3G

Informa: Mobile data services fuel base station turnaround

Lynnette Luna — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:35:32 -0400

The growing success of mobile data services is fueling a turnaround in the lagging base station market, according to Informa Telecoms & Media. The firm predicts that jumps in data traffic related to YouTube and other mobile video streaming applications will increase 5,514 percent by 2012. It said the rise of browser-friendly devices such as the iPhone 3G can lead to a 30-fold increase in traffic per subscriber. Article

Canadian iPhone 3G plans require three-year contract, limited data

Lynnette Luna — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:38:11 -0400

Canadian wireless customers found it they will have to sign a three-year service contract and sign up for a wireless plan that doesn't include unlimited data if they want to get the new iPhone 3G from Rogers.

The operator announced it is offering plans that range from $60 to $115 per month but didn't say how much the handset would cost when it goes on sale July 11.

The cheapest monthly plan costs $60 and includes 150 minutes of voice calling, with unlimited evenings and weekends, 400 MB of data, 75 sent text messages, and unlimited incoming texts and visual voicemail messages. The most expensive plan runs $115, and subscribers get 800 minutes of daytime calling, 2 GB of data, and 300 sent text messages.

Rogers calculated that the plan with 400 MB of data represents up to 200,000 text e-mails or 3,100 Web pages. The 2-GB plan is the equivalent of 1,048,000 text e-mails or 16,000 Web pages. With statistics showing that iPhone users are the biggest users of the mobile Internet, Canadian customers will likely hit their data limit rather quickly. At least each of the service plans comes with unlimited access to all Rogers and Fido WiFi hotspots.

For more:
- check out InformationWeek

Related stories:
iPhone 3G revises AT&T data pricing. AT&T story
AT&T will subsidize 3G iPhone. iPhone story

Qualcomm raises forecasts on 3G sales

Lynnette Luna — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:20:21 -0400

Qualcomm increased its expectations for the current quarter and fiscal year as demand for 3G chips rose. Qualcomm said it anticipates revenue for the quarter ending June 29 to be "slightly above" the higher end of the company's previous guidance of $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion. The company also expects quarterly earnings to reach 54 cents to 55 cents per share compared with its prior forecast of 50 cents to 52 cents per share.

"We are expecting another successful quarter driven by the continued global migration to 3G,'' CEO Paul Jacobs said. "March quarter reports by our licensees indicate an increased mix of high-end devices driving a higher average selling price.''

For more:
- read the WSJ (sub. req.)

Related stories:
Qualcomm captures mobile chipset lead from TI Qualcomm story
Qualcomm reveals LTE chip plans Qualcomm LTE story

3GPP agrees on femtocell architecture

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:57 -0400

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has adopted an official architecture for 3G femtocell home base stations.

The 3GPP wants to have the new standard done by the end of this year, which appears to be an aggressive time schedule given the fact that vendors had various approaches to building a femtocell base station. The agreed upon architecture follows an access network-based approach, leveraging existing standards, called IU-cs and Iu-ps interfaces, into the core service network. The result is a new interface called Iu-h.

The architecture defines two new network elements, the femtocell and the femtocell gateway. Between these elements is the new Iu-h interface. This solution was backed by Alcatel-Lucent, Kineto Wireless, Motorola and NEC.

All of the femtocell vendors must go back and change their access point and network gateway equipment to comply with the new standard interface.

All femtocell vendors will have to make changes to their access points. Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, NEC, and those that already use Kineto's GAN approach, such as Ubiquisys, will have the least work to do.

To read more:
- check out Unstrung

Related stories:
Femtocell announcements bring market momentum; questions still remain. Femtocell editorial
Femtocells face their tipping point. Femtocell story

AT&T gives HSPA a boost in time for 3G iPhone

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Just in time for the rumored June 9 iPhone debut, AT&T is giving its HSPA network a big speed boost. The company says that by the end of June it will have deployed HSUPA throughout its 3G markets, giving its customers downlink speeds between 700 Kbps and 1.7 Mbps and uplink speeds between 500 Kbps and 1.2 Mbps.

