22 February 2012
Posted in Blog

Barring a last minute change, it now seems likely that a planned transport strike will go ahead in Barcelona next week. A statement issued this morning from the GSMA said that negotiations were still ongoing between TMB, the main public transport operator in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, and the Government.

If they don't come to a resolution, the TMB will bring its workers out on strike from 27 February to 1 March.

The GSMA has some plans in place to try and mitigate the disruption for its attendees. It says it will make these known on 25th February - Saturday - if the strike is still on.

21 February 2012
Posted in Blog

We have become used to network equipment vendors differentiating their SON capabilities in radio networks, but today Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) announced it is launching something called SON for core.

NSN said SON for Core helps operators to "automatically and rapidly allocate core network resources to meet unpredictable voice and mobile broadband demands". Its statement continued:

With SON for Core, operators can automatically detect, analyze and react to changing traffic and core network conditions. The core network adapts instantly to balance traffic loads and help prevent demand peaks from causing bottlenecks. SON for Core also helps to optimize the use of transmission links between core network elements by automatically allocating unused capacity to overloaded connections. Furthermore, operators can route voice calls to a point of interconnection that is lowest cost and best quality to reduce operational expenditure and improve the customer experience. In addition, SON for Core enables the core network to handle smartphone signaling more efficiently and helps to avoid the need to build spare network capacity that is rarely used, or “over dimension”.

SON for core seems at heart to be about automating allocation of resources within the core network to meet and balance demand.

20 February 2012
Posted in Press Wire

Single Click Network Rollout aimed at LTE deployments

Amdocs has launched network planning and design software that is intended to automate the design and planning of 3G and LTE networks, increasing design accuracy and speed. The solution, called Single Click Network Rollout, is aimed at helping network planning teams scale their operations with lower capital expenditures by addressing the challenge of new LTE network rollouts and expanded Ethernet backhaul capabilities.

The software is already live at two Tier 1 service providers, an Amdocs statement said. A European service provider has used the solution to design more than 3,000 LTE cell sites, reporting estimated planning efficiency gains of 80 percent.

16 February 2012
Posted in Blog

Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) has started public LTE trails in Turin - albeit on a very limited basis. From today until 22 February, the operator will have "special stations" open to the public at a TIM retail outlet on Via Lagrange, to showcase the capabilities of the service.

The operator said the showcase is part of a €1.26 billion development plan for its next-generation mobile network, including the acquisition of 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz frequencies. TIM's R&D lab is centred in Turin.

16 February 2012
Posted in News Analysis

Two mobile advertising companies, Adfonic and Sofialys, have each launched Rich Media services targeting brands that would like to deliver richer, app-like experiences on mobile devices.

Sofialys announced the launch of its in-house Rich Media Factory, and said it wanted to simplify the process of building and distributing rich media ads to consumers all across the globe.

Adfonic also announced the availability of its rich media offering, enabling ad formats that are designed to facilitate a deeper level of consumer engagement, with greater opportunities for interaction between brands and consumers.

15 February 2012
Posted in News Analysis

Telenor has called off an arbitration claim, lodged in January 2011, to protect its voting rights in Russian operator Vimpelcom.

The operator has announced that it has bought 234,000,000 VimpelCom preferred shares from Weather Investments II (Weather), for US$374.4 million. Weather is the investment vehicle through which Naguib Sawiris and his family hold their interests in VimpelCom.

Weather gained its shares in Vimpelcom when Vimpelcom acquired WIND Telecom early in 2011. Telenor protested at the time that it would not accept a diminution in its voting rights.

At the time, Telenor held 36% of the voting shares, but saw that fall to 25% after the Vimpelcom/Wind merger. The deal just agreed now bumps Telenor's voting share to 36.3%, with Alfa Group's Altimo Telecom holding 25% and Weather's voting share reduced from 29% to 18%.