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Juniper bats away Cisco’s negative “marketing stunt”

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Accuses Cisco of a loss of focus

Juniper Networks has swatted away a concerted effort by Cisco Systems to draw attention to what Cisco sees as a series of unfulfilled promises from Juniper.

Earlier on Monday 12 September, Cisco uploaded a webpage and video, and published a blog entry, drawing attention to what it alleges are five “overpromises”  from Juniper Networks.

Cisco’s  “Overpromisesunderdelivers” page alleges:
“1. Juniper announced their intent to offer T1600 support for 100 Gigabit in 2007, but didn’t deliver 100 Gigabit Ethernet line cards until three-and-a-half years later.
2. Juniper’s Project Stratus/QFabric for the data center: Despite four announcements, beginning in February 2009, the QFabric system is still unavailable. If QFabric is finally delivered later this year, it will have taken more than two-and-a-half years to deliver. What IS available does not deliver on Juniper’s “3-2-1” vision
3. Juniper acquired Ankeena in the Spring of 2010, but video/content delivery is still not available on Juniper’s MX series products.
4. Juniper promised 100 Gigabit Ethernet on MX-series edge routing products two-and-a-half years ago. It’s still not available.
5. Juniper’s Project Falcon mobile platform: After three launches in 2009, 2010 and – again — in 2011, Juniper still has not announced any customers of it.”

Mobile Europe contacted Juniper Networks and asked for a response to Cisco’s negative marketing. Specifically, we asked if Juniper would comment on the final Cisco allegation, that Juniper is publicly light on customers for its Project Falcon mobile platform.

Juniper Networks sent a statement refusing to comment, although it did find time to accuse Cisco of “once again” losing focus.

That statement, attributed to David Shane, VP, Global Corporate Communications, Juniper Networks, follows:
“We’re not going to comment on a competitor’s publicity stunt.  Customers tell us they want an alternative to the legacy approach, and we’re focused on delivering innovation for them. It appears as if Cisco has once again lost focus.”

 

Mobile malware goes up by… how much? (clue – it’s not 273%)

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Mobile malware goes up by… how much? (clue – it’s not 273%)

Mobile malware goes up 273% the headlines shout. You may have seen one or two of them. But the truth is if anything “worse” — those same stories, by sticking with the delivery of the press release the stories are based on, missed the real numbers.

I too received the press release from G Data that these stories reference, but I was intrigued by a discrepancy between the wording of the release and that of the covering note from the public relations person who sent me the release.

The press release proper says that mobile malware’s share of the overall malware threat had grown 273% over the first six months of the year. The covering note said that mobile malware overall was up 273%.

The two aren’t the same thing, so I asked for clarification on what the absolute numbers were.

Here they are. As you can see, the total number of mobile malware threats detected by G Data is as following.

In the first six months of 2010, 212 threats were detected. In the second half of last year, that number is down to 55. Then, in the first half of 2011, G Data picked up on 803 bits of malicious code attacking mobile platforms.

So, if you wanted to write that in terms of “mobile malware up X per cent” then you could choose the year on year H1 figures and say malware is up just under four times (from 212 to 803). Or you could take the sequential half year numbers and say that mobile malware has increased around 1,400%, from (55 to 803 detected threats).

Either way, G Data has not reported a 273% increase in mobile malware – as is being reported.

What has increased 273% is mobile’s share of the overall malware threat out there – as seen by G Data. As you can see, G Data said that 803 threats gives mobile a share of just 0.1% of the total malware “market” – counting all threats to all the other platforms out there. Prior to this increase, therefore, malware’s overall share was very, very, small indeed.

What I find interesting is that G Data could have gone for the “Mobile malware increased 1,400% from H2 2010 to H2 2011” angle, but instead chose to go with a less sensational definition by looking at “share”.