Also key to this speed increase is the fact that AT&T launched a new bundled offering called AT&T Net Reach, that combines AT&T's wireless and wireline networks, giving subscribers access to both AT&T's landline high speed Internet service and its wireless services such as AT&T's WiFi hotspots or its HSPA or Edge wireless data network. The Net Reach plans start at $79.95 per month and can be purchased by new or existing residential and business customers who subscribe to AT&T's high speed Internet and the LaptopConnect services.-Sue Marek

For more:
- see this Net Reach press release
- and this HSPA press release

Related stories:
AT&T looks to roll out HSPA in time for 3G iPhone
AT&T: HSPA will provide 20 Mbps data speeds

As 3G laptops become must-haves for enterprise, how will operators respond?

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Gartner is predicting that laptops embedded with 3G are likely to become a must-have for the business world beginning next year because new technologies--namely those that incorporate various frequencies for better coverage--and better pricing plans are making them more attractive. Today, the high cost hardware and expensive monthly charges have so far kept the enterprise from investing in laptops embedded with 3G. But that is expected to change.

Does that mean operators will be pushed to lift the 5 GB per month cap they currently have in place on their "unlimited" laptop data packages? Both Verizon and AT&T have a 5 GB cap on unlimited usage while Sprint has no cap but is rumored to be instituting one shortly.

As attractive as the wireless data enterprise market is, 3G operators are in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to mobile Internet access as voice capacity--still the bread and butter of this business--is being sacrificed for high-speed data services. As such, it's difficult to offer a truly unlimited high-speed data plan. That's why Verizon and others have never positioned 3G as a replacement for DSL.

As the enterprise becomes more attracted to 3G-enabled laptops because of the reasons Gartner outlines, usage will surely skyrocket. You have to think that enterprise customers will use the service even when they aren't traveling.

In March, iPass released a new survey that measured 3G enterprise usage in 2007, giving insight into how the enterprise market is shaping up. It found monthly usage increased steadily throughout the year, growing from an average of 152 MB per user in the first quarter of 2007 to 190 MB in the fourth quarter. Of those more established users who had been on the service since January 2007, monthly usage averaged 188 MB in Q1 and 225 MB in Q4, indicating that usage seems to rise with experience.

At the extreme, a small number of users exceeded 2 GB of usage in a given month. These heavy users accounted for less than one half of one percent of all users in the sample and were offset by the 32 percent of business people who used an average less than 50 MB in a month.

Of course, those statistics come from the encumbered environment Gartner mentioned. Clearly, operators have to be careful about the traffic mix in their networks, but they certainly don't want to alienate the valuable enterprise user either. It will be interesting to see how they tackle the issue going forward. Will femtocells in the enterprise and where business people travel to be the answer? Or will it be 4G?--Lynnette

Gartner: 3G laptops to become enterprise must-have

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Laptops embedded with 3G are likely to become a must-have for the business world starting next year because new technologies and better pricing plans are making them more attractive, says research group Gartner. The firm said the high cost of hardware and expensive monthly charges have so far kept the enterprise from investing in 3G-enabled laptops, but that should begin changing at the end of this year, said Ken Dulaney, vice president with Gartner.

"Our standing recommendation against embedding wireless WAN (WWAN) cards in notebooks--except for applications with a clear return-on-investment justification--has been based on lack of global coverage, high costs and poor asset protection," Dulaney said. "However, new technologies and pricing due by the end of 2008 have the potential to eliminate the problems of embedded, wireless 3G notebook purchases."

Gartner says the advent of new chipsets that combine multiple technologies and frequency bands to offer better coverage would make 3G laptops a good proposition for the moderate to extensive traveler in 2009. In addition, 3G operators are beginning to see the value in moving beyond the standard two-year contracts to include daily and monthly rates, much like WiFi providers offer today. Operators are also considering plans for allowing international travelers to use local rates on a pay-per-day basis, Gartner said.

