Operators spending $5.6 billion over five years on EADs; ADVA takes top spot

USA: Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its latest Ethernet Access Devices market size, market share, and forecast report, which tracks revenue, units, and ports for copper and fiber Ethernet access devices (EADs).

“With so many operators moving to fiber as they upgrade building sites and mobile backhaul from TDM to Ethernet, fiber-based EADs will remain a much bigger market than copper EADs,” anticipates Michael Howard, principal analyst for carrier networks and co-founder of Infonetics Research.

“That said, it is clear that a growing number of mobile backhaul operators and transport providers are turning to EFM (Ethernet for First Mile) bonded copper technology, taking advantage of its extended reach and capacity in many applications and locations where fiber is too expensive for the return on investment. In fact, EFM bonded copper EAD sales were up while fiber and Ethernet over TDM EAD sales were down in the first half of 2012.”

“TDM-based EADs aside, the EAD market is growing nicely on an annual basis, strongly influenced by healthy Ethernet service uptake. We expect operators to spend close to $5.6 billion cumulative on EADs over the five years from 2012 to 2016.”

Market highlights
* Globally, the Ethernet access device market fell 4 percent in the first half of 2012 (1H12) from the second half of 2011 (2H11), despite growth in the EFM bonded copper EAD segment.
* Infonetics forecasts the EAD market to top $1.3 billion by 2016.
* While North America, where EADs first took off, remains the largest market with 54% revenue share in 1H12, Latin America is the fastest-growing region for EADs.
* ADVA took the lead in global Ethernet access device revenue share in 1H12, followed by Ciena, Overture, and Actelis.
* Actelis continues to lead the fast-growing EFM bonded copper EAD segment.

Desire to purchase iPhone decreases in Chinese market

TAIWAN: According to a market survey on the Chinese smartphone market in the third quarter of 2012, conducted by global research firm TrendForce and Chinese consumer research company AVANTI Research partners, Chinese smartphone brands are experiencing rapid growth as a result of cost and software advantages.

Global shipment volume is climbing every year, to the point that these domestic makers are posing a threat to foreign brands in the Chinese market. TrendForce forecasts Chinese smartphone brands will account for 34 percent of global smartphone shipments in 2013, up from 28 percent in 2012.

In the category of consumers’ desire to purchase, Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi, whose products demonstrate a high price-performance ratio, is quickly catching up to Samsung. The Chinese smartphone market has shown massive potential, and Lenovo has seen impressive sales results thus far.

Although the manufacturer places seventh in this category, with only 2 percent, Lenovo continues to see strong smartphone shipments, and may pose a threat to Samsung’s position in the Chinese smartphone market in 2013.

Samsung and Apple battle for brand recognition
As in other global markets, Apple and Samsung are at the top when it comes to brand recognition in the Chinese smartphone market. Nokia, whose brand image was strong last year, failed to take advantage of their lead and have suffered losses in both the brand recognition and consumers’ desire to purchase categories.

As the chart indicates, Apple’s brand recognition has improved rapidly in the past year, increasing from 35.2 percent to 80.4 percent, with the strongest growth occurring in the second quarter of 2012.

However, desire to purchase the iPhone has decreased by 12 percent since the second quarter. TrendForce believes that due to the iPhone’s relatively high retail price and inability to work with China’s largest telecom, its strong brand image has been unable to stimulate purchase desire.

Samsung, whose brand recognition was steady at around 60 percent last year, close behind Apple, has seen an increase to 74.1 percent due to the release of many new models and heavy advertising. Although Samsung’s brand image remains weaker than the iPhone’s, Samsung has already become the most used smartphone brand in China, beating Nokia’s 17.1 percent with 20.7 percent; purchase desire has increased by 5.6 percent compared to the second quarter.

Xiaomi brand shows strong market potential
Chinese brands including Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE have made it into the top ten in terms of brand recognition. Xiaomi in particular has garnered widespread acceptance due to its social networking management and understanding of consumer expectations.

The company’s successful marketing has caused consumer awareness towards its brand to jump from almost nothing to 14.4 percent, showing great market potential. The consumer survey indicates, since the introduction of the first Xiaomi smartphone, Chinese consumers’ purchase desire has surged due to the device’s favorable price-performance ratio and the suitability of the MIUI operating system to Chinese users.

As such, in the third quarter of 2012, Xiaomi was China’s only domestic brand to surpass Nokia and HTC in terms of purchase desire, quickly catching up to Apple and Samsung.

As for Lenovo, who placed seventh in terms of brand recognition and purchase desire, the maker’s actual sales figures in the Chinese smartphone market were second only to Samsung, surpassing all other domestic brands. TrendForce believes Lenovo’s high sales volume is attributable to cooperation with China’s three major telecoms as well as Lenovo’s numerous sales channels.

With sales on the Internet, in brick and mortar stores, and through China’s major telecoms, the maker has a strong retail network. Add to that comprehensive after sales services, and Lenovo’s high sales figure is unsurprising; Samsung may very well be knocked off the sales throne next year.

Although Xiaomi surpasses Lenovo in terms of both brand recognition and purchase desire, the former’s sales volume is far lower than the latter’s. According to TrendForce research, Xiaomi is in tenth place for smartphone shipment volume. TrendForce believes the bottleneck for Xiaomi lies in its limited capacity and sales channels. The maker currently has an M1, M1S, and the newest M2 model available, but consumers can only purchase via Xiaomi’s website or through a contract with telecoms.

Xiaomi’s few sales channels and long-term supply shortage may be the reason the brand’s strong performance in the purchase desire category has not been reflected in its shipment figures.

'Live-to-work' ethos driving faster BYOD adoption in high-growth markets

AUSTRALIA: Employees in high-growth markets are more willing to embrace the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon and the personal productivity benefits of enterprise mobility compared to those in mature markets, finds Ovum. Driving this trend is the predisposition of professionals in high-growth markets to “live to work” and the lower rate of corporate provision of mobile handsets and tablets.

As part of the largest study ever conducted into employee BYOD behaviour and attitudes, a new paper from Ovum reveals that across 17 markets, 57.1 percent of full-time employees engage in some form of BYOD. Yet, when broken down by market, there is a clear trend: 75 percent of respondents in the emerging, “high-growth” markets (including Brazil, Russia, India, UAE, and Malaysia) demonstrate a much higher propensity to use their own devices at work, compared to 44 percent in more mature markets.

“Employees in high-growth, emerging economies are demonstrating a more flexible attitude to working hours, and are happy to use their own devices for work. However, in mature markets, employees have settled into comfortable patterns of working behaviour and are more precious about the separation of their work and personal domains,” explains Richard Absalom, consumer impact IT analyst at Ovum.

“This bifurcation in behaviour will shape not just future patterns of enterprise mobility in high-growth markets compared to mature markets, but also dictate which markets, structurally, are going to benefit most from this revolution in how and where we work.”

Ovum’s research also suggests that employees in high-growth markets see BYOD as way to get ahead in their careers, with 79 percent believing that constant connectivity to work applications enables them to do their jobs better, compared to 53.5 percent in mature markets.

A notable anomaly to this trend is Spain, where 62.8 percent of employees bring their own devices to work – well above the developed market mean. “This could have something to do with the struggling economy: people are willing to use any and all means necessary to get ahead in their jobs, as losing them could be disastrous, given the high rates of unemployment,” suggests Absalom.

For businesses, while it’s promising to see IT departments getting to grips with, and encouraging, such behaviour in the regions where BYOD behaviour is most prevalent, Ovum warns that too much BYOD activity is going unmanaged. Of those respondents who bring their own devices to work, 17.7 percent claim that their employer’s IT department does not know, while a further 28.4 percent of respondents’ IT departments actively ignore it is happening.

“Unmanaged BYOD creates a great data security risk, and the implications of losing sensitive data via a personally owned device can be dire from financial, reputational and legal perspectives. Every business must understand the behaviour of its own employees, which, as we have seen, is likely to be influenced by its location, and manage it according to its risk profile,” concludes Absalom.

Reliance Globalcom partners with Ciena for 100G submarine cable network upgrade

INDIA: Ciena Corp. announced that Reliance Globalcom, the leading global provider of managed network and communication services for multinational enterprises and carriers, has selected Ciena’s market-leading WaveLogic coherent optical 100G networking solutions to upgrade its FLAG Europe-Asia (FEA) submarine network.

