Sunday, September 30, 2007

Operators must see the big picture when it comes to mobile advertising, says Analysys

Mobile operators stand to gain by investing in mobile advertising, but only if they ensure it is implemented correctly, according to a new report, The Mobile Advertising and Marketing Revolution, published this week by Analysys, the global advisers on telecoms, IT and media (http://research.analysys.com).

“Mobile advertising could provide an additional revenue stream for operators – but it must be implemented carefully. Flooding mobile phones with advertising would destroy consumer confidence and, with it, the potential value of the mobile advertising market,” says the report’s author, Martin Scott, Analyst at Analysys.
“If they focus on delivering mobile advertisements that are unobtrusive and relevant to the target audience, operators and advertisers may be able to create a mutually beneficial cycle of revenue and rewards,” Scott explains. “Virgin Mobile USA, for example, seems to have achieved this with its Sugar Mama advertising campaign.”
The motivation for operators to develop mobile advertising has been limited, as voice services have historically yielded the quickest return on network investment. However, in mature markets, core voice revenues are no longer delivering the growth that they once did. Analysys Research forecasts that, in Western Europe, mobile voice revenue will grow at a CAGR of only 2.3% between 2006 and 2012. Mobile operators need new sources of revenue to provide future growth – and mobile advertising could be one such source.

Operators, handset manufacturers and content providers need to grasp both the dynamics of the advertising space and the full potential of the mobile advertising market. According to Scott, “Obstacles to mobile advertising are now beginning to fall, making it more feasible for operators, handset manufacturers and advertising agencies to exploit the revenue potential of mobile advertising.”

The Mobile Advertising and Marketing Revolution identifies the value chains at play and explains how operators can maximise the share of revenue they take from the mobile advertising market. The report presents scenarios for the future of mobile advertising, indicates which forms of mobile advertising will be most effective and shows how mobile advertising can benefit operators, advertisers and consumers alike.

The report is available to purchase online at http://research.analysys.com/store, priced at GBP1500 (approximately EUR2150) plus VAT.

Editors Note: A press summary is available for this report. Contact Gina Ghensi on +44 (0)1223 460600 or press@analysys.com


About Analysys (www.analysys.com)
Analysys provides strategy and management consultancy, information services and start-up support throughout the telecommunications, IT and media sector. Its grasp of market dynamics, coupled with creativity, rigour and renowned objectivity, enables Analysys to consistently exceed the high levels of quality and innovation that its clients expect. The company has over 160 staff worldwide, and, as part of the Analysys Mason Group, has offices in Cambridge, Dublin, Edinburgh, London, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Paris, Singapore and Washington DC.

Media contact:
Gina Ghensi
Analysys
Tel: +44 (0)1223 460600
Email: press@analysys.com
Web: http://www.analysys.com/media
RSS feed: http://www.analysys.com/rss/analysys-rss.xml

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Telco Daily 25-Sept-2007

BRUSSELS SPLIT OVER TELECOMS

The EU commissioner Viviane Reding has proposed that telecom operators with a dominant market position could be forced to separate its networks and services divisions. Now, other EU commissioners warn the proposed review could create more bureaucracy and harm investment, especially in ultra-fast broadband networks. Some national regulators in the union already have the power to impose functional separation, but Reding wants to ensure all telecoms authorities can apply the measure in a consistent way. (Financial Times)

BLYK TAPS EUROPEAN MOBILES

Blyk, the first UK mobile operator to offer customers free phone calls in return for accepting advertising on their handsets, plans to expand into continental Europe. Large groups such as Google and Vodafone are also weighing plans to turn such advertising into a significant revenue source. Blyk was co-founded by Pekka Ala-Pietila, former president of Nokia, and is targeting 16- to 24-year-olds, who have become difficult to reach with advertising because their reading and viewing habits are so fragmented. (Financial Times)

MYSPACE LAUNCHES FREE MOBILE SERVICE

The Web site MySpace is launching a free, advertising-supported cellphone version Monday as part of a wider bid by parent News Corp. to attract advertising for mobile Web sites. News Corp.'s Internet properties, also plans to roll out versions of FoxSports.com, the gaming site IGN, AskMen and its local TV affiliates in the coming months that will work on cell phones that can access the Internet. The new MySpace version will work on all U.S. carriers and will allow users to send and receive messages and friend requests, comment on pictures, post bulletins, update blogs, and find and search for friends. "Accessing the Internet from your mobile phone will soon be as common as text messaging and voice calling," said John Smelzer, senior vice president of mobile at Fox Interactive. (Wall Street Journal)

Sunday, September 23, 2007

NetScout to acquire Network General for $205 million

NetScout Systems plans to spend about $205 million in cash, stock and debt to acquire competing and complementary network service assurance vendor Network General.

