 percent of worldwide shipments by 2017, an increase from the 36 percent share in 2011, might be more surprising.

The tablet forecast also illustrates an important change in connected appliance trends. In the past, “PCs” have been one category of appliances, while MP-3 players, phones and digital organizers, game devices, cameras and e-reading devices have been distinctly different categories.

These days, many of those devices have overlapping functions. Taken as a whole, the changes suggest the crucial role “content consumption” now plays as a lead application for most devices. Though PCs, cameras and organizers still largely have “work or business” use cases, virtually all the other devices are oriented around content consumption.

If results of a U.K. consumer poll are any indication, tablet PCs are about to change Web browsing, gaming and reading preferences.

According to survey conducted by Cooper Murphy Webb, Apple’s iPad is the preferred method of reading newspapers and magazines among consumers already owning the device. Tablets change behavior

The poll also found that a plurality of iPad owners prefer the device for reading books and gaming. Perhaps surprisingly, respondents indicated they used their dedicated gaming consoles and iPads about equally when gaming. If that holds up, it could mean trouble for game console suppliers.

And a significant percentage prefer the iPad for Web browsing as well. That finding is less surprising, if one assumes the tablet device is designed to be used as a content consumption device.

Google to Sell Branded Home Entertainment System

2012-02-09T18:56:00.002-07:00

Google is developing a home entertainment system that streams music wirelessly throughout the home and would be marketed under the company's own brand, according to the Wall Street Journal. One obvious implication is that Google now will enter the consumer electronics business in a more significant way.

The Google Nexus smart phone has been positioned as a bit of a "demonstration project," to show what Android ideally can provide in a device experience. Google is more centrally involved as a backer of the Android mobile operating system. And, most recently, Google has acquired Motorola Mobility, which has put Google into the mobile handset business.

Many will worry about the potential implications for Google, which now will face at least some potential channel conflict with at least some potential licensees, though not in the mobile handset business.

The effort does put Google into the branded consumer electronics business in a new way. But in a broad sense, the move indicates the arguably growing degree of competition between Google and Apple. Apple has been masterful at using content to drive hardware sales, and future lines of business for both Google and Apple might overlap more centrally as hardware, software and revenue models built on content and transactions using hardware become more important. Apple, Google competition heating up

Global Fixed Broadband Revenue: $191 Billion in 2012

2012-02-09T18:24:00.002-07:00

Global fixed broadband revenue expected to generate $191 billion and reaching $217 billion in 2012, according to ABI Research.

If one assumes 2012 global telecom revenue will be $2.1 trillion, then fixed broadband would represent about nine percent of total revenue.

Google to Launch Cloud Service

2012-02-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Google is rumored to be launching a cloud-storage service that would compete head-to-head with Dropbox, SugarSync and others.

The search giant’s cloud service will be called Drive and it’ll not only be free to consumers up to a certain size limit but it will also be folded into Google Apps for enterprise customers. Google to launch cloud service

Teens Text, Don't Talk (You Knew That)

2012-02-09T12:26:00.002-07:00

If it seems like American teens are texting all the time, it’s probably because on average they’re sending or receiving 3,339 texts a month, Nielsen says.

Using recent data from monthly cell phone bills of more than 60,000 mobile subscribers as well as survey data from over 3,000 teens, The Nielsen Company analyzed mobile usage data among teens in the United States for the second quarter of 2010 (April 2010 – June 2010).

Teens text, don't talk

Visa Introduces Suite of Mobile Services for U.S. Financial Institutions - MarketWatch

2012-02-09T07:06:00.001-07:00

Visa has launched a suite of mobile services that allow financial institutions to offer their account holders mobile banking services, including account history and balances, as well as the ability to transfer funds between accounts and receive near real time transaction alerts on their mobile devices.

Developed with Monitise, the new platform is available as part of Visa's card issuer platform, Visa DPS.

