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Group data plans, and how to plan for them

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Group data plans, and how to plan for them

At the Broadband Traffic Management event in London, and at the Mobile Asia Congress, there is continued talk about how operators can be innovative in their data pricing and charging. As operators add intelligence to the network, and integrate real time charging capabilities with post-paid services of all types, increased possibilities for innovation on pricing and charging present themselves.

One, perhaps under-exploited, tool that operators could use is the group data tariff. This sees members of the same family, business, or groups of devices registered to the same subscriber, share an overall usage bucket.

Recent findings from Infonetics Research, contained in a report commissioned by Tekelec, showed that the number of mobile broadband devices sold globally on shared data plans is forecast to grow an average of 89 percent a year from 2011 to 2015, reaching nearly 187 million units. Smartphones, USB cards and tablets will comprise 89 percent of these devices.

Infonetics estimates that 2.4 percent of mobile broadband devices sold globally in 2011 will be on shared data plans. By 2015, the figure jumps to 15.4 percent. These plans, according to Infonetics, will first gain traction in markets with advanced 3G competition, such as North America, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Randy Fuller, of Tekelec, told Mobile Europe (see video) that a group tariff could help operators gain custom from younger customers, who might otherwise have used a competitive operator or MVNO. So although the group data plan might appear to be dilutive of ARPU, it is in fact an overall revenue gain.

“Yes, the average revenue per device might drop, but operators are adding a second, third, or fourth device as a result” Fuller said.

So what do operators need to do to implement the group data plan?

Shira Levine, directing analyst, next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics, said that network intelligence from policy management, subscriber data management and Diameter routing were all key to implementing and profting from the shared data plan.

Fuller pointed out that operators will need to be able to notify the plan holder in real time as to what current usage status is. For instance, if one user of device is maxing out the data limit, action could be taken to limit that user or device. This increased need for intelligence is “driving new requirements from the policy servers”, Fuller said, as an alternative to major, and time-consuming upgrades to billing systems.

It also demans increased communication at the control level across a greater number of systems: the underlying billing piece, PCRF and charging, gateways, HSS and subscriber data elements.

Fuller said that Tekelec, with its focus on Diameter Routing Agents, has “seen this coming.” Operators too, have come to the DRA party, he said, as they grapple with the need to align data usage and revenues. Group data plans are just one tool operators can use in that wider movement.

“The light has gone on at the operators too,” Fuller said. “Adoption is about 1-2 years behind policy, but it’s on the same curve.”

Group data plans, and how to plan for them

admin
-
0
Group data plans, and how to plan for them

At the Broadband Traffic Management event in London, and at the Mobile Asia Congress, there is continued talk about how operators can be innovative in their data pricing and charging. As operators add intelligence to the network, and integrate real time charging capabilities with post-paid services of all types, increased possibilities for innovation on pricing and charging present themselves.

One, perhaps under-exploited, tool that operators could use is the group data tariff. This sees members of the same family, business, or groups of devices registered to the same subscriber, share an overall usage bucket.

Recent findings from Infonetics Research, contained in a report commissioned by Tekelec, showed that the number of mobile broadband devices sold globally on shared data plans is forecast to grow an average of 89 percent a year from 2011 to 2015, reaching nearly 187 million units. Smartphones, USB cards and tablets will comprise 89 percent of these devices.

Infonetics estimates that 2.4 percent of mobile broadband devices sold globally in 2011 will be on shared data plans. By 2015, the figure jumps to 15.4 percent. These plans, according to Infonetics, will first gain traction in markets with advanced 3G competition, such as North America, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Randy Fuller, of Tekelec, told Mobile Europe (see video) that a group tariff could help operators gain custom from younger customers, who might otherwise have used a competitive operator or MVNO. So although the group data plan might appear to be dilutive of ARPU, it is in fact an overall revenue gain.

“Yes, the average revenue per device might drop, but operators are adding a second, third, or fourth device as a result” Fuller said.

So what do operators need to do to implement the group data plan?

Shira Levine, directing analyst, next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics, said that network intelligence from policy management, subscriber data management and Diameter routing were all key to implementing and profting from the shared data plan.

Fuller pointed out that operators will need to be able to notify the plan holder in real time as to what current usage status is. For instance, if one user of device is maxing out the data limit, action could be taken to limit that user or device. This increased need for intelligence is “driving new requirements from the policy servers”, Fuller said, as an alternative to major, and time-consuming upgrades to billing systems.

It also demans increased communication at the control level across a greater number of systems: the underlying billing piece, PCRF and charging, gateways, HSS and subscriber data elements.

Fuller said that Tekelec, with its focus on Diameter Routing Agents, has “seen this coming.” Operators too, have come to the DRA party, he said, as they grapple with the need to align data usage and revenues. Group data plans are just one tool operators can use in that wider movement.

“The light has gone on at the operators too,” Fuller said. “Adoption is about 1-2 years behind policy, but it’s on the same curve.”

SIM-based NFC, but not as we know it

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SIM-based NFC, but not as we know it

All-in NFC on a SIM

With the GSMA’s members re-circling their wagons around a SIM-based approach to NFC payments, here’s another interesting approach to SIM-based NFC from Inside Secure.

The company says it has developed a solution that incorporates complete NFC capability into a SIM form factor. That’s the antenna, core chip, secure element, the lot, all on the SIM. It seems to take away the need for the NFC separate chip, and therefore for communication between the Secure Element on the SIM, and the chip — using the protocol known as Single Wire Protocol.

The attraction, Inside Secure says, is that operators can now deploy SIM-based NFC even in phones that don’t have an NFC chip built-in (ie. most of them).

Here are the important elements of Inside Secure’s own release:

“For the demonstration, a standard SIM card containing the INSIDE core technology chip, a secure element and an antenna that measures a scant five by ten mm will be inserted into the SIM slots of selected legacy phones from leading handset makers. These mobile devices will then be used to demonstrate NFC contactless transaction performance with a reader device. Despite the antenna’s diminutive size, the phones containing the INSIDE solution will be able to communicate with contactless readers, just like standard ISO 14443 contactless smart cards used in U.S. contactless payment deployments.  

While the demonstration at CARTES utilizes a SIM card, the INSIDE Secure core technology may be embedded into other form-factor devices and integrated with other mobile device components.

“Until now, no one has been able to place a complete NFC solution, including antenna, into a SIM card, insert it into a mobile phone and have it perform well,” said Bruno Charrat, chief innovation officer, at INSIDE Secure. “The patented INSIDE innovation enables the creation of new products with very small antennas, less than one square centimetre, making feasible the commercial introduction of NFC enablement products using the SIM form factor as well as other inserted or embedded solutions.”

One thought is that this could have been a great solution 2-3 years ago when we were still in the chicken and egg “no point building a service as no handsets to deploy”/ “no services worth building a handset for” situation. But now there are increasing numbers of handsets coming onto the market with an NFC chip, and the chips themselves are beginning to drop in price. In fact, some experts see NFC chips following a similar trajectory and timeline to Bluetooth chips, which makes them economically viable in most handsets right about…now. So after all the work taken to get NFC chips working with NFC SIMs, will operators be attracted by this SIM-only approach? And will the SIM card manufacturers?

Another thought is, will it work? There have been others looking at NFC SIMs with integrated antenna. I couldn’t get over to Cartes this week to see this demo myself, and in any case a show demo is never the best environment to test something out.

Inside Secure release:
INSIDE Secure today announced a major technology innovation that allows an NFC card emulation solution to fit into a standard SIM card form factor and still achieve industry-standard four cm proximity transaction performance. The INSIDE technology innovation is able to achieve this groundbreaking performance even when operating from inside a mobile phone by significantly reducing the effects of the metals and electrical noise typically found within these devices.

The patented INSIDE core technology is part of an initiative that will allow the company to bring multiple new NFC products to market in 2012 and 2013, both directly and with key strategic partners. This core technology creates significant improvements over conventional NFC core technology, enabling four cm or greater contactless read distance in a mobile device with an antenna footprint of less than one cm square. A technology demonstration is being presented for the first time during the CARTES and IDentification 2011 conference and exhibition being held there this week.  

“INSIDE Secure is again demonstrating its leadership in the NFC market by providing a core enabling technology that will enable multiple new end products in SIM and microSD form-factors for use in legacy mobile devices, accelerating the adoption of NFC card emulation use cases within the currently deployed mobile phone market,” said Charles Walton, chief operating officer at INSIDE Secure. “This breakthrough technology provides a means of bringing NFC services to markets that might otherwise not be immediately reachable through smart phone sales, such as in Brazil, India and African countries, or for any market with a large installed base of legacy mobile phones.”

For the demonstration, a standard SIM card containing the INSIDE core technology chip, a secure element and an antenna that measures a scant five by ten mm will be inserted into the SIM slots of selected legacy phones from leading handset makers. These mobile devices will then be used to demonstrate NFC contactless transaction performance with a reader device. Despite the antenna’s diminutive size, the phones containing the INSIDE solution will be able to communicate with contactless readers, just like standard ISO 14443 contactless smart cards used in U.S. contactless payment deployments.  

While the demonstration at CARTES utilizes a SIM card, the INSIDE Secure core technology may be embedded into other form-factor devices and integrated with other mobile device components.

“Until now, no one has been able to place a complete NFC solution, including antenna, into a SIM card, insert it into a mobile phone and have it perform well,” said Bruno Charrat, chief innovation officer, at INSIDE Secure. “The patented INSIDE innovation enables the creation of new products with very small antennas, less than one square centimetre, making feasible the commercial introduction of NFC enablement products using the SIM form factor as well as other inserted or embedded solutions.”

The potential market for products based on the patented INSIDE core technology is substantial. Many market analysts believe the total number of mobile phones in use worldwide is fast approaching six billion.

Commercial products based on this INSIDE core technology are expected to be available in the latter part of 2012. INSIDE will be starting discussions with prospective product partners during CARTES this week, and will be extending a partnership program structure in the new year. As products based on this INSIDE technology are launched and used in feature phones and smartphones, developers will be able to create applications that provide an interactive exchange between the user and an NFC payment or other application.

(Note: the picture we have used is taken from here and is not an Inside Secure solution)

UPDATE 12.19pm: I’ve just seen that Bill Ray has, this morning, written a good article on the design challenges of NFC on a SIM for The Register.

Orange launches Facebook phone on unlimited tariff

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Orange launches Facebook phone on unlimited tariff

Trojan horse for OTT revenue grab, or sensible partnership?

Orange will launch three “Facebook” phones, one a smartphone based on Android OS and two feature phones, into emerging and near-emerging markets in late 2011 and 2012.

All the phones have been made by ODM TCL Communications, the firm which is licensed to use the Alcatel name on its phones, in partnership with Facebook. They carry a hard Facebook button, through which users can gain immediate access to Facebook services.

The Android phone, branded the Orange Vancouver, will go on sale first in Romania (with Poland to follow) on a €10 per month tariff that will include free, unlimited use of Facebook services over the mobile network.

Other mobile data is restricted to just 60Mb a month. If users go over the 60Mb using any service other than Facebook, they will be liable for overage fees, while Facebok fees will remain free.

Orange and Facebook executives confirmed to Mobile Europe that the full range of Facebook services would be available to users — including Facebook Messenger.

In Romania, users would typically pay about €4 for a 250Mb limit. Therefore you could argue (stripping out the calls and text element) that the €10 tariff is equivalent to about 500Mb of data per month – a typical smart phone tariff limit in many markets.

That would mean that a user would be confronted with a choice between another, more highly specced smartphone, but paying for Facebook data within an overall bundle, or working out whether it is worth going for the cheaper phone but with unlimited Facebook data.

Facebook confirmed it is not paying Orange for access to the phone, or to Orange customers. Instead, its resources were committed at the development stage.