The newly merged company will approximately double NetScout’s current revenue rate in 2009 and further NetScout’s “vision of providing superior network-based performance management based on a KPI (key performance indicator) Flow/Packet paradigm,” the two companies said in a news release.

The acquisition is also expected to accelerate NetScout’s push into the wireless service provider segment by expanding its real-time monitoring and reporting performance monitoring and troubleshooting offering.

The deal is expected to be completed by early November and is one more sign that the entire telecommunications space is again converging. In this case, the double-sized company hopes to compete more effectively against bigger vendors in the wireless space, pitting real-time monitoring and reporting against established deep packet inspection techniques.

Source: http://www.telecommagazine.com/newsglobe/article.asp?HH_ID=AR_3488

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Telco Daily 20-Sept-2007

KDDI and Intel to bid for WiMax licence in Japan

KDDI and Intel are leading a joint venture to bid for a WiMax licence in Japan. The joint venture, that is called Wireless Broadband Planning, will bid for the 2.5 gigahertz frequency band and, if successful, will launch a mobile wireless broadband business. The new company said it intended to become a global leader in WiMax and would offer services globally through roaming agreements. NTT DoCoMo has partnered ACCA Networks to seek a WiMax licence. The Japanese government is expected to hand out two licences by the end of the year. (Financial Times)


Wireless Spectrum Is on Hold

US carriers, which spent billions of dollars in last year's government auction of airwaves, have been unable to use a major portion of this spectrum because of the surveillance activities of several federal agencies. For T-Mobile, the issue is impeding its US expansion. The company was the largest bidder, having spent nearly USD4.2 billion to acquire the spectrum. The government agencies were given USD1.1 billion raised in the auction to relocate to other radio spectrum, but most of them have yet to move. T-Mobile has also offered to pay up to USD50 million to buy new equipment or modify existing equipment for the agencies to use temporarily. However, a Commerce Department spokesperson said the government likely wouldn't view this proposal favorably. (The Wall Street Journal)


NOKIA AGREES TO BUY CELLPHONE-AD FIRM

Nokia has agreed to acquire a Boston company that displays ads on cell phones. The 120-person Enpocket works directly with cell phone operators such as Sprint Nextel, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel. It has powered mobile ads for brands such as Hyundai and Pepsi. (The Wall Street Journal)


BRUSSELS IN FRESH THREAT TO MOBILE GROUPS

Viviane Reding, the EU media commissioner, is threatening to draw up new rules that could harmonise how much mobile operators can charge for connecting calls to their networks. She is concerned the charges vary widely across the 27 EU member states, and wants national regulators to adopt a common approach. The rates are known as wholesale charges because they are paid by operators rather than consumers. In the UK, the charges represent about 15 percent of mobile operators' revenues. (Financial Times)


T-MOBILE IN IPHONE DEAL

Deutsche Telekom´s T-Mobile subsidiary has secured the rights to sell Apple´s iPhone exclusively in Austria, the Netherlands, Hungary and Croatia, in addition to Germany. (Financial Times)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Infrastructure awards wrap-up: Ericsson, Alvarion, Nokia Siemens and more

The following list details this week's infrastructure awards for the cellular, WiFi, and WiMAX industries. The contracts are broken down by transmission technology, country and vendor. The value of the contract is included when available.

Cellular

Sweden: L.M. Ericsson said it upgraded 3 Scandinavia’s HSPA network to support downlink speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps and uplink speeds of 1.4 Mbps.

Uruguay: Movistar chose L.M. Ericsson to be its sole supplier and network integrator for a W-CDMA/HSPA core and radio network.

WiMAX

Cayman Islands: Digicel Group has chosen Alvarion Ltd. to provide its 802.16e 4Motion Mobile WiMAX solution as part of the carrier’s first WiMAX launch.

India: Sequans Communications said Telsima is using its chips in its StarMAX product line that supports both 802.16-2004 fixed and 802.16e-2005 mobile WiMAX networks. The solution is being deployed now in India.

Miscellaneous

Israel: Nokia Siemens Networks said it has been chosen by Cellcom Israel to develop its Next Generation Network.