Additional services are currently in development including mobile check deposit, mobile (NFC) payments, mobile offers, and support for V.me by Visa, Visa's digital wallet service. Visa Introduces Suite of Mobile Services

"The services offered by Visa DPS are a one-stop solution for Visa clients who want to serve their customers through the mobile channel without making significant investments in hardware, software or mobile expertise," said John Partridge, President, Visa Inc.

A4A Calls on the U.S. Government to Safeguard GPS, the Backbone of NextGen

2012-02-09T07:06:00.000-07:00

If you pay attention to any part of the global telecom business, you know that government and regulatory policies literally create, and can limit or destroy, any particular business plan, in any particular segment of the business. Spectrum allocations provide an excellent example. LightSquared and Dish Network both want permission to create new Long Term Evolution fourth generation mobile networks, but neither effort can proceed without authorization from the Federal Communications Commission.

LightSquared has been battling the objections of the Global Positioning System industry, and now apparently faces formal public opposition from the airline industry.

Airlines for America (AfA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, called for the development of a governmentwide policy to protect the aviation Global Positioning System (GPS) spectrum in order to avoid any future threat of spectrum interference. You can read between the lines: AfA is opposed to granting of the LightSquared request to use its satellite spectrum for terrestrial operations.

“GPS is critically important to the millions of customers who airlines fly every day, and is the heart of a multibillion dollar system to modernize the air navigation system,” said AfA Senior Vice President for Safety, Security and Operations Tom Hendricks. More opposition to LightSquared

Because of Mobile, TV Now is a 2-Screen Experience

2012-02-08T15:25:00.001-07:00

During Super Bowl XLVI, 41 percent of Google searches related to “Super Bowl ads” made during the game were made from mobile devices.

Nor is that sort of behavior unusual. About 45 percent of respondents polled by Nielsen who own both smart phones and tablets say they routinely multitask while watching television.

Separately, Velti commissioned a nationwide U.S. poll that indicated nearly 60 percent of mobile users planned to look at, or use their mobile device, during this year's Super Bowl.

The study, conducted by Harris Interactive, also suggested that 30 percent of viewers under the age of 45 would be watching the game with their device in hand, while 47 percent of all viewers age 18 and older expected to check or use their device up to 10 times during the game.

You might say much television viewing has become a two-screen experience, with complicated implications for content marketing or advertising. On one hand, the Google data suggests users were prompted to engage more heavily with brands featured during commercial breaks during the Super Bowl.

On the other hand, the Velti study suggested 13 percent of viewers were likely to use their mobile devices during game play. About 26 percent reported they were likely to look at or use their mobile device during commercial breaks.

So commercial breaks were twice as likely to be the times when users were turning to the second screen. For advertisers spending $3.5 million for each 30-second spot, use of the second screen might be seen as a positive.

“Mobile is the second screen that completes the full circle of user engagement, turning advertising into content," said Krishna Subramanian, Velti chief marketing officer.

That might be true when the content users are looking for on the second screen is related directly to a brand’s ad and message.

On the other hand, users often will be multitasking in other ways that compete with TV ads--at the Super Bowl or not--for attention. A study by Razorfish and Yahoo found that 38 percent of survey respondents found use of the Internet on a mobile or tablet device, watching TV, an enhancement to the viewing experience.

That suggests an opportunity to build more directly on television as a “two screen” experience, rather than a single screen experience. TV executives with long memories will remember the last 30 years of thinking about “interactive TV,” when researchers, suppliers and pundits looked for ways to create compelling experiences based on viewer input and response.

As it turns out, users already have voted on how they want to interact, and it involves the Internet and a second screen of some sort, including PCs, notebooks, tablets and smart phones.

The Razorfish study suggests the top five content categories that seem to encourage multitasking are:

Reality shows
News programs
Comedy episodes
Sports events
Food programming

But most Super Bowl advertisers did not actively incorporate social media or overt Web addresses in their TV ads shown during the Super Bowl.

According to an analysis by Altimeter Group, 32 percent of the ads had no references to websites or social media sites, And only Best Buy had an "Act Now" promotion.

Mobile devices now make TV a "two screen" experience.

Facebook Hopes to Tap Mobile Ad Revenue

2012-02-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

What does "display advertising" look like on a smart phone? For Facebook that might mean “featured stories,” inserted into end user news feeds. Facebook to tap mobile ads

Mobile advertising is complicated for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that on a smart phone, screen real estate is sharply limited, compared to a PC screen.

The other issue is that there are a few "mobile" screens to deal with, including smart phones and tablets of various sizes. Even where a larger tablet screen (10 inches or larger) is available, the difference in user input capabilities (touch screen versus keyboard and mouse) has to be considered.

In Facebook's case, there also is the specific challenge of creating ad formats for "Timeline," the new way Facebook shows profile pages.

Facebook also might want to create ways of linking a mobile message back to brand ads and content on other parts of Facebook, rather than leaving the Facebook environment.

Chrome for Android Launches

2012-02-07T11:13:00.003-07:00

In 2008 Google launched Google Chrome. Now Google has launched Chrome for Android Beta, which brings many of the things you’ve come to love about Chrome to your Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich phone or tablet.

Like the desktop version, Chrome for Android Beta is focused on speed and simplicity, but it also features seamless sign-in and sync so users can take your personalized web browsing experience with them, across devices.

Unfortunately, Chrome is only available for people using the latest version of Android called Ice Cream Sandwich. Right now, Ice Cream Sandwich is only on a few devices. Unless you own a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, or Asus Transformer Prime.

With Chrome for Android, users can search, navigate and browse fast. Users can scroll through web pages as quickly as they can flick their fingers. When searching, top search results are loaded in the background.

Chrome for Android is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. Tabs so they fit just as naturally on a small-screen phone as they do on a larger screen tablet. Users can flip or swipe between an unlimited number of tabs using intuitive gestures, as if you’re holding a deck of cards in the palm of a hand, each one a new window to the web.

Mobile Execs See Mobile Payments as "Breakthrough Category" in 2012

2012-02-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Mobile industry executives surveyed by analyst Chetan Sharma think mobile payments will be the breakthrough category for 2012.

The next breakthrough category is seen to be mobile commerce.

Survey respondents tend to believe financial sector participants will be the leaders in mobile payments, specifically firms such as Visa and MasterCard that run huge branded payment networks.

Missing from the list of options, though, are "banks" and other participants that provide the credit or debit card functions.

Perhaps of note, since 2011, respondents have boosted their opinions of the established payment networks, lowered their view of prospects for Isis, and now take a higher view of start-ups, Amazon and Apple.

PayPal is viewed less favorably than in 2011, which some observers might find just the opposite of what might happen in 2012.

Mobile Internet Usage Doubles

2012-02-07T09:26:00.002-07:00

Global internet usage on mobile devices, exclusive of tablets, has almost doubled to 8.5 percent in January 2012, up from 4.3 percent in 2010, according to StatCounter.

The other important observation is that mobile broadband already has passed fixed network broadband, in terms of number of users or subscribers.

StatCounter Global Stats data also suggest mobile access to the Internet has been doubling every year since 2009. Other studies confirm the trend.

Nokia leads worldwide, most probably driven by its dominance in India, while Apple is second globally but leads the U.S. and U.K. markets.

Global use of mobile devices to access internet
(excludes tablets)

Jan 2009: 0.7%
Jan 2010: 1.6%
Jan 2011: 4.3%
Jan 2012: 8.5%

Mobile phones and PC dongles have been the main drivers of mobile broadband usage, so far. The big question is how much of a role tablets will play in the future.

"Everybody" Multi-tasks When Watching TV

2012-02-06T12:09:00.001-07:00

Multi-tasking between TV and internet connected devices is now the norm for consumers, globally.

In fact, according to GlobalWebIndex, fewer than 20 percent of respondents survey had not multi-tasked, while watching TV, in the last month.

While laptops lead, with nearly 50 percent of respondents having used them in tandem with watching TV in the last month, 40 percent having used a mobile and 10 percent used a tablet while watching TV.

Which of the following devices have you used while watching TV?

It is not entirely clear that mobile phones are used exclusively or primarily for content consumption while watching TV. People might be answering the phone or placing a call, sending or reading text messages or email, for example.

Still, the findings do reinforce the notion that "mobile" devices often are used in un-tethered but not mobile contexts, while TV consumption is less an experience that always demands full attention by viewers.

There are lots of implications for "interactive TV." Some decades ago, there was more thinking about how to change the TV experience from a "passive" to an "active" experience. It now appears that is less important to people.

TV remains largely a passive experience. What is "active" is people doing other things while TV is "on."

Top 3 U.S. Smart Phones are Apple, Apple, Apple

2012-02-06T09:52:00.002-07:00

Some 68 percent of mobile phones sold during the fourth quarter of 2011 were smart phones, according to NPD Group. And the top five best-selling mobile phone handsets in the fourth quarter were built by Apple. In terms of sales volume, the top devices were:

Apple iPhone 4S
Apple iPhone 4
Apple iPhone 3GS
Samsung GALAXY S II
Samsung GALAXY S

The NPD Group study mirrors other studies that suggest Apple and Samsung are the two most-profitable device manufacturers. Apple, Samsung are the growing volume leaders globally, as well.

Profitability, more than anything else, now is shaping the global smart phone business, one might argue after considering the latest estimate by Strategy Analytics of market share in the global handset business.

Globally, Apple and Samsung have, over the last 12 months, surged to the top of the charts in terms of smart phone sales volume. In the past, the “smart phone” category has not been significant, as all devices were feature phones or basic phones.

As the market begins to shift to a smart phone buyer pattern, differences in firm strategy and execution have lead to a rapid change in market leadership.

Global smart phone shipments grew 54 percent annually to reach a record 155 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Alex Spektor, Strategy Analytics associate director. That apparently has proven to be a decisive change.

In the past, Nokia has been the global share leader, but Nokia has not been able to translate that prior success into smart phone success, where Apple has changed the game and Samsung apparently has been able to keep pace.

Apple overtook Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume with 24 percent market share. Apple’s global smartphone shipments surged 128 percent annually to 37.0 million units, as distribution of the iPhone family expanded across numerous countries, dozens of operators and multiple price points.”

Apple took the top spot for share on a quarterly basis, but Samsung became the market leader in annual terms for the first time with 20 percent global share during 2011. With global smartphone shipments nearing half a billion units in 2011, Samsung is now well positioned alongside Apple in a two-horse race at the forefront of one of the world’s largest and most valuable consumer electronics markets, Strategy Analytics says.

In contrast, Nokia’s smart phone market share was cut in half from 2011 to 2011, dropping from 33 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011.

That is one reason there has been so much focus on the Nokia partnership with Microsoft, as many would argue the Windows Mobile operating system represents the best shot Nokia will have to avoid collapse.

The other observation of note would be that profitability might now be emerging as the key differentiator, even though design and consumer demand clearly are driving the market overall.

Samsung’s most-recent quarterly earnings also set records. Samsung Electronics Co declared $4.7 billion in quarterly operating profit. jumping 76 percent year over year.

Between them, Apple and Samsung earned fully 81 percent of all profits in the mobile handset business.

Apple in the fourth quarter of 2011 shipped 37 million smart phones worldwide, up 117 percent from 17 million in the second quarter. This represented the strongest sequential quarterly growth among the top-five smart phone brands, according to IHS ISuppli.

“Samsung advanced in 2011 because of its strategy of offering a complete line of smartphone products, spanning a variety of price points, features and operating systems,” says Wayne Lam, IHS senior analyst.

On the other hand, the market share battle between Apple and Samsung reflects the competition between the two leading smartphone operating systems and ecosystems: Apple's iOS and Google's Android, says Lam.