Based on Ciena’s OPn architecture, the 100G network will bring massive capacity increases to a route that connects Egypt and Jordan to satisfy customer demand for high-bandwidth services, while using its existing fiber infrastructure to support growing bandwidth requirements.

As part of the network upgrade, Reliance Globalcom will deploy a 100G DWDM system with Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical line interfaces.

Using principles of Ciena’s OPn network architecture, the upgrade will allow Reliance Globalcom to support the surge of high-bandwidth applications such as cloud computing, video conferencing, business continuity/disaster recovery, data center connectivity, and storage area networking, in addition to ever increasing Internet traffic.

The network upgrade with 100G technology allows Reliance Globalcom to increase submarine bandwidth on this segment by 10 times, and enables the launch of 10GE and OTU-2 services. The upgrade also enables Reliance Globalcom to provide 100GbE for their end customers as required.

Mobile communications equipment market set for double digit growth this year

USA: Despite soft macroeconomic conditions, the market for mobile communications equipment will grow by a robust 13 percent this year, propelled by climbing shipments of mobile handsets and tablets, particularly devices supporting the 4G long term evolution (LTE) wireless standard.

Total factory revenue from original equipment manufacturers making mobile communications equipment is projected to reach $376 billion by year-end, up from $334 billion in 2011, according to an IHS iSuppli Wireless Systems Market Tracker report from information and analytics provider IHS. Next year, overall revenue for mobile communications equipment is forecast to rise to $444 million, as shown in the figure attached.

Driven by mobile broadband, the five-year compound annual growth rate until 2016 will amount to 11 percent.

IHS defines mobile communications equipment factory revenue as what manufacturers earn from the sale of devices into the channel—in this case, mobile communications equipment like smartphones and other handsets. The category also includes wireless infrastructure gear such as routers.

“The wireless equipment market is continuing to grow this year despite facing daunting economic headwinds, including the slowdown in China and the turmoil engulfing the euro zone,” said Francis Sideco, senior principal analyst for wireless communications at IHS.

“To be sure, growth this year will be lower than the much more sizable expansion of 29 percent in 2011. However, the market’s double-digit rise in 2012 is a testament to the ongoing appeal of cellphones and tablets to global consumers. The increasing deployment of LTE is also a considerable factor, which will continue to spur the market.”

Smartphones spur greater chip content
In particular, the increasing proportion of handsets being sold as smartphones affects semiconductor content positively. When compared with previous handset designs, for instance, smartphones carry increased costs for application processors, memory bits and sensors, favorably impacting the semiconductor suppliers providing those components.

Moreover, smartphone support for the next-generation LTE wireless standard also drives semiconductor content, because more capable digital basebands, RF transceivers and power amplifiers are required.

As a result, the semiconductor market for mobile communications is set to generate $74 billion at the close of 2012, up 5 percent from $71 billion in 2011. While wireless semiconductor revenue has been revised down slightly from earlier estimates due to the underperforming global economy, the wireless segment as a whole remains one of the few areas in the worldwide electronics value chain expected to keep growing.

LTE comes of age
Among carriers, spending on wireless infrastructure gear is increasingly being focused on LTE. Expenditures on 4G LTE will exceed $8 billion this year, more than double the $4 billion spent in 2011.

Starting next year, LTE will dominate the global wireless infrastructure market over 3.5/3.75G-related investments. Moving forward, the most successful manufacturers of mobile communications equipment will be those that allow wireless carriers to cost-effectively upgrade their base stations to 4G LTE—an important competitive edge in a tightening market.

Ecosystem relationships and expanded visibility will also continue to be keys to success. High-profile mergers and acquisitions—exemplified by the likes of Qualcomm and Atheros, Broadcom and Beceem, and MediaTek and Ralink—have become important, and the Nokia-Microsoft partnership on smartphones is also notable.

“Such strategic realignments will set the stage for growth among individual entities involved in either a merger or partnership for the next three or four years,” Sideco said. “And when history is reviewed in the future, 2012 will be seen as the year when such coalitions started bearing fruit.”

Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.

InMobi launches lifetime value platform

INDIA: InMobi, the leader in mobile-first technology platforms, and the largest independent mobile ad network, announced the private beta launch of InMobi Lifetime Value Platform (LTVP).

This free-to-use platform allows premium publishers and app developers to better understand and engage their users, helping to maximize lifetime value (LTV), and ultimately increase revenues.

InMobi LTVP works by identifying different in-app user groups and providing deep behavior insight to the premium publisher or app developer. The app publisher using the InMobi platform then has the ability to rapidly modify the app’s behavior for each user segment without having to resubmit the app for approval.

The InMobi LTVP takes a three-step approach:

Insights: Gain advanced user insights across app usage, user engagement, in-app revenues, and other behaviors within the app.

Segments: Define granular user segments based on behavioral attributes such as monetary value of the purchase, time spent inside the app, number of app launches, or other custom events unique to the app.

Actions: Deliver rich in-app messages and modify app behavior at a segment level using targeted actions such as selling unique virtual goods, displaying highly customized ads, rewarding power users, or cross promoting other apps.

Tata Elxsi launches incub@TE

INDIA: Tata Elxsi announced the launch of incub@TE, an incubation centre program to nurture and support aspiring entrepreneurs.

The initiative is designed to create the next wave of product and service oriented technology start-ups in the areas of mobile, social, local, enterprise, cloud and embedded applications. Candidates can apply by registering online.

Madhukar Dev, MD & CEO, Tata Elxsi, said: “Tata Elxsi has been focussed on technology and new product/service development and nurturing talent and innovation has always been our way of life. Tata Elxsi looks forward to working with aspiring, young entrepreneurs to help them realize their full potential, by providing infrastructure, expertise and support in access to key markets and funding."

“This platform will enable start-ups and aspiring entrepreneurs to convert their innovative ideas into commercially viable products and services, It will also help entrepreneurs associated with the program gain better market visibility, acceptance and credibility ” added Rajesh Kumar, VP, Strategic Initiatives, Tata Elxsi.

Pantel launches India’s first 8” voice calling tablet PC

INDIA: The latest WS802C-2G Penta T-Pad Voice Calling tablet PC from the Pantel Technologies stable is built to appeal to a cross section of consumers varying from avid gamers, busy professionals and thrill-seeking youngsters to the multi-tasking homemakers.

This Tablet PC is an ultimate on-the-go- productivity and education tool and entertainment hub to bring a welcome change to your demanding life.

Penta T-Pad WS802C-2G Voice Calling tablet PC, comes with an inbuilt SIM Slot to keep you connected anytime-anywhere and its Wi-Fi, 3G USB Dongle support keeps a check for your high speed connectivity needs while on the move.

The WS802C-2G Voice calling tablet PC comes with a large 8” multi-touch capacitive screen,1.2 GHz processor, 1GBDDRIII RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which can be expanded upto 32GB. At Rs. 8,299, this high-end performance device will revolutionize the education and applications market-place.

A special, first-of-its-kind accessory of a keyboard with an inbuilt stereo-phonic speaker system has been designed specifically for this model. Priced at Rs. 1,499, this accessory seamlessly converts the device into a laptop – making for an enhanced consumer experience. A carousel of widgets, and connectivity options like host and mini USB, HDMI Port and Bluetooth, ensures portability and compatibility with other I/O devices.
The Penta T-Pad WS802C-2G Voice Calling tablet PC comes pre-loaded with many popular applications which include Facebook, Skype (for video calling), Angry Birds and more.The extra-long 5000mAh battery and 3D graphics accelerator – for enhanced graphical capability – contribute to making this high-performance device a consumer delight.

Vijender Singh, MD, Pantel Technologies, said: “This latest product, introduced in India for the first time, the Penta T-Pad WS802C Voice calling tablet PC, with a uniue accessory and mutlple connectivity options at an affordable price of Rs. 8,299, is an initiative to bring more excitement and enhanced capability for our customers in this ever evolving market-place.”

PTPL has a strategic reverse data bundling alliance with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd to jointly address the data and ICT needs of Indian consumers by launching attractive data plans bundled with a range of Internet tablets named Penta T-Pads.

A special launch consumer promotion is being launched with the Penta T-Pad WS802C-2G Voice calling tablet PC; a BSNL SIM Card of 4GB data with 2 month validity is being given free with the tablet PC.

Flat is the new up as global optical networking vendors battle for shrinking business

AUSTRALIA: Global optical networking (ON) equipment spending retreated for the third consecutive quarter in 3Q12, versus the year-ago quarter, finds Ovum.