Spain: GigaBeam Corp. said it received its first purchase order for a WiFiber link from F2-Tel Ingenieria de Telecomunicacion. The links are being used by a Spanish university, said the company.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Telco Daily 14-Sept-2007

Alcatel-Lucent plunges after third warning
Alcatel-Lucent has slashed its forecast for full-year revenue growth to nearly zero as a result of a slowdown in capital spending among its wireless customers in North America. The group had counted on higher volume sales to compensate for the price cuts it has undertaken in order to compete with Ericsson. Alcatel-Lucent, which is struggling to implement a cost savings plan that will result in more than 12,000 job cuts, said it planned to press ahead with its plans and was confident of hitting its target for synergy related savings of EUR600million this year. This was Alcatel-Lucent’s third outlook warning this year.

Vivendi in Oger Telecom stake talks
Vivendi, the French media group, is in talks that could lead to it investing in Oger Telecom, the Dubai-based company that owns telecoms businesses in emerging markets. Jean-Bernard Lévy, Vivendi’s chief executive, said: “We have repeatedly said we were looking for investments in fast-growing economies in the telecoms area.” Vivendi has a controlling stake in SFR, France’s second largest mobile operator, and Maroc Telecom, Morocco’s leading carrier.

T-Mobile considers network sharing plan with 3
FT writes that T-Mobile, the UK's fourth-biggest mobile operator, is considering pooling its network infrastructure with 3, its loss making rival, in a move that could provide both companies with significant cost savings. Some analysts said the network sharing plan, if concluded, could pave the way to T-Mobile to buy 3. T-Mobile and 3 declined to comment.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Envivio to Showcase WiMax TV at IBC Event

Envivio, a technology provider of IP video convergence encoding solutions from mobile to HD, and broadcast infrastructure provider National Grid Wireless are teaming up to deliver streamed TV, alongside VoIP and data, across a WiMAX network.

The network, which uses a full head-end with an Envivio Mobile TV encoder, will be available throughout the RAI Congress Centre during IBC2007 from September 7 - 11. Deploying the open systems-based solution enables mobile WiMAX operators to reach the three screens of video - TVs, PCs and mobile phones - and supports a variety of revenue generating business models by providing subscribers with anytime, anywhere connection capabilities.

From 3G to xDSL to WiMax, the Envivio mobile to HD encoders make video a reality over any type of network and to any multimedia device. Supporting a wide range of network protocols, resolutions, codecs, bit rates and devices, Envivio convergence solutions, like the one featured with National Grid Wireless at IBC2007, deliver video quality at the lowest bit rate.

Peter Mathers, CTO, National Grid Wireless, said, "Our experience and expertise in the design and deployment of shared networks within the broadcast sector provides us with a great foundation to meet the needs of the converged services of the future. This demonstration provides a great opportunity for us to showcase some of the leading media on the move technologies. Envivio, along with our other demonstration partners, have been critical to making this a success."

Julien Signes, President and CEO of Envivio Inc., said, "WiMAX is one of the leading access network contenders for future wireless services. Working with National Grid Wireless has given us an excellent venue to showcase the compatibility of our highly interoperable encoders with this access network. The encoders clearly work over any network regardless of the end device and can truly support a convergence-minded service provider."

Media morph: WiMax

What it is: Wi-Max is a term you've likely been hearing a lot lately. Short for ``worldwide interoperability for microwave access,'' it is your home or Starbucks Wi-Fi system set free. It's a far-reaching cable- and DSL-broadband alternative that can be used not only on personal computers, but also on most electronic devices like mobile phones or even digital cameras. Sprint Nextel Corp. has teamed up with Clearwire to develop a nationwide network, in effect betting its future on Wi-Max. Tests should be running in Chicago and Washington in early 2008.

The societal effect: Wi-Max promises to bring mobile broadband to the masses, not just executives or professionals willing and able to pay high monthly fees for connectivity cards, or subscriptions to T-Mobile or other Wi-Fi services. It's the Wal-Mart of the wireless space, said Philip Marshall, VP-technology at Yankee Group.

The marketing implication: Anytime Wi-Max is connected, the system could flash a ``brought to you by'' message or other ad impressions sponsored by marketers. It should speed up the promise of location-based advertising, likely to be a boon to retailers, package-goods marketers and others as it revolutionizes point-of-purchase marketing. Reality check: Wireless analysts wonder just what the business model will be. Will advertising, in fact, be enough to support the system as it did for TV and radio? Or will consumers have to pay for a subscription? It will also require a major change in wireless architecture. Who's poised to win in a Wi-Max world? Many analysts agree it will be Google. ``Wi-Max will offer the potential for advertisers to simply plug into a platform like Google ... to target mobile advertisements based on location,'' said Nihal Mehta, co-founder of Omnicom's mobile marketing shop Ipsh