“The relatively small growth of Sony Ericsson and Motorola may indicate that the Android smart phone market is becoming too crowded as the various licensees compete for limited consumer mind share and shelf space,” Lam says.

Verizon begins testing new mobile payment solution

2012-02-06T08:17:00.001-07:00

Vantiv (formerly Fifth Third Processing Solutions), a payment processor, is conducting a field trial of a new mobile payment solution developed in collaboration with Verizon.

The new solution features end-to-end, secure point-of-sale payment capability and business applications using Verizon’s "Private Application Store for Business."

Vantiv customers can tailor point-of-sale applications using the solution.

Vantiv's Mobile Business Solution from Vantiv on Vimeo.

Google Testing In-Home Wireless Device

2012-02-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

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 is not directed at evaluating the radio frequency characteristics of the module (which are known), but rather at the throughput and stability of the home Wi-Fi networks that will support the device, as well as the basic functionality of the device. Google in-home wireless test

Some Mobile Networks Must Raise Prices, Cut Costs, Manage Demand or Accept Congestion

2012-02-05T18:18:00.001-07:00

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 could rise to $40 billion per year by 2016.

This compares with $5 billion per year in 2011, Analysys Mason says.

“Operators can’t afford to spend that sort of money,” says Terry Norman, Analysys Mason lead analyst. “Therefore, operators will either accept network congestion or use pricing to control demand.”

Or, as many now believe, mobile service providers will have to overlay much cheaper infrastructure, such as small cells, as well as greater use of in-building and outdoor Wi-Fi, Norman says.

One potential issue is whether small cell deployment will be a substitute for fourth generation networks in Western Europe.

“The costs of indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi are both significantly lower than those of upgrading to 4G,” Norman says. “In Western Europe, operators need to save $30 billion in mobile access network costs between now and 2016.”

Wi-Fi would go a long way towards making up that deficit because it costs only about 20 percent of an equivalent macro deployment, Norman says. Access network costs too high

“The number one challenge is how to make data profitable,” says Norman. “To do this, operators really only have two choices: they can increase the price of data, or they can decrease the cost of delivery.”

“Increasing the price of data will be extremely difficult for operators because consumers expect data to become ever-cheaper,” Norman says. Reducing the cost of operating the network is one way out of the conundrum.

What's Danger of Shorter Movie Windows?

2012-02-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

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 hate the idea.

His argument is that consumers do not object to paying for content, but do not want to wait to view it. Aside from satisfying that demand, Greenfield argues content owners will make lots more money charging $20 to $25 for an on-demand viewing, than from a single patron's theater ticket.

Offering movies in-home, day-and-date with their theatrical release would be neutral to positive for annual spending on movies, with 93 percent of respondents to a recent survey indicating that their spending would be the same, if not higher (28 percent said higher, 65 percent no change).

But there are lots of "moving parts" here. Theatrical exhibition builds "buzz" for the after market. Whether at-home viewing with the same "day and date" release window will provide as much promotional value is not certain.

Some viewers, such as families with young children, might increase viewing at home. Or they might not.

Also, the “decrease in movie spending group" includes reduced spending less on concessions and parking, not the actual movie tickets. Piracy might increase, or not.

Collapsing windows also will depress the market for pirated movies, Greenfield argues. But the survey results aren't conclusive.

In terms of the impact on piracy, 60 percent of respondents indicated it would have no impact on piracy or decrease it (40 percent no impact, 20 percent decrease). Content owners might be worried about the other 40 percent, though.

"We believe the data in aggregate does not show a major industry risk to collapsing the theatrical-to-home entertainment window," says Greenfield. "There would be some uplift in consumer spending on movies with a greater share of that spending captured by movie studios versus movie exhibitors, offset in part (at worst) by a rise in piracy."

Though clearly negative for theater owners, the big question for content owners is whether the move boosts "first run" revenue, and by how much, as well as the impact on pricing power and sales volume in the later release windows.

Survey via SurveyMonkey Audience