LONDON, UK: Nearly half of telecoms operators believe that integrating insight data from multiple sources is their greatest barrier to obtaining a 360 degree view of their customer base. This is according to the results of a Telecoms IQ survey, released this week.
The survey, conducted ahead of Customer Insight & Analytics in Telecoms, aimed to find out the current challenges and future needs of operators in making their customer insight strategies a success.
Three of the current barriers identified in order to make customer insight campaigns actionable were highlighted to be the latency of customer insight gathering (36 percent), complexities of analysing customers across multiple channels (28 percent) and obtaining investment and buy-in for a customer insights programme (24 percent).
Thursday, October 9, 2014
vCom Solutions demos continued growth in fixed and mobile telecom management
SAN RAMON, USA: vCom Solutions, a leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications management, continues to find success with its Telecom Management as a Service (TMaaS) solution.
Several new companies have engaged vCom to provide full telecom management services, including Power Direct and Zenith American Solutions.
These clients join almost 300 companies who have engaged vCom to address the challenges of managing their wireline and mobility environments. vCom's solution includes a premier professional services team and an industry leading telecom management software, vManager. vCom's professional services teams work closely with clients' teams to streamline operations, increase efficiency and productivity, and ultimately reduce costs.
vManager, vCom's cloud-based software, provides clients with access to all of their telecom information including inventory, invoices, and custom reporting across their devices, services, and cariers. vManager has achieved 100 percent customer satisfaction and is available as a desktop and a mobile application.
Several new companies have engaged vCom to provide full telecom management services, including Power Direct and Zenith American Solutions.
These clients join almost 300 companies who have engaged vCom to address the challenges of managing their wireline and mobility environments. vCom's solution includes a premier professional services team and an industry leading telecom management software, vManager. vCom's professional services teams work closely with clients' teams to streamline operations, increase efficiency and productivity, and ultimately reduce costs.
vManager, vCom's cloud-based software, provides clients with access to all of their telecom information including inventory, invoices, and custom reporting across their devices, services, and cariers. vManager has achieved 100 percent customer satisfaction and is available as a desktop and a mobile application.
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Aria Networks awarded first key SDN/NFV patent
ENGLAND, UK: Chippenham-based Aria Networks has been awarded a patent for ground-breaking technology that enables the effective optimisation of multi-layer networks. The patent has been granted in the US and international coverage is pending.
The patent supports Aria Networks’ Generic Routing Engine (GRE), an artificial intelligence (AI) methodology for modelling networks, data centres and complex Cloud-based services. Aria Network’s GRE enables the routing of traffic through multi-layer networks including IP, Optical, RAN, SDH, MPLS-TE, LSPs and any combination of the above.
The GRE determines optimum paths through any network with multiple layers, describing how the network reacts to failure scenarios, as well as resource addition, modification or removal by fully utilizing virtualisation technology. This enables Aria Networks to create a software defined model that optimises any mobile or fixed network; data centre or Cloud service, even if the network is made up of a combination of different technologies.
The patent supports Aria Networks’ Generic Routing Engine (GRE), an artificial intelligence (AI) methodology for modelling networks, data centres and complex Cloud-based services. Aria Network’s GRE enables the routing of traffic through multi-layer networks including IP, Optical, RAN, SDH, MPLS-TE, LSPs and any combination of the above.
The GRE determines optimum paths through any network with multiple layers, describing how the network reacts to failure scenarios, as well as resource addition, modification or removal by fully utilizing virtualisation technology. This enables Aria Networks to create a software defined model that optimises any mobile or fixed network; data centre or Cloud service, even if the network is made up of a combination of different technologies.
Zapp bags big retail brands for push on UK m-payments market
AUSTRALIA: According to Eden Zoller, principal analyst, Consumer, Ovum, Zapp is building up impressive support across the payments ecosystem in readiness for the launch of its m-payments service in the UK next year, starting with financial institutions and now adding retailers to the mix.