For more on this story:
check out TechWorld

Related stories:
Qualcomm aims to replicate dominance in laptop market. 3G laptop story
Laptop makers look to Gobi to bridge 3G. Gobi story

Infineon reveals new 3G platform

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Chipmaker Infineon announced its new generation 3G platform family is ready. The platform is designed to reduce the number of devices in the chipset from three to two and the component count by about 50 percent. Infineon says the new 3G solutions sport the industry's smallest printed circuit board (PCB) footprint, allowing for space reduction of up to 40 percent. And power standby is reduced by up to 30 percent compared with existing HSDPA platform solutions, said Infineon.

"Our new platforms enable our customers to fully reuse their hardware and software developments and launch multiple phones covering all feature phone market segments with lower cost and faster time-to-market," said Prof. Dr. Hermann Eul, executive vice president of the Infineon Management Board and president of the Communication Solutions Business Group.

The platform offers HSDPA/HSUPA capabilities of 7.2Mbps uplink and 2.9 Mbps downline, an integrated high-end video accelerator for recording and playback of VGA video content and the ability to connect to cameras with up to 5 megapixels.

Earlier this week, Infineon warned that it anticipates a larger operating loss and flat sales for its communication chips unit this quarter. Infineon cited delays in shipping a single chip solution for Nokia's ultra low-end phones. Just last month Infineon had said the deal was on track. Infineon shares fell 7.8 percent on the news. Infineon is also rumored to be supplying the new 3G iPhone's HSDPA chipset.

For more on this story:
- read Cellular-News

Related stories:
Chipmaker Infineon warns of larger loss this quarter. Infineon story
Rumor du jour: HSDPA iPhone coming in June. HSDPA iPhone story

India could see 3G, more WiMAX by 2009

Thu, 29 May 2008 06:59:55 -0400

India, which is expected to become a hotbed for wireless broadband services, could see 3G and more WiMAX deployments by 2009. The Indian government is expected to issue guidelines on the auction of both 3G and WiMAX network licenses next month.

According to telecom minister Andimuthu Raja, the license conditions would allow foreign participation. According to Indian law, up to 74 percent of an Indian company can be held by a foreign company. With the recent M&A activity and rumors surrounding the country's existing mobile operators, these licenses should attract a plethora of foreign operators.

The Indian government expects to see WiMAX and 3G networks begin rolling out in January 2009. The initial WiMAX plans laid out by the Indian government include the auction of three 2.5 GHz WiMAX licenses with a 10-megahertz allocation each for the winners. State-owned BSNL has already been handed 20 megahertz of spectrum in the 2.5GHz band for mobile WiMAX rollout.

For more about India's 3G and WiMAX plans:
- check out this telecoms.com article

Related stories:
- Gartner: India to remain a niche market for WiMAX. Read this WiMAX India story
- MTN and Reliance could form mobile-phone powerhouse. See this MTN-Reliance story

Is China finally ready for 3G?

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Could it really be true? China reportedly is ready to issue 3G licenses after six years of promises and delays. While announcing it plans to restructure China's telecom service providers, China's regulators also announced that three 3G licenses will be granted once the restructuring is complete.

The Chinese government has been delaying the 3G process in a bid to get its home-grown standard, TD-SCDMA, up to par with WCDMA and CDMA 1xEV-DO. To date, the country's carriers have spent a significant amount of money on TD-SCDMA trials and may possibly offer services during the Olympic Games this summer.

The impending 3G awards should be good news for the world's vendors, which have been banking on China opening up the market to 3G and bolstering their businesses. There should be some aggressive fighting for contracts, especially when Huawei and ZTE have been fighting for market share outside of China.

For more about China's 3G plans:
- read this Unstrung article

Related stories:
- Analyst: China's 3G still years away. See this China 3G story
- China to begin home-grown 3G technology trial. See this TD-SCDMA story
- China continues to hedge on 3G. See this 3G in China story