Operators in troubled economies are running networks hotter in an effort to delay network projects and defer spending.  Seasonal increases in 4Q revenues are expected, but market performance thus far means growth over 2012 will remain flat.

In a new market share analysis, the global analyst firm reveals that the ON market continues to contract, and vendors with strong exposure to weaker North America and EMEA markets are cutting costs and restructuring operations to ride out the current economic storm.
According to Ovum, global spending in the quarter dropped 1 percent compared with 3Q11 to $3.7 billion. Spending is up 14 percent in Asia-Pacific compared with 3Q11, but not enough to offset declines of 11 percent in North America, 8 percent in EMEA and 4 percent in South and Central America.

“Preliminary analysis of 3Q12 results offers little positive news,” says Ron Kline, principal analyst network infrastructure at Ovum. “The competitive environment is challenging at the moment. Many vendors are grateful just to see their business stay flat. It will be very difficult for the market to reach the 2 percent growth we have predicted for the year. Now is the time to position next-generation products with operators which will have no choice but to turn spending back on in 2013.”

Ovum believes the economic malaise will continue for the rest of 2012 and into 2013 at the very least, and could get potentially worse should the US government let its economy fall off the “fiscal cliff.”

In terms of vendor performance, Ericsson, Fiberhome, Huawei and NEC were the only top vendors to post both sequential and year-over-year revenue growth. Nokia Siemens, Tellabs and ZTE posted sequential and year-over-year revenue declines, with Alcatel-Lucent’s quarterly revenues falling below $400m for the first time and its rolling revenues falling below $2 billion (also an all-time low).

“With three uninspiring quarters of 2012 behind us, we are advising our clients that the global market will likely contract into the $14.5–15 billion range, a further retrenchment from our 2Q alert guidance. A modest “budget flush” factor is included in our revised estimate but we are not anticipating a large-scale buying spree that would recoup all the ground lost in the three earlier soft quarters,” concludes Kline.

Smart devices and social media to drive new culture of online, always-connected customers in 2013

AUSTRALIA: New analytics solutions, multichannel metrics, and better collaboration tools will be crucial in 2013, as enterprises feel the pressure to understand and pre-empt the needs from the always-connected customer, says Ovum. Vendors will need to step up and add these capabilities fast, or else risk losing business.

As part of its 2013 Trends to Watch series, Ovum explores the important changes in the customer experience and interaction market, detailing how technologies are evolving to meet new consumer demands and providing recommendations for both enterprises and vendors.

According to Ovum’s report, social media response teams will move into the contact center, driving the need for better social media management tools, and the global analyst firm forecasts high growth (21 percent CAGR) for social media monitoring within the customer service function in the next five years. Mobile self-service will become more intelligent, customers will have the ability to request a callback from within a mobile application, and it will become easier to transfer a query from a self-service application to voice, chat, or email.

Traditionally siloed applications such as performance management, business intelligence, and customer feedback will be merged into voice-of-the-customer (VOC) analytics suites that help enterprises view and compare data across different stages of the customer lifecycle. Many enterprises will have a mixture of cloud- and premise-based customer service solutions, although, for most companies, core automated call distribution (ACD) functionality is likely to remain on-premise for the foreseeable future because of existing investments and mentality.

“Enterprises need to support today’s customers by providing timely and accurate responses via mobile, web, and voice channels. In order to succeed, they must address customer needs at every stage of the customer lifecycle, and support and integrate data internally. It makes sense for enterprises to create collaborative customer experience teams in order to align technology and data strategies across product, IT, marketing, and customer support,” says Aphrodite Brinsmead, senior analyst at Ovum.

Smartphones to overtake feature phones in flash memory consumption next year

USA: In another sign of their rising clout in the supply chain, smartphones next year will account for a larger share of NAND flash memory usage than feature phones, the first time this has ever happened.

Approximately 792 million flash memory units, including both NOR and NAND varieties, will ship in 2013 to smartphones, compared to 703 million units for feature phones, according to an IHS iSuppli Memory On the Move Market Brief from information and analytics provider IHS. This compares to a total of 790 million units this year for feature phones, and 613 million units for smartphones.

That means that between 2012 and 2013 there will be a 29 percent growth in flash memory shipments for smartphones, versus an 11 percent decline for feature phones.

“Because feature phones this year will remain the largest segment of the global mobile handset market, they will continue to consume the largest amount of flash memory of any single type of phone,” said Ryan Chien, analyst for memory & storage at IHS. “However, a permanent reversal will ensue next year as smartphones overtake feature phones in total units and flash memory shipments. This illustrates the rising influence of smartphones within technology markets.”

Feature phones remain relevant
Despite their anticipated loss of market leadership, feature phones will continue to make up a substantial portion of flash memory shipments in the years ahead, accounting for well over 500 million units each year through 2016.

Overall, flash memory densities continue to rise as bit costs erode and as feature phones grow in sophistication to meet the changing needs of consumers, especially in the emerging markets of the developing world where consumers are becoming increasingly mobile-centric.

High-density NOR remains common in feature phones because of its superior speed for code execution, while NAND densities of 128 megabytes can now be found in mainstream feature handsets in order to handle applications and media storage.

The continued high usage of flash memory in feature phones is due to various factors. For instance, superior cameras of 2 to 3 megapixels are now common in the handsets, with more than 400 million feature phones shipping with such cameras this year. Also playing a factor is the increased utilization of feature phones as portable music players—a functionality that encourages higher storage densities. A third driver is the penetration of wireless 3G into feature phones, facilitating more frequent usage of apps in the handsets.

The feature upsell
Feature phones can become a good opportunity for handset brands to establish customer loyalty for future upselling, especially in areas like Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and parts of Asia—where handsets are still making their way into the local population, and where cellphone usage growth is much higher than in the mature markets of North America and Europe.

An upselling strategy could well benefit entities like Nokia and Research In Motion—two handset makers that have stumbled in the smartphone space in the developed world, but maintain strong presence in many emerging countries. While products from both companies have lost their luster in the high-end handset spectrum, the historical success of the two firms could position them for continued popularity in the emerging markets via the future products they release, especially as consumers there enjoy increased purchasing power over time.

Nokia, in particular, is well-suited for developing markets: its phone prices have dropped 50 percent since 2007, during which time Samsung’s prices jumped by nearly the same margin of 50 percent.

All told, feature phones remain a critical segment to meet the needs of a fast-growing and potentially lucrative demographic in many areas of the world, which should benefit the flash memory market, IHS iSuppli believes. This is true despite projections for smartphone shipments shooting through the roof.

Source: IHS iSuppli, USA.

Industry ignoring complex factors when assessing small cell market opportunity

AUSTRALIA: Defining the small cell market opportunity is a lot more complex than many industry commentators would have us believe, according to Ovum. With the likes of Vodafone already announcing next year’s small cell plans, all signs point to this market as a growing opportunity for infrastructure vendors.

However, Ovum warns that current assessments ignore key factors, such as deployments using real-estate assets mobile operators aren’t accustomed to and whether the market can support the many vendors pursuing small cell.

In two new small cell reports* Ovum explains that although no single definition of the small cell market fits all vendors, defining the market based on small cell applications rather than technology provides the best segmentation.

Ovum also insists that Wi-Fi should be considered a small cell as infrastructure vendors are starting to incorporate Wi-Fi support into their overall heterogeneous network (HetNet) strategies. This interest will see carrier Wi-Fi gear shipments grow by 84 percent in 2012 and continue double-digit growth to 2017, forecasts Ovum.

“The majority of interest in the small cell market today is surrounding the capacity gains of small cells being deployed in a heterogeneous network (HetNet),” says Daryl Schoolar, principal analyst in Ovum’s Network Infrastructure Telecoms team.

“The reasons for this are very clear: as mobile traffic continues to grow, the economics of deploying more macrocells to meet this traffic growth do not add up long term. Small cells promise to provide much-needed capacity injections at a lower cost.”

When physically deploying small cells, Ovum advocates network sharing for mobile operators. “Not only will it be difficult for multiple operators to deploy 100+ small cells in a given city; governments could even legislate sharing to avoid excessive cluttering,” explains Schoolar.

This will be just one factor that can limit a vendor’s opportunities when it comes to small cells, yet another according to Ovum will be the operators’ willingness to have different macrocell and metro cell vendors in a single market. Using multiple vendors could make integrating metro cells into the macro network difficult, especially if the macrocell vendor has no reason to cooperate.

“While Alcatel-Lucent, among several vendors, may see small cells as a way to gain ground in markets where it isn’t the macro vendor, it is far from certain that mobile operators are interested in this type of arrangement,” concludes Schoolar.

INSIDE Secure to acquire ESS

FRANCE: INSIDE Secure has entered into an agreement to purchase Embedded Security Solutions (ESS), a high expertise business which designs and develops encryption-related security hardware intellectual property (IP) and software for a variety of industries, including the mobile and networking markets.

The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2012 subject to certain customary closing conditions. The Supervisory Board of INSIDE Secure has unanimously approved the transaction.

This strategic acquisition will enable INSIDE Secure to reinforce its position as a key player in the fast-growing security solutions market:

* ESS brings to INSIDE Secure complementary offerings for a complete security architecture, as well as additional solutions for securing both content (Digital Rights Management or DRM) and data exchange (Virtual Private Network or VPN).

* ESS complements INSIDE Secure’s know-how with a talented team of 79 highly qualified employees located in Europe, Asia and in the US, as well as its extensive and highly regarded security intellectual property and technology portfolio, which aligns with INSIDE’s long-term strategy to generate its own IP licensing revenue.

* This acquisition will allow INSIDE Secure to access a wider customer base in the mobile, content provider and network industries that serve a variety of application markets (smart grids, automotive, gaming and others).

* By leveraging the strong capabilities of INSIDE Secure’s existing Mobile NFC and Digital Security businesses, the combined offer should lead to additional sales in high growth markets.

At closing, INSIDE Secure will pay $38 million in cash subject to a working capital adjustment, and up to an additional $10 million subject to completion of certain post-closing transactions. The transaction is expected to be accretive to INSIDE Secure’s 2013 adjusted operating and net results, and to enhance INSIDE Secure’s gross margin.

Rémy de Tonnac, CEO of INSIDE Secure, said: “This transaction is an important opportunity to extend our position in the security value chain and reinforce our global offer in high-end security solutions. It will enable us to complement our product and solution portfolio in Mobile NFC and Digital Security and enhance our customer offerings in fast- growing markets. The talented ESS team who will be joining will contribute their know-how and expertise to advancing our innovative technologies, and help us address new security markets.”

Contela integrates Symmetricom SoftClock into small cell solution

USA & KOREA: Symmetricom Inc. and Contela Inc., the leading provider for small cell coverage devices for telecommunication carriers, announced the integration of the Symmetricom SoftClock into Contela's small cell solution.

Contela also joins Symmetricom's SyncWorld Ecosystem Program supporting the small cells category.

Contela worked closely with Symmetricom on integrating the ROSA-P (Rosalind public type) and ROSA-H (Rosalind home type) 4G LTE enterprise and residential femtocell devices with the LTE FDD standard. During the integration process, Contela's femtocell portfolio was shown to be capable of maintaining precise and constant synchronization using Symmetricom's SoftClock client software.

"Contela has had successful commercial experience with 3G/WCDMA small cell deployments and that has a lot to do with our leading small cell products that have integrated Symmetricom's NTP Client software with packet-based synchronization solutions," said Young-Kyu Kim, GM of Contela. "The SCr/SCe NTP/ PTP and sGPS SoftClock from Symmetricom was selected for its quality to support Contela's 3G and 4G offerings."

A recent report by NDP In-Stat predicts that the sale of small cell devices will hit $14 billion in retail value by 2015, due to increasing demand for mobile data services. This surge in mobile data services is placing an increasingly high level of stress on mobile networks that were not originally designed to anticipate intensive voice traffic.

"Precise timing is an essential element of successful small cell network deployments to support LTE networks," said Manish Gupta, VP of marketing and business development at Symmetricom. "We welcome Contela to the SyncWorld Ecosystem Program and look forward to more successful small cell deployments with our partners."

Huawei and SPIRIT DSP mark five years of fruitful co-operation

RUSSIA: SPIRIT DSP,  the world's #1 voice and video over IP engines provider serving more than 1 billion users in 100+ countries, announced five years of non-stop partnership with Huawei, the world's largest telecommunications equipment provider.

Huawei's products and services are deployed in over 100 countries and serve 45 of the world's top 50 telecom operators, as well as one third of the world's population.

Since November 2007, several contracts were signed between the two companies, including SPIRIT’s voice engine and video engine licensed by Huawei for PCs and mobile platforms, including Windows, MacOS, iOS and Android. As a result, today SPIRIT’s voice and video engines are part of Huawei’s software and hardware products, which are used worldwide by dozens of national telcos, serving totally more than 100 million users.

In 2007, Huawei licensed SPIRIT's TeamSpirit  Voice Engine PC to offer the highest quality PC VoIP solution to its operator and service provider customers. At the Huawei IMS Summit, which took place in Beijing during the PT/EXPO 2007, Huawei listed SPIRIT among its key partners, along with IBM, HP, Broadsoft and about 10 other major players of the global telecom industry.

Later, Huawei has extended its license with SPIRIT for HD voice and video several times. Huawei uses SPIRIT's TeamSpirit Voice&Video Engine PC in Huawei's IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), Unified Communications (UC) and Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) solutions for carriers. Huawei also extended its license with SPIRIT for wideband Mobile VoIP (voice over IP) and video calling.

Today, SPIRIT and Huawei continue to co-operate tightly on a day-to-day basis on voice and video over IP-based networks. Huawei continues to expand its customer base, including products designed for telcos' using TeamSpirit engines for mobile and PC.

"LTE-networks bring communications to new level, and require software that can cope with new challenges and complexity of offering cross-platform IP communications," said SPIRIT's chairman, Andrew Sviridenko. "We continue to develop innovative software products for voice and video over IP-networks expected by our valued telco customers, and this ongoing relationship with Huawei underscores the importance that telcos around the world are now placing on delivering HD voice and video in their VVoIP services."

Qualcomm expands IZat location platform

USA: Qualcomm Technologies Inc. announced that its networking and connectivity subsidiary, Qualcomm Atheros, Inc., expanded the Qualcomm IZat location platform with enhancements that bring precise indoor positioning capabilities to the leading brands of mobile phones, tablets and network infrastructure. IZat indoor location solutions will enable compelling consumer experiences in public places and help open revenue streams in the retail, travel, entertainment and hospitality industries.

These new indoor positioning capabilities enhance the end-to-end IZat location platform designed to deliver ubiquitous, always-on location. The platform is based on Qualcomm's broad technology portfolio, including cellular, global navigation satellite system (GNSS), Wi-Fi, sensor and cloud-based assistance solutions, as well as the industry's most widely deployed location core, already found in more than one billion devices on mobile networks worldwide.

With its leadership position, Qualcomm Technologies can now deliver new indoor location capabilities on a large number of mobile devices. The enhanced IZat location platform enables more precise positioning (within 3-5 meters) inside buildings to ensure an optimal consumer experience.

The Qualcomm IZat Indoor Positioning Software debuted on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors, including the MSM8960 Pro and APQ8064 coupled with the MDM9x15. IZat indoor solutions provide up to 10 times greater accuracy in both open and closed environments over existing platforms.

Additionally, the Snapdragon SDK for Android now includes tools and APIs that provide unique location capabilities for, and simplify the development of, indoor location-based apps for Snapdragon devices.

In addition to enhancing the location capabilities for mobile devices, the IZat location platform includes infrastructure technologies that enable Wi-Fi networking customers to deliver location-aware networks. Qualcomm Atheros' latest 802.11ac and 802.11n access point solutions feature advanced Wi-Fi-based positioning calculations to pinpoint locations with greater accuracy.

"Outdoor navigation and location apps are already an essential part of the mobile experience, while indoor location represents the next frontier in location-based applications. With the unmatched capabilities of the IZat platform, Qualcomm is enabling precise indoor location and fostering a strong partner ecosystem," said Amir Faintuch, senior VP and GM, consumer business unit, Qualcomm Atheros.

"By coupling the industry's leading mobile platform with enterprise-class Wi-Fi networking capabilities, Qualcomm is providing a solution that addresses the entire end-to-end indoor location framework. We are delivering the key elements of the indoor location ecosystem in collaboration with other technology leaders to offer more compelling mobile experiences for consumers and businesses alike."

Indoor positioning systems require multiple network and mobile technologies, maps, applications and middleware working together. Qualcomm Atheros is collaborating with industry leaders to streamline the way location data is shared across elements of the ecosystem, and to accelerate the deployment of indoor location systems and services that deliver value to businesses and consumers.

Cisco is working with Qualcomm Atheros to optimize the indoor positioning capabilities of its Mobility Services Engine to enhance service discovery and location-based apps in public venues such as shopping malls, retail chains, hotels, airports, hospitals, college campuses, entertainment destinations and enterprises.

Meridian is a mobile-software company for location-based businesses. Used by everyone from the Venetian Hotel-Resort-Casino to the New York City subway system, Meridian's platform is the first for developing both indoor navigation and location-based services for mobile apps.

"Location-based apps will revolutionize how businesses reach mobile consumers and enhance their experiences in a variety of public places, particularly indoors," said Kiyo Kubo, chief executive officer of Meridian. "By working with Qualcomm and its partners, we can take full advantage of the latest mobile and network capabilities to create innovative apps with indoor positioning that deliver real value to consumers and businesses."

Indians comfortable sharing information online

INDIA: According to a recent study commissioned by Intel Corp. and conducted by Ipsos Observer on ‘Mobile Etiquette’, majority of adults and teens around the world are sharing information about themselves online and feel better connected to family and friends due to this. However, the survey also revealed a perception of “oversharing,” with at least six out of ten adults and teens saying they believe other people divulge too much information about themselves online, with Japan being the only exception country.

This annual ‘Mobile Etiquette’ survey examined the current state of mobile etiquette and evaluated how adults and teens in eight countries share and consume information online, as well as how digital sharing impacts culture and relationships. The research was conducted in the United States, Australia, Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia and Japan.

“In today’s society, mobile technology is making digital sharing ubiquitous with our everyday activities, as evidenced by the findings from Intel’s latest ‘Mobile Etiquette’ survey,” said Sandeep Aurora, director of Marketing and Market Development, Intel South Asia.

“What is most interesting is not necessarily how widespread our use of mobile technology has become, but how similar our reasons are for sharing, regardless of region or culture. The ability to use mobile devices to easily share information about our lives is creating a sense of connection across borders that we are continuing to see flourish.”

Majority of Indians are confidently sharing information online
The India findings of the study revealed that the respondents were comfortable sharing information online, with 81 percent adults in India sharing information online once a week or more and close to 48 percent once a day or more.  Inter personal communication seems to have taken a beating as 64 percent of adults in India prefer to share information online than in person and 44 percent said they were embarrassed by or regretted something they have shared online.

Online networking platforms seem to have moved beyond their popularity to being a part of the teenager’s lives as 69 percent of teens feel they are “missing out” if they are not able to share or consume information online. Further, 43 percent of the teen respondents are keen to make sure every moment of their life – even the ordinary one - is posted online.

Awareness on mobile etiquette
Intel powers today’s mobile lifestyles with Intel Core and Intel Atom processor families inside many peoples’ favourite mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops and Ultrabook systems). With more people using mobile devices to connect to the internet, Intel technology also increasingly powers cloud-based services that allow people to create, share and consume content and enjoy amazing digital experiences anytime, anywhere.

As the availability of internet-enabled mobile devices increases, a continued awareness of how people use these devices is also on the rise. Over 80 percent of adults responded to Intel’s ‘Mobile Etiquette’ survey wishing that people practiced better etiquette when using mobile devices in public. Majority of people think mobile manners have become worse, with the exception of adults in China who are more likely than others to believe mobile manners have truly started to improve (compared to a year ago).

“Etiquette is all about how we interact with one another, whether in person or online,” explained Sandeep Aurora. “The latest results from Intel’s ‘Mobile Etiquette’ survey clearly show that the question going forward won't be if we share online, but how we share online. Mobile devices enable us to share in the moment, and etiquette helps us decide how to share and connect in ways that are positive and enhance our relationships.”

As an innovator behind the technology powering mobile devices and mobile lifestyles, Intel is on a continued quest to understand consumers’ changing mobile usage models, how these models impact consumers’ lives and how technology should evolve in the future. This drives Intel innovation to create the technology experiences that people desire and love.

Key survey findings
* Approximately half of adults around the world feel overloaded by the amount of information people share online. Yet, adults and teens across the globe are sharing a wide variety of information online, with photos of themselves or people they know cited as one of the top things being shared.

* While the survey revealed that digital sharing on mobile devices helps many people feel more connected to others, the tendency to share too much information can annoy everyone for various reasons.

* More than 85 percent of survey respondents across the globe wish people thought more about how others will perceive them when sharing information online. At least one-quarter of adults and one-third of teens around the world, with the exception of Japan and Indonesia, have been embarrassed by something they have done online. Many also admit to having a different personality online and to sharing false information online.

* Majority of teens, with the exception of Japan, admit to constantly checking what their friends are sharing online and feeling like they are missing out when they are not able to share or consume information online.

GreenPeak golden unit for ZigBee input device

THE NETHERLANDS: GreenPeak Technologies, a leading Smart Home RF-communication semiconductor company, announced its support for the ZigBee Input Device standard, which adds specific features to the ZigBee RF4CE specification for mice, keyboards, touchpads, wands, game controllers and other input devices.

GreenPeak has achieved Golden Unit status for its ZigBee Input Device stack software and has also made its development platform available to its customers to accelerate integration and product design.

ZigBee Input Device is a global standard for greener, innovative and easy-to-use mice, keyboards, touchpads, wands and other input devices used to control and operate computers and consumer electronic devices. It also offers native support for popular multi-touch and gesture commands, allowing manufacturers to deliver feature-rich products.

The ZigBee Input Device standard allows consumers to use their devices from greater distances or even from other rooms because its operation is not limited to line of sight.

Plus, because of lower power draw, devices using the ZigBee Input Device standard will get much longer battery life, greatly reducing the total number of batteries used – and disposed of – during the lifetime of the device.

GreenPeak’s chip unique low latency also allows ZigBee Input Device for game controllers to transfer data more quickly, enabling faster and more accurate gaming.

“GreenPeak has supported the ZigBee Input Device standard since its inception. It is a great addition to the ZigBee RF4CE specifications and will make input devices more intuitive and greener.” says Cees Links, founder and CEO of GreenPeak Technologies.

“The ZigBee Alliance has established rigorous testing plans to ensure conformance to the standard and to ensure the highest standard of quality for all future ZigBee products. We are delighted to achieve the Golden Unit status. Our development platform, combined with Golden Unit certification, will enable our customers to quickly and easily deploy ZigBee Certified products using ZigBee Input Device.”

TelOne deploys FTS’ convergent billing and customer care solution

AfricaCom 2012 SOUTH AFRICA: FTS, a global provider of billing, customer care and policy control solutions for communications and content service providers, announced that Zimbabwe’s TelOne has successfully implemented its Leap Billing software, a comprehensive end-to-end billing and customer care solution.

TelOne is Zimbabwe’s national telecommunications operator and provides a wide range of services to its residential and business customers, including wireline telephony, wireless, broadband and satellite communications.  TelOne’s billing transformation project includes the implementation of FTS’ convergent billing and charging, interconnect billing, invoicing, order management, customer management, network management, mediation and more.

“Following the successful implementation of Leap Billing, we can already see the benefits of the FTS solution," said Hampton Mhlanga, TelOne’s CEO.

“The flexibility of the system will enable us to provide a richer offering to our customers through the rapid implementation of new services, as well as immediate additional sources of income from interconnect fees. The Leap Billing solution will help us to increase our revenues and therefore it will provide a rapid ROI. Moreover, we have seen first-hand that FTS is genuinely committed to our market and we have no doubt that working with FTS will take TelOne to the next generation of telecommunication services.”

"This is another great deployment for FTS, and one we believe that will provide huge benefits to TelOne," said Nir Asulin, FTS’ CEO.

"The flexibility of the Leap Billing platform will help TelOne create additional sources of revenue, and with our on-going support and service, TelOne will be able to further increase revenues over the coming years. This project is testimony to FTS’ steadfast commitment to this fast-growing region, where we help operators across Africa to provide a wide range of advanced telecommunication services to their growing customer base."

The flexibility of the Leap Billing platform means that new packages and services can now be created at the speed of marketing by TelOne. Other immediate benefits that Leap Billing brings to TelOne include: providing customers with a single bill summarising all the services they use from their subscription packages, including fixed telephony, Internet and wireless; offering subscribers a single point of contact for all their queries; and through the FTS’ Interconnect solution, ensuring accounting accuracy of TelOne’s growing roaming and interconnect revenues, enabling TelOne to turn its interconnect and settlements policies into a revenue stream, with an almost immediate return on investment.

FTS has a proven track record in working with leading carriers in Africa, and has seen its telecom billing and policy control solutions implemented by many of the region’s fixed-line, mobile, broadband and WiMAX operators.

Ethertronics’EtherModule 1.0 plug-and-play solution for M2M apps

USA: Ethertronics, a leading technology company enabling innovative antenna and RF system solutions to deliver the best connected experience, has the unveiled EtherModule 1.0.

Ideal for M2M and other wireless devices, EtherModule 1.0 is a turnkey, plug-and-play, active antenna system module combining Ethertronics’ advanced antenna architecture and EtherChip 1.0 tunable capacitor on a printed circuit board, for easy integration by wireless product designers. An industry first, EtherModule 1.0 is the latest innovation coming from the collaboration of Ethertronics’ three divisions: antennas, systems and chips.

EtherModule 1.0 has a typical dynamic range of 20dB to deliver maximum performance across a wide range of frequencies and use cases. Given the combination of closed loop functionality with a proprietary algorithm integrated in conjunction with a microprocessor, the module is capable of dynamically sensing and optimizing the antenna system, without external control signals from the device.

This approach provides tuning capability; seamlessly adjusting the characteristics of the antenna to its dynamic requirements – including frequency shift, hand, head and environmental effects, or more bandwidth. The result is a true turnkey plug-and-play antenna system that can be integrated into M2M devices, minimizing the need for additional engineering design and getting products to market faster.

EtherModule 1.0 also leverages the company’s recently launched EtherChip 1.0 tunable capacitor utilizing Air InteRFace Digital Conditioning technology. The first in a series of building blocks for RF front-end module chips to provide more “smarts” to antenna and RF systems, the EtherChip 1.0 silicon chip enables characteristics of the antenna and RF performance to be adapted to the environment experienced by the antenna.

“There are a number of universal pain points for wireless product designers – from being able to deliver high performance in ever-shrinking form factors, to needing to quickly deliver new products to market, while remaining competitive and relevant. EtherModule 1.0 integrates Ethertronics’ innovative active antenna, RF systems and chip technology into a turnkey plug-and-play module to provide maximum performance and reliability to M2M wireless devices,” said Laurent Desclos, president and CEO at Ethertronics.

“By combining expertise from our three divisions – antennas, systems and chips –we are able to provide designers with a way to differentiate their products and stand-out in a competitive market.”

Measuring 35x15x10 mm, EtherModule 1.0 is able to cover one frequency or a wide range of frequencies depending on the needs – from 100 MHz to 3 GHz – including 2G, 3G and 4G cellular as well as Bluetooth, ISM, WiFi and ZigBee. Its compact size and ability to cover a wide range of frequencies make it ideal for a variety of applications, including M2M, tablets and other wireless devices.

Ethertronics has already proven this technology in several M2M applications including medical. For example, a set of four advanced closed loop functions were combined in one medical device; providing accurate medication dispensing and inventories to help hospitals reduce inventory costs and improve patient care and staff efficiency.
EtherModule 1.0 is a smaller scale version;  leveraging Ethertronics’ expertise in active antenna systems to enable integration in any M2M device.

Ethertronics’ EtherModule 1.0 removes a level of complexity for wireless product designers since they simply need to integrate the plug-and-play module into their wireless device, connect the RF and supply DC power.

INSIDE Secure NFC payment applet certIfied by MasterCard

FRANCE: INSIDE Secure announced that its Mobile MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 payment applet has attained MasterCard CAST and Functional certification on the INSIDE SecuRead NFC module.

The INSIDE payment applet can be used by banks, wallet providers, transit operators, mobile network operators, handset and tablet makers and others in SIM, microSD and other form factors to enable MasterCard payments in any NFC mobile device.

“Certified for use on INSIDE’s new VaultSEcure secure element announced last month, or in the SecuRead module, our Mobile MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 payment applet also offers customers considerable benefits when used with other secure elements or UICCs running a GlobalPlatform-compliant Java Card operating system, including the one in our own VaultSEcure. It enables a faster, less costly certification process than when developing an applet from scratch,” said Pierre Garnier, executive VP, NFC and Secure Payment Divisions at INSIDE Secure.

“As important, the INSIDE Secure certified applet offers customers confidence that they can safely go for MasterCard certification on other SEs because the applet has been developed in accordance with the MasterCard specification, supporting both Mag Stripe and M/Chip profiles for global compatibility.”

The INSIDE Mobile MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 payment applet is the first in a planned family of certified branded applets, and is part of the company’s ongoing development effort to offer a comprehensive suite of pre-tested or certified branded payment, access control and banking applets. In addition to the Mobile MasterCard PayPass M/Chip 4 payment applet, INSIDE plans to support the Visa Mobile Payment Applet, First Data CertiFlash Mobile and the SecureKey Authentication Applet.

INSIDE also offers an advanced toolbox of NFC enablement applets for EMV white label, NFC-ID, couponing, gift and loyalty cards, closed-loop payment, CIPURSE and other transit fare collection, cryptography and more.

India will be among biggest players in global app market by 2016

GERMANY: Today’s leading smartphone app markets, the USA and the top five Western EU countries, will lose their dominant positions. The prerequisites of the Indian market to become one of the leading app markets are improving rapidly.

These finding are poart of the new Smartphone App Market Monitor by research2guidance.

There are various factors that have an impact on the size of the app business in a country. The four main drivers for this development are:

Dynamic of the overall economic wealth: Over the past two decades India has had an annual average GDP growth rate of 5.8 percent, making the country one of the top emerging economies today.

Furthermore, India’s GDP purchasing power parity (PPP) is ranked 3rd in the world by the most important institutions (e.g. the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the CIA World Factbook). The overall economic growth will drive the demand for apps that address customers with the help of the mobile channels.

Increase of average income: Today the monthly average salary in India amounts to only US$ 295, accounting for only 10 percent of the monthly average salary in both the US and Germany, and roughly 50 percent of the average Chinese monthly salary.

Additionally, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), 41.6 percent of the Indian population lives below $1.25 PPP per day. Projected growth rates of income are well above Western countries in the next few years. More and more employees will be able to afford a smartphone and thus drive India’s current smartphone share to 9 percent, overtaking Western countries’ figures.

High expected number of smartphone shipments:  India is currently ranked 7th in the world in terms of smartphone shipments, with a global market share of 2.9 percent. However, by 2016, the Indian market will become the third largest market for smartphone shipments (surpassing Brazil and the UK in the ranking) and will have an accompanying market share of 9.3 percent. This means, almost every tenth smartphone in the world will be shipped to the Indian market.

Active app developer community: India has one of the largest app developer communities that concentrate on offshore development today. With the growth of the domestic app market (user base and download number), more and more individuals will concentrate on developing apps for the Indian market creating more apps and download opportunities.

Those drivers will help to make India one of the leading app markets worldwide in only three years, providing business opportunities not only for domestic players.

Infinera intros Instant Bandwidth on DTN-X enabling software activation of 100G

INDIA: Infinera announced the availability of Infinera Instant Bandwidth on the DTN-X platform. 

Instant Bandwidth allows network operators to rapidly deploy bandwidth in 100 Gigabits per second (100G) increments without the typical long wait times associated with provisioning equipment, as well as engineering and activating services. 


With Infinera’s Instant Bandwidth, network operators can instantly provision an additional 100G of network capacity with one-click to achieve a success based business model. Instant Bandwidth enables service providers to differentiate their services by shortening provisioning times and accelerating service delivery while simultaneously reducing time to revenue.  TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC) is the first to announce the selection and deployment of the Infinera DTN-X platform with Instant Bandwidth for its nationwide 100G US network. TSIC can now turn up 100G of transport capacity via one-click software control enabling the rapid deployment of new services to their customers. Transport network operators, like TSIC, are experiencing increased and variable demand for bandwidth from customers. Activating bandwidth services as soon as their customer demands it now becomes a competitive weapon. 
Infinera’s Instant Bandwidth is the industry’s first software-activated 100G bandwidth delivery solution that enables a success-based business model for service providers and lowers operational costs. Through this model, operators can immediately deploy 100G of incremental network capacity at the same time they activate the customer service. 