The retail line-up includes high street brands with heavy footfall like Asda and Sainsbury’s and also popular online players such as the Shop Direct group. This is a good start but Zapp will need to get more retailers behind it. For mobile proximity payments to be successful, widespread merchant acceptance is critical – until this is in place consumer uptake and usage of mobile proximity payments will remain low.
One of the appealing things about the Zapp solution is that it is technology agnostic, so merchants and other parties are not locked into NFC and can instead opt for lower cost alternatives such as QR codes or Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, which are typically a more favored option among retailers.
Zapp has yet to make its business model public but it is promising that transaction fees will be less than cards and other payment methods, which is another crowd pleaser for merchants. Zapp will have to deliver on this promise or risk retailer disappointment.
Zapp is doing its best to ensure it launches with a solid foundation in place, which is wise as the UK mobile payments market is increasingly crowded with recent initiatives including Paym while the prospect of Apple Pay hangs heavy on the horizon.
The retail line-up includes high street brands with heavy footfall like Asda and Sainsbury’s and also popular online players such as the Shop Direct group. This is a good start but Zapp will need to get more retailers behind it. For mobile proximity payments to be successful, widespread merchant acceptance is critical – until this is in place consumer uptake and usage of mobile proximity payments will remain low.
One of the appealing things about the Zapp solution is that it is technology agnostic, so merchants and other parties are not locked into NFC and can instead opt for lower cost alternatives such as QR codes or Bluetooth Low Energy beacons, which are typically a more favored option among retailers.
Zapp has yet to make its business model public but it is promising that transaction fees will be less than cards and other payment methods, which is another crowd pleaser for merchants. Zapp will have to deliver on this promise or risk retailer disappointment.
Zapp is doing its best to ensure it launches with a solid foundation in place, which is wise as the UK mobile payments market is increasingly crowded with recent initiatives including Paym while the prospect of Apple Pay hangs heavy on the horizon.
ASC unveils mobile phone recording solution integrated with Tango Networks
HOESBACH, GERMANY: ASC, a global provider of innovative solutions to record, analyze and evaluate multimedia-based communications, announced the completion of testing and certification between ASC’s solutions and Tango Networks network-based enforceable Mobile Call Recording product.
This integration enables mobile call recording to work seamlessly and completely independently of the mobile operating system thereby supporting any mobile device including but not limited to Android, Blackberry, iOS, Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.
It also complies with evolving regulations for financial institutions and ensures PCI-DSS compliant data security when the preservation of recordings is required.
Dr. Frank Schaffrath, CEO of ASC, said, “As employees have increasingly adopted mobile devices to enhance productivity, ASC has embraced this trend and now has a recording platform that has been fully certified with Tango Networks."
This integration enables mobile call recording to work seamlessly and completely independently of the mobile operating system thereby supporting any mobile device including but not limited to Android, Blackberry, iOS, Symbian and Windows Mobile platforms.
It also complies with evolving regulations for financial institutions and ensures PCI-DSS compliant data security when the preservation of recordings is required.
Dr. Frank Schaffrath, CEO of ASC, said, “As employees have increasingly adopted mobile devices to enhance productivity, ASC has embraced this trend and now has a recording platform that has been fully certified with Tango Networks."
Lantiq intros industry's first G.fast residential gateway reference design
MUNICH & NEUBIBERG, GERMANY: Lantiq announced the EASY330 G.fast reference board, the industry's first residential gateway reference design built around G.fast.
The EASY330 uses the Lantiq AnyWAN concept based on Lantiq's GRX330 multicore networking processing unit with Gigabit routing performance to provide maximum flexibility in CPE design and deployment. It also includes an embedded 11n offloading engine, maximized 802.11ac Wi-Fi throughput, Gigabit Ethernet switch and PHYs, carrier grade VoIP and built-in G.fast chipsets from Sckipio Technologies, the leader in G.fast modems.