The strategy of zero-rating, or preferentially rating, certain apps or services over mobile is a cause of great discussion in the industry at the moment. At Informa’s Broadband Traffic Management event taking place in London this week, for example, many of the sessions are dedicated to the topic of how operators can offer more presonalised, or flexible, data tariffs. Offering users a simple data tariff with, say, free Twitter and Facebook use, then adding “pay now” elements for video or other use is one option. Another, reverse, decision, would be to only ask users to pay for the elements they see the value in – ie pay for Facebook and YouTube, but get other services free. Operators are unsure as to which way to go, or whether just to stick with the current, tiered models.

A potential hitch for operators is that offering “free” Facebook access could open them up to potential loss of revenue from their own messaging and even voice services, for instance. And with Facebook now hosting a lot of video, for example, there could be a greater data volume to support than expected – adding to network costs. Additionally, if Facebook takes the decision to offer a lot more services from within Facebook, users could feasibly carry out almost their entire internet activities from within Facebook. All these packets would carry a Facebook header and be waved through free by operators’ DPI and policy systems.

For now, though, given the markets it is targeting and the low spec devices it has developed, Orange is unencumbered by all of these tactical possibilities. Its strategy with the Facebook phones is to bring to market low cost phones that offer users their first, guided, step into the mobile internet world, with the sure knowledge that their Facebook use will not cost them more than their existing bundle.

The phones Orange is launching are  ALCATEL ONE TOUCH 585F, ONE TOUCH 813F, and ONE TOUCH 908F (Orange Vancouver in Romania). These devices will be available in Armenia, Botswana, Cameroon, France, Ivory Coast, Mali, Morocco, Mauritius, Moldova, Niger, Poland, Reunion, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia and Uganda. Exact launch dates will be announced locally at a later date, as may further countries.

 

Inside O2’s London LTE trial

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Inside O2’s London LTE trial

Head of O2’s London LTE trial on trial design, device availability, vendor selection and consumer usage

O2 has announced that it now has a live LTE trial operating in central London. The trial will run until June 2012, and will be used to determine future LTE network planning and architecture across the Telefonica group, as well as track how customers respond to the added bandwidth and low latency that LTE brings.

Over 1000 individuals are expected to take part using either a Samsung B3730 dongle, 4G personal wireless hotspots (MiFi) and, later, early LTE handsets. Rob Joyce, Head of 4G trial at O2, said that LTE device prototypes are currently being tested in O2 labs, but that it would be “a few months” before they are suitable for release on a live network. “But they do exist and we have seen them,” he said.

O2 has 20MHz of test spectrum to operate in, at the 2.6GHz band. For the trial, 25 LTE cell sites will cover an area of 40 square kilometres.

Joyce said that the LTE sites are all mapped to existing, upgraded 2G and 3G sites, except for within the O2 Arena, which has been equipped with small cells to provide dedicated in-building coverage. (O2’s Slough HQ is now equipped with an LTE small cell on every floor, with a macrocell overlay, Joyce added.)

“For the trial, we aimed for a macrocell network initially,” Joyce said. “In the future we understand the need to look at small cells, but for a trial we hope will have one thousand users, the capacity boost that small cells will provide is not the priority. Coverage is more the issue, and I want the users to be able to move around London freely using the LTE service.”

As for providing in-building coverage, Joyce said that he expects the 2.6GHz service to work as well as O2’s 3G coverage at 2.1GHz in terms of penetrating London’s offices and shops. “Our view is that we’ve densified the 3G network at 2.1GHz so we expect that will be dense enough for the 2.6GHz trial network.”

Joyce emphasised that O2 does not yet know what spectrum it will win for deploying LTE, so it has to assess its deployment options from digital dividend spectrum at 800MHz, through refarmed GSM 900MHz spectrum, 1800 and 2100MHz spectrum up to 2.6GHz.

The trial LTE network has been deployed using equipment supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks for both the radio and core network elements. Joyce said that the operators wanted to “have a look” at NSN, which had won a competitive tender process for the trial. Although Huawei provided the radio equipment for O2’s 2009 LTE trial in Slough, all that kit has now been swapped over the NSN, Joyce said.

Backhaul for the 4G trial network is being provided using point-to-multipoint (P2MP) microwave equipment from Cambridge Broadband Networks Limited (CBNL), with NEC and Nokia Siemens Networks providing point-to-point microwave links. Several sites are also already equipped with fibre connections, Joyce said.

The announcement is a coup for CBNL in particular, as the vendor has been pushing its point-to-multipoint solution as a fix for small cell backhaul. Lance Hiley, VP Market Strategy for CBNL, said that its P2MP VectaStar equipment is providing backhaul for “over 50%” of the 25 trial sites, using available spectrum in the 28GHz band. Hiley confirmed that the company was providing its equipment under commercial terms, but could provide few further details as the vendor is still awaiting clearance from O2.

Joyce said that O2 was neither “convinced nor unconvinced” by P2MP, but he did describe it as an idea whose “time was coming” as more small cells are rolled out, and said that so far the VectaStar kit had been performing as expected. “It’s not as robust or high capacity as fibre, but we have to ask, do we really want to run fibre to a site with ten users? If not, what are the alternatives. P2MP microwave is one, and P2P is another.”

Aside from the technical dimensions, Joyce said the operator has told users to try and use as much data as possible, to test the network as much as possible. One user, Joyce said, has found latency and bandwidth at better levels than his home broadband, allowing him to have a better experience playing cloud-based online games through OnLive. Joyce said that the carrier is also seeing users use MiFi devices to provide WiFi access to iPads and other WiFi connected devices, using LTE as the backhaul. And O2’s own camera teams have been using the LTE connection to transfer hi definition standard TV streams, receiving an easier experience that booking 2Mbps satellite uplinks.

The London trial results will be shared at Group level through Telefonica’s Director of New Access Networks, Ian Miller.

Telefónica and Giesecke & Devrient “prove” remote M2M SIM management

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Telefónica and Giesecke & Devrient “prove” remote M2M SIM management

Telefónica and Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) say they have developed and proved a secure, pre-standard solution for remotely managing M2M SIM subscription data based on the principles of the embedded SIM.

A statement from the companies said that a live test has “proven the secure transfer of a subscription from Telefónica Spain to a Telefónica UK one over the air”.

With this type of remote subscription management, device makers can manufacture devices with M2M SIMs on a cost optimised production setup, while mobile network operators (MNOs) can customise their M2M connectivity offerings.

This solution could enable Telefónica and its partners to provide global services to their customers based on a SIM adapted to local requirements. Secure profiles from MNOs can be loaded later in the supply chain, including post-sale, and their profiles can be revised during the lifetime of the device. It would also allow a swapping of MNOs to support a change of subscription, a network upgrade or swap out, a change of device ownership or long term relocations.

With this trial, and in cooperation with Samsung and Telit Wireless Solutions, both G&D and Telefónica have said that they have demonstrated that the solution for remote subscription management works. The companies also said that the successful test would also provide important input for the ongoing standarisation in order to improve the subscription management concept.

The main cornerstones of the trial are the subscription management enabled M2M SIMs, a subscription management platform -hosted in a secure G&D environment- and an MNO specific portal developed by Telefonica.

 

Involving two MNOs, the demo allows Telefonica to test different aspects of this M2M solution such as loading of a subscription, transfer of subscription to other device, remote loading on a second mobile operator subscription, remote deletion and the subscription management platform user interface (GUI), from G&D, as a trigger for all events.

“The subscription management of the SIM will enable Telefónica to provide the best solution based on a global SIM and consequently the usage of M2M devices in new, innovative applications across the world,” says Carlos Morales, Global M2M, Cloud and Apps Director at Telefónica Digital.

“There are many advantages to the highly secure remote management of credentials on embedded SIMs for the M2M environment. We are helping to drive the migration of today´s SIM card personalization to an OTA-based process where security is as paramount as in today’s personalization scenarios ” says Dr. Klaus Vedder, Group Senior Vice President Mobile Strategy at G&D.

Deutsche Telekom offers any-to-any videoconferencing

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Deutsche Telekom offers any-to-any videoconferencing

Deutsche Telekom is marketing a cloud based videoconferencing service, called VideoMeet, that allows users on different video conference endpoints to connect.