This capability enables an architecture where bandwidth can be provisioned on demand and potentially moved throughout the network in the future, as an example to respond to a natural disaster or scheduled events like popular sporting competitions. In contrast, conventional solutions result in higher operational expenses and longer lead times because they require multiple costly and time consuming activities for every 100G of network capacity. 


These activities include ordering, shipping, engineering, installation and provisioning taking many weeks or even months to fulfill. Instant Bandwidth reduces the time to revenue by closing the gap between network infrastructure investment and customer service activation and enables the deployment of bandwidth with a single click.  “2012 has been the ‘year of 100G:’ interest in 100G is broad-based and deployments are outpacing our market projections,” said Dana Cooperson, VP Network Infrastructure at Ovum. 


“Operators need a way to keep pace with uncertain network traffic growth without under or over provisioning infrastructure capacity. Network operators want to deploy capacity at 100G incrementally while minimizing and balancing capex and opex. This success-based business approach allows operators to rapidly deploy capacity as customer demand arises and differentiate their offering in a highly competitive market. Infinera’s Instant Bandwidth is a very interesting approach to an important 100G business requirement.”


The Instant Bandwidth solution is a combination of new hardware, software and operational innovation from Infinera.  The hardware includes new line cards supporting 500G long-haul super-channels with 100G activated initially. This solution features Infinera’s 500G Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) and FlexCoherent processor that delivers record-breaking Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) performance overcoming some of the worst fiber impairments over critical parts of operators networks. 


All of these features are enabled for the initial 100G of capacity on the line card that can progressively increase to 500G with simple one-click software activation delivered using the enhanced Infinera DNA network management system. The DTN-X integrates 5 Terabits of OTN switching per bay in the same platform and is automated by an intelligent standards based control plane. 


These technologies provide a foundation for the Instant Bandwidth solution and result in flexible infrastructure bandwidth with better wavelength utilization, fewer fiber connections, less space and less power and overall lower operational costs when compared to conventional optical transport architectures. “Instant Bandwidth on the DTN-X creates more opportunities for our customers to win by using time as a weapon to compete and respond to increasingly variable demands to flexibly grow and manage network capacity,” said Dave Welch, Infinera co-founder, executive VP and chief strategy officer. “Software activated bandwidth changes the business model and the economics of transport networking, accelerating time to revenue for operators while boosting their competitiveness.”


Infinera started shipping the DTN-X platform earlier this year and the Instant Bandwidth solution for it is now available.

Voxbone global DID numbers enhance Aculab cloud platform

BELGIUM: Voxbone is providing international direct inward dial (DID) numbers to Aculab for Aculab Cloud, a true cloud-based platform that makes it easy for developers to create on-demand automated telephony applications that make, receive and interact with calls.

Aculab selected Voxbone because the company’s VoxDID service enables Aculab to easily enhance its services with instant provisioning through Voxbone’s convenient application programming interface (API) solution. Voxbone maintains a supply of geographic and national phone numbers for incoming communications from more than 50 countries and 4,000 cities.

Aculab Cloud enables functions including transferring calls, playing messages, mixing calls together in a conference, playing text-to-speech prompts/messages, analyzing call progress, detecting answering machines, queuing calls, and making thousands of simultaneous outbound calls.

“We specialize in enabling solution providers to create and deliver high-performance inbound and outbound contact center applications, speech-enabled IVR, unified communications and other services to enterprise customers,” said Faye McClenahan, head of Strategic Marketing at Aculab. “Voxbone’s DID numbers and high-quality network services enable us to enhance the resources developers can use to meet their customers’ needs for cloud-based communications.”

DIDs are another example of the ongoing industry migration to VoIP and cloud services. Like many service providers, Aculab has followed the trend from on-premises, hardware-based solutions to cloud-based offerings.

“As more service providers create services and applications based on the cloud, we are seeing increasing demand for our inbound communications services,” said Voxbone CEO Rod Ullens. “By using our VoxDID service, Aculab will enable its customers to build better apps more easily and rapidly.”

AT&T expands FaceTime over cellular availability

USA: AT&T announced that it will enable FaceTime over cellular at no extra charge for iOS 6 customers with an LTE device on any tiered data plan.

AT&T will also continue to offer FaceTime over cellular to customers with any AT&T Mobile Share plan, as well as FaceTime over Wi-Fi, which has always been available for all customers. AT&T expects to roll out this functionality to customers over the next eight to 10 weeks.

As part of its commitment to serving customers with disabilities, AT&T is also making FaceTime over cellular available to deaf and hard of hearing customers who qualify for special text and data-only packages.
AT&T has more iPhone customers than any other US carrier.

Qualcomm Labs unveils three tech startups

USA: Qualcomm Labs Inc., announced the set of companies that EvoNexus admitted into the QualcommLabs@EvoNexus incubator program. Arynga Inc., FatSkunk Inc., and Breadcrumbs Inc., are the three companies admitted by EvoNexus which have been selected by Qualcomm Labs to receive seed funding.

Launched in May 2012, QualcommLabs@EvoNexus is a Qualcomm Labs sponsored incubation program operating within the walls of the CommNexus incubator, EvoNexus. The program brings together Qualcomm Labs' commitment to innovation with EvoNexus' forward-thinking, pro-bono community incubation model and opens up opportunities to further technology development, advancing the wireless industry.

After evaluating more than 100 submissions from startup companies and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector, EvoNexus admitted its eleventh round of companies to the incubator including Arynga, FatSkunk and Breadcrumbs. In parallel, Qualcomm Labs executed funding agreements with these companies.

Arynga: Headquartered in San Diego, Arynga is a software solutions and services company focused on the management of connected assets in transportation, travel, hospitality, and energy and consumer electronics. The company delivers over-the-air remote configuration management and real-time location solutions. Arynga will receive $250,000 in funding.

FatSkunk: Founded in Silicon Valley and establishing headquarters in San Diego, FatSkunk offers a new software solution for mobile malware detection that uses physics, instead of conventional heuristics or signatures. The result is battery-efficient, true zero day malware detection capability, with no need for OTA signature updates from carriers. FatSkunk will receive $250,000 in funding.

Breadcrumbs: Headquartered in San Diego, Breadcrumbs is a mobile app for Android and iOS that provides an automatic timeline of a user's day, using the phone's built-in sensors. Breadcrumbs will receive $50,000 in funding.

"We are thrilled to welcome Arynga, FatSkunk and Breadcrumbs into the EvoNexus incubator program as we believe they all provide solutions that address important technology needs," said Rory Moore, CEO, CommNexus. "The combination of EvoNexus' proven results and Qualcomm Labs' expertise in technology innovation will get these companies off to a great start. We look forward to supporting their future growth and success."

In addition to QualcommLabs@EvoNexus seed funding, Arynga, FatSkunk and Breadcrumbs will receive free accommodation within EvoNexus' fully furnished Downtown San Diego or La Jolla office locations. During their residency, which can be up to two years, these companies, along with several other selected incubator companies, will work on developing their products and technologies into viable businesses. They will have the chance to work with experienced employees designated by Qualcomm Labs who will serve as mentors and will have access to a broad network of industry experts and investment professionals who participate with EvoNexus.

"Qualcomm Labs' roots in technology innovation combined with our continuous commitment to move the wireless industry forward, puts us in a unique position to support entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into businesses," said Liz Gasser, VP, Qualcomm Labs. "Twenty seven years ago, Qualcomm itself was a startup. We're looking forward to seeing how these innovations will positively impact San Diego and the world via our Qualcomm Labs subsidiary."

M2M market to reach 114.7mn connections by 2016

USA: Compass Intelligence released its latest forecast of the M2M market. The cellular M2M market will reach 33.3 million connections in the US in 2012 and grow to 114.7 million connections by 2016 with a CAGR of over 36 percent. These findings, along with breakdowns by application and vertical market are part of Compass Intelligence's Connected Worlds subscription service.

"Compass Intelligence was excited to launch its M2M practice last year because of the hype surrounding M2M and conflicting numbers being floated in the industry," explains James Brehm, Senior Strategist at Compass Intelligence. "While there are many companies providing annual data on the M2M market, most analyst firms make assumptions that are not grounded in reality. The majority of firms do not take availability of components, migration paths from 2G to 3G to 4G LTE, end-user behavior, socio-economic factors, and so on into consideration when building forecasts."

Compass Intelligence's forecast leans heavily on external and internal factors and is an aggregation of demand and supply-side information collected through in-depth interviews with vendors, service providers, and end users. The forecast is validated with key vendors and service providers at all levels of the M2M ecosystem, lending credibility to its high-level of accuracy.

Key findings of our most recent M2M research include the following:
* The largest B2B vertical market is the transportation vertical, with over 40 percent market share.
* Growth will come from areas where there is a demonstrable ROI, cloud computing and cookie cutter hosted applications will drive M2M adoption.
* Industry consolidation will occur rapidly over the next two to three years.
* By 2015 more than 40 percent of M2M connections in the U.S. could be running on 3G/3.5G/4G networks.

Lending to Compass Intelligence's understanding of the M2M market place is Brehm's participation as co-chair of M2M Evolution, a leading industry trade show.

"Our participation with TMC and Crossfire Media provides unique access to members of the M2M Ecosystem many other companies simply do not have. Leading up to the recent M2M Evolution conference in Austin, I was able to spend countless hours with nearly a hundred of the top participants in the marketplace," said Brehm.

Over 40 percent smartphone owners would give up TV time than mobile devices

INDIA: For decades, television has been the centre of attention for everyone seeking entertainment at home, or catching up with news at work. But things are changing. A Google - IPSOS report shows that India is not only competing, but leading the race in adopting smartphones, over televisions, for entertainment purposes.

While the calling, texting, and emailing are now standard activities on any smartphone, smartphone users in India are ready to do more on these sleek devices. The survey, conducted across 40 nations, shows that in comparison to mature smartphone markets including the US, UK and Germany where less than 27 percent people are willing to give up the time they spend watching television for smartphones, in India, a whopping 49 percent smartphone owners are ready to give up the TV rather than their phones.

This surprising shift it attributable to the combination of communication and entertainment options that the smartphone brings to users. The study showcases that 56 percent of Indians find their smartphones more entertaining than the television. In comparison, countries like the US (21 percent) and the UK (18 percent), or even neighbouring nations come nowhere close to India’s enthusiasm.

While the overall penetration of smartphones is higher amongst males in India, it is women who are leading the usage of smartphones over TV sets. The usage and loyalty behavior of the users revealed that 58 percent women found their smartphones more entertaining than the television.

But do not be mistaken! They are not just watching shows online to entertain themselves; rather, they are using smartphones to find information on where to hangout with friends, connect with them over social networks, and shop online. Indian smartphone owners in the male category, are not far behind when it comes to using the smartphone over the television; but more than 55 percent of them are glued to watching videos on their devices.

According to Lalitesh Katragadda, country head, India Products, Google India: “This is a truly astonishing trend among India's first wave of smartphone users, caused by high quality online video content and superb apps. Although penetration is behind many developed nations, the importance of these multi-purpose gadgets in the lives of Indian smartphone users is much higher in comparison to their global counterparts. We expect this momentum and affinity to cascade into an inflection in India's smartphone adoption, driven by significant price reduction of high quality devices over the next two years.”

Evernote launches mobile integration with Tencent’s ONE browser

INDIA: Evernote, the company that is helping the world remember everything, and Tencent, a leading integrated internet services company in China, has announced an integration of the Evernote application with Tencent’s ONE Browser for Android mobile users in India and across the region. ONE Browser is a compact browser for mobile devices with approximately 40 million downloads worldwide.

Evernote is the award-winning, remember everything application that allows users to remember all aspects of their lives by creating notes, snapping images, recording audio, saving files and having everything synchronize across all devices and platforms, including phones, tablets and computers. There are more than 40 million Evernote users worldwide, with more than 650,000 users in India.

ONE Browser is a fast mobile browser that aims to provide the smartest Internet browsing experience. Designed by Tencent to serve global emerging markets where mobile user growth is increasing rapidly and 3G connections are becoming popular, ONE Browser’s advance compression technology cuts download times and can reduce data costs by up to 85 percent. ONE Browser with Evernote integration is available for download on Google Play.

The integration of Evernote with ONE Browser for Android allows mobile users to clip a webpage directly to their Evernote account with just one click. All information collected and saved via mobile phones is synchronized across other devices using Evernote, giving users access to their data, anytime, anyplace.

SingTel partners with iPass to offer Wi-Fi services for enterprises

SINGAPORE: iPass Inc. has announced its partnership with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd  (SingTel) through which the leading Asia-Pac communications provider will offer Wi-Fi roaming services for enterprises in Singapore and across Asia.

SingTel will provide iPass Open Mobile to enterprises to enable their customers to be connected to the world’s largest commercial Wi-Fi hotspot network with over one million venues worldwide.

“SingTel is leading and shaping the digital communications space in the Asia-Pacific region. Our partnership with SingTel validates the value of iPass Open Mobile for managing the mobility needs of enterprises worldwide,” said Christophe Culine, senior VP and GM, iPass Enterprise. “iPass Open Mobile helps mobile operators meet the evolving demands of their customers by offering a complementary Wi-Fi data roaming service that advances new revenue streams for the growing numbers of smartphone and tablets Wi-Fi devices.”

The SingTel Group is Asia’s leading communications group. SingTel Group Enterprise provides innovative and comprehensive ICT solutions to the Group’s enterprise customers across geographical boundaries. To serve the needs of multi-national corporations, SingTel also has a vast network of offices throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. These offices enable SingTel to deliver innovative end-to-end ‘one-stop shop’ ICT experience with telecommunications, ICT consultancy, international data and managed services, business software and cloud solutions.

Mindspeed delivers base station solution for China Mobile's 3G small cell roll out

USA: Mindspeed Technologies Inc. announced that its baseband system-on-a-chip (SoC) is being used in TD-SCDMA small cells deployed by China Mobile Group (CMCC), Jiangsu Co. Ltd, Suzhou branch to deliver improved wireless access for residential and enterprise customers across their 10 million subscriber base in Suzhou.

The Mindspeed SoC solution provides all processing for the physical layer, MAC and layer 3 needed to realize a fully functional residential or enterprise small cell system. Mindspeed also provides the physical layer software while the upper layer software is provided by system OEMs such as Bravo Tech, Inc., or Femtel, who are now delivering systems to China Mobile.

CMCC Suzhou Branch, is the leader in small cell commercial deployments in China. They pioneered the deployment model and successfully completed field trials earlier this year.

"We recognized the need for small cells as an enhancement to our macro network with the objective of providing a cost effective and significantly better wireless broadband access experience for our huge subscriber base in Suzhou. We have achieved our deployment target set in February much faster than originally planned," said Ms. Chen Wei, GM of the Suzhou Branch.

"Customer service is foremost in our mind so enhancing our network with small cells to improve 3G Customer experience is a key to our success. Mindspeed provides the only commercially deployable SoC solution on the market that meets China's TD-SCDMA standard.” Ms. Chen added.

"We are pleased to enable the TD-SCDMA small cell roll out at CMCC," said Naser Adas, GM of wireless business unit at Mindspeed. Dr. Adas added: "Mindspeed is continuing and enhancing the former Picochip product line in accordance with the strategy we announced at the time of the acquisition: our integrated 3G technology enables us to fulfill our promise of providing the only concurrent dual mode (3G/4G) product on the market. What is more, we are the only small cell company with TD-SCDMA support, and the only one to support both LTE FDD and LTE-TDD."

Eighteen new members for Open IPTV Forum

EUROPE: Following a successful IBC, the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) is pleased to welcome set top box vendor ABox42, application developer Axonista, testing businesses BluFocus and Digital TV Labs, and technology companies DCC Labs and mistserver.org as new members. These new important contributors increase the breadth of industry support and give OIPF’s open specifications for Connected TV wider relevance within the IPTV eco-system.

All intend to participate in the Forum’s on-going work to shape the future of a global mass-market for Internet Connected TV through development of the Forum’s free-to-use, open, interoperable specifications for Connected TV services and devices. Specifications written by the OIPF have already been incorporated into the work of the HbbTV Consortium.

Dr Nilo Mitra, OIPF president, announced the new members in advance of the forthcoming OIPF Plenary, to be hosted by Sony Corp. in Tokyo, Japan.

Welcoming the new members, he notes: “We believe these new members, who are choosing to join and participate in the go-to-market work of the Forum now, as well as those companies and regional standards bodies like HbbTV who are adopting the OIPF specifications, are the most significant and visible sign of increased industry confidence in OIPF as the single body to organize and standardize Connected TV technologies. We all agree that open standards and interoperability are key to the future of a viable, successful, mass-market Connected TV Industry that meets long term consumer expectations.”