Dan Artusi, CEO of Lantiq, said: "With the introduction of the EASY330 G.fast reference design we enable our customers to enter the next stage of designing leading-edge and future proof broadband gateways. The system marks a cornerstone in Lantiq's G.fast roadmap, enabling telcos to cost-efficiently leverage and upgrade their copper based networks to Gigabit speeds."
David Baum, CEO of Sckipio, added: "By partnering with Sckipio, Lantiq is the first company to deliver a complete, G.fast based end-to-end solution from the fiber node to the home. Our joint effort enables leading telcos to leverage their copper based networks to offer Gigabit speeds and bring ultrafast broadband to all homes."
Lantiq has been a major contributor to the G.fast standardization efforts. G.fast is the next-generation broadband access recommendation from the ITU (G.9700/G.9701). This new last mile technology leverages the Broadband Forum's Fiber to the Distribution Point (FTTdp) architecture and will deliver up to 1Gbps over twisted pair. With G.fast, service providers will lower the cost to deploy ultra broadband, keep operating costs low while improving overall consumer satisfaction.
Lantiq partnered with Sckipio to use Sckipio's CP1000 G.fast modem chipsets in the EASY330 G.fast reference board to deliver robust, ultra-broadband performance from the FTTdp DPU to the residential gateway over copper wiring. Sckipio also works with Lantiq on its DP3016-EVM G.fast DPU Reference Design and included the Lantiq GPON SFP into its designs.
The EASY330 uses the Lantiq AnyWAN concept based on Lantiq's GRX330 multicore networking processing unit with Gigabit routing performance to provide maximum flexibility in CPE design and deployment. It also includes an embedded 11n offloading engine, maximized 802.11ac Wi-Fi throughput, Gigabit Ethernet switch and PHYs, carrier grade VoIP and built-in G.fast chipsets from Sckipio Technologies, the leader in G.fast modems.
Dan Artusi, CEO of Lantiq, said: "With the introduction of the EASY330 G.fast reference design we enable our customers to enter the next stage of designing leading-edge and future proof broadband gateways. The system marks a cornerstone in Lantiq's G.fast roadmap, enabling telcos to cost-efficiently leverage and upgrade their copper based networks to Gigabit speeds."
David Baum, CEO of Sckipio, added: "By partnering with Sckipio, Lantiq is the first company to deliver a complete, G.fast based end-to-end solution from the fiber node to the home. Our joint effort enables leading telcos to leverage their copper based networks to offer Gigabit speeds and bring ultrafast broadband to all homes."
Lantiq has been a major contributor to the G.fast standardization efforts. G.fast is the next-generation broadband access recommendation from the ITU (G.9700/G.9701). This new last mile technology leverages the Broadband Forum's Fiber to the Distribution Point (FTTdp) architecture and will deliver up to 1Gbps over twisted pair. With G.fast, service providers will lower the cost to deploy ultra broadband, keep operating costs low while improving overall consumer satisfaction.
Lantiq partnered with Sckipio to use Sckipio's CP1000 G.fast modem chipsets in the EASY330 G.fast reference board to deliver robust, ultra-broadband performance from the FTTdp DPU to the residential gateway over copper wiring. Sckipio also works with Lantiq on its DP3016-EVM G.fast DPU Reference Design and included the Lantiq GPON SFP into its designs.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Facebook closes WhatsApp acquisition
AUSTRALIA: Social networking giant Facebook has swiftly closed its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp, days after receiving approval for the deal from the European Commission.
The EC approval was a significant hurdle for the merger, which received approval from the US Federal Trade Commission more than six months ago. The completion of the deal means that Facebook and WhatsApp can move forward on integration, although it appears that WhatsApp will remain autonomous – at least in the short term.
Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst, Consumer Services, Ovum, said that the closing of Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp means that the social network owns three very successful messaging apps – its own Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Each app targets a different market segment, a factor that the EC referenced in its ruling when it stated that the merger would not stifle competition in the messaging apps market in Europe. The EC concluded that, while Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are two of the most popular apps, consumers tend to use both apps, often alongside multiple other communications apps.
Since news of the acquisition broke in February, Facebook has significantly updated its own Facebook Messenger app, which looks set to become the company’s mobile platform for communications, content, and commerce.
While no announcements have been made with regards to adding payments to Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp, Facebook has hired David Marcus, former president of PayPal, in June and, more recently, a hacker claimed to have uncovered a person-to-person payments feature in development for the Messenger app.
Messaging apps such as Kakao Talk, Line, and WeChat are already generating substantial revenue by selling content and enabling payments on their platforms; it would be a logical next step for Facebook to do the same with Messenger.
However, it remains to be seen in what context Facebook would enable payments for WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s next major product release was to have been VoIP, but the company missed its 2Q14 deadline. With the deal closed, the onus will be on WhatsApp to launch the VoIP service. The company’s management has previously stated it does not intend WhatsApp to become a platform for content distribution, so for the foreseeable future WhatsApp will remain primarily a communications platform.
But, it is possible that Facebook could add a payments capability to WhatsApp, such that users could purchase add-on bundles of messages (or VoIP minutes) for contacting non-WhatsApp users, for example.
Perhaps more interesting, however, is WhatsApp’s experimentation with different ways of working with mobile operators; for example, in April 2014, German mobile operator e-Plus launched a WhatsApp prepaid SIM card, effectively enabling WhatsApp as an MVNO on its network.
With 600 million monthly active users, which between them are sending and receiving over 60 billion messages a day, WhatsApp has a lot to offer potential mobile operator partners as an MVNO – assuming its partnership with e-Plus proves successful.
The EC approval was a significant hurdle for the merger, which received approval from the US Federal Trade Commission more than six months ago. The completion of the deal means that Facebook and WhatsApp can move forward on integration, although it appears that WhatsApp will remain autonomous – at least in the short term.
Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst, Consumer Services, Ovum, said that the closing of Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp means that the social network owns three very successful messaging apps – its own Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Each app targets a different market segment, a factor that the EC referenced in its ruling when it stated that the merger would not stifle competition in the messaging apps market in Europe. The EC concluded that, while Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are two of the most popular apps, consumers tend to use both apps, often alongside multiple other communications apps.
Since news of the acquisition broke in February, Facebook has significantly updated its own Facebook Messenger app, which looks set to become the company’s mobile platform for communications, content, and commerce.
While no announcements have been made with regards to adding payments to Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp, Facebook has hired David Marcus, former president of PayPal, in June and, more recently, a hacker claimed to have uncovered a person-to-person payments feature in development for the Messenger app.
Messaging apps such as Kakao Talk, Line, and WeChat are already generating substantial revenue by selling content and enabling payments on their platforms; it would be a logical next step for Facebook to do the same with Messenger.
However, it remains to be seen in what context Facebook would enable payments for WhatsApp. WhatsApp’s next major product release was to have been VoIP, but the company missed its 2Q14 deadline. With the deal closed, the onus will be on WhatsApp to launch the VoIP service. The company’s management has previously stated it does not intend WhatsApp to become a platform for content distribution, so for the foreseeable future WhatsApp will remain primarily a communications platform.
But, it is possible that Facebook could add a payments capability to WhatsApp, such that users could purchase add-on bundles of messages (or VoIP minutes) for contacting non-WhatsApp users, for example.
Perhaps more interesting, however, is WhatsApp’s experimentation with different ways of working with mobile operators; for example, in April 2014, German mobile operator e-Plus launched a WhatsApp prepaid SIM card, effectively enabling WhatsApp as an MVNO on its network.
With 600 million monthly active users, which between them are sending and receiving over 60 billion messages a day, WhatsApp has a lot to offer potential mobile operator partners as an MVNO – assuming its partnership with e-Plus proves successful.
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