The service, built on BlueJeans Network’s technology, enables users of business solutions like Cisco/Tandberg, Polycom, Lifesize and others, and light weight solutions such as Skype and Google Video Chat to connect.

DT said VideoMeet is the first solution globally that connects practically any video client. The carrier starts marketing the solution from today in the UK, Germany and Austria. There is a free 30 day trial available, and you can view pricing here.

“Video is the next voice,” said Rainer Deutschmann, Senior Vice President Core Telco Products at Deutsche Telekom. “To support this vision we introduce VideoMeet, the very first service that bridges different end-points. VideoMeet is as easy to set up as an audio conference. It adheres to high security standards, and, as a genuine cloud service, it is simply scalable to the needs of our customers and does not require any investment. VideoMeet perfectly connects, for example, companies with distributed offices, home offices and traveling employees, as well as sales departments with their customers.”

Businesses are increasingly adopting enterprise-grade telepresence – a recent report from Ovum found. Ovum analyst Ian Jacobs sad that the market will boom, with spending hitting $1.1bn in 2016, growing with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.5% from 2011 to 2016.

Yet, Jacobs added, the vendor and service selection process is not an easy one. “Businesses will face a difficult task in deciding on the right vendor in a particularly rapidly changing supplier marketplace. They may return to their legacy video conferencing vendor for telepresence or look to new-breed video specialists. They might make the choice as a stand-alone decision or as part of a broader enterprise communication strategy.”

VideoMeet users are each given access to a secure “meeting room” in the VideoMeet cloud that they can use to schedule, host, and manage meetings via a web interface. Participants join meetings by dialling a number or clicking on a link to attend via video. There’s no hardware to buy or software to download.

VideoMeet can be used with an IP and an ISDN-based connection. In addition, Deutsche Telekom has introduced firewall traversal, which allows secure access between videoconferencing rooms behind a company firewall and any end point outside the company.

Belgacom to launch shared WiFi service with FON

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100,000 Belgacom Fon WiFi hotspots will be available to Belgacom internet customers and Fon customers by the end of the year. In 2012, this network will be extended to more than 500,000 WiFi hotspots, establishing Belgacom Fon as the largest WiFi network in Belgium and adding to the 4.5 million hotspots already in the Fon WiFi network worldwide.

Alex Puregger, Fon COO said: “We’re thrilled to see the first Belgacom Fon hotspots going live in Belgium. Together with Belgacom we will roll out hundreds of thousands hotspots in Belgium, adding to our global Community WiFi Network, that we are building with some of the world’s largest Telcos”

Belgacom added Fon’s WiFi-sharing technology to its secured BBox2 modem earlier this year, making it possible to broadcast two powerful, dedicated WiFi signals from a broadband internet source. One signal is encrypted and private. The other signal is public but only accessible via password. This technology allows Belgacom customers to open up their own wireless internet connection to members of the Fon WiFi community in a secure way, with no noticeable impact on their home internet experience or their TV quality, which will always be given priority.

The service is free for all Belgacom internet customers. After registering via Belgacom’s e-Services, they will receive a login and password; customers who combine their internet subscription with a Mobile One subscription (mobile voice in a Belgacom Pack) will receive an additional password and login to also surf via their smartphone.

CEM in a 4G World – what’s the difference?

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Will the introduction of 4G networks make any difference to the way operators address Customer Experience Management? If so, how can operators best manage the user experience across 2G, 3G and LTE networks, as well as find new ways to interact and communicate with their customers?

Three experts in the area give their view on data analysis and correlation across networks, multi-channel interaction, and the move to on-device communication.

 

CEM in a 4G World – what’s the difference?

admin
-
0

Will the introduction of 4G networks make any difference to the way operators address Customer Experience Management? If so, how can operators best manage the user experience across 2G, 3G and LTE networks, as well as find new ways to interact and communicate with their customers?

Three experts in the area give their view on data analysis and correlation across networks, multi-channel interaction, and the move to on-device communication.

 

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