The overall takeaway, then, is that mobile malware as detected by G Data is growing, but not consistently so. And it’s still a tiny fraction of the overall opportunity as identified by the cyber criminals out there. That’s not a plea for complacency, by the way, as you’d be a fool to think mobile isn’t the next frontier for the virus scammers. But do think on if you are planning to use the 273% number in any future presentations or collateral.

(P.S. As with all such stories where you attempt to correct others, I’m bound to have made some mistakes of my own in interpreting these numbers. Please do let me know if you spot any.)

Broadcom aiming for increased wireless infrastructure share

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Broadcom’s acquisition of NetLogic will enable it to more than double its addressable market, most significantly into the wireless infrastructure and base station markets,  Scott McGregor, Broadcom’s President and CEO, said on an analyst call.

McGregor said that the combination of Broadcom’s switching and routing platforms with NetLogic’s knowledge based and digital front end would allow the company to address the concerns of network operators as they deal with rapid growth in demands on their networks.

“Network operators are struggling with the number of connected devices on the network and  the exploding demand for bandwidth. The need to handle a wider variety of apps is forcing corporations and operators to use more and faster switches and increase intelligence by integrating more embedded processors. In the long term our goal is to combine the multicore front end NetLogic processors with BroadCom’s platforms, to integrate higher bandwidth functionality and intelligence into one solution, with a lower integration cost, enhanced system performance and lower execution risk.”

The company hopes that combining NetLogic’s digital front end processors with other assets it has in the backhaul space, would allow it to play a broader role in the wireless infrastructure market. McGregor added that as DSP gets a bigger role in base stations as they evolve to LTE and beyond, the Broadcom-NetLogic combination would give it a “significant expansion of the addressable market in wireless infrastructure”. 

“BroadCom and NetLogic are currently used in many of the same platforms, and this proposed acquisition is an important next step to something truly unique in embedded processing – creating highly differentiated digital front end solutions for wireless base stations, and best-in-class integrated platforms for this segement” McGregor said.

Ron Jankov, NetLogic Microsystems President and CEO added that combining the “leading multicore, knowledge based and digital front end processors with Broadcom’s tools, IP and ecosystem” would create, “a complete comms platform solution for customers’ next generation designs. It will allow us to re-think the positioning of functionality on the platform, the design and footprint.”

Broadcom’s proposed $3.7 billion acquisition of NetLogic is due to close in the first half of 2012.

iPad holds 73% UK tablet market share, but still room for competitors

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New research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech’s recently launched tablet tracking service shows that 3.62 million people in Great Britain now own a tablet.

The iPad is the dominant force in the market, accounting for 73% of all tablet sales. This looks set to continue with just over half of potential tablet owners saying they will buy an iPad over the next year. The Samsung Galaxy range is the next popular choice, with 6% of consumers planning to buy this device.

Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director, from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech explains: “While the iPad dominates sales at the moment there is still potential for other manufacturers. Our data shows that 28% of consumers that intend to purchase a tablet in the next year are still undecided about which brand to buy.

“However, Apple’s achievements in this market are clearly linked to its success in the smartphone market. 80% of people who already own an iPhone and plan to purchase a tablet intend to buy an iPad. This is clearly something other manufacturers will have to contend with.”

Consumer awareness of tablets is also an important factor in increasing sales.  After an advertising blitz last Christmas knowledge of the devices is high, with only 3% of people claiming they have never heard of a tablet.

Dominic continues: “Over a quarter of those who said they have a strong knowledge of the product plan to go and buy one in the next year, compared with only 3% who have a low knowledge.  Manufacturers will need to clearly market the benefits of the products, particularly to the older demographic (over-45), who have less understanding of the differences between tablets and PCs.

“One consideration for the future will also be the relationship between smartphones, tablets and PC’s and the necessity of having all three. With tablets and smartphones providing similar benefits to customers and increasingly becoming the same size it may become a case of one or the other.  In fact 10% of consumers already remain undecided whether to buy a smartphone or a tablet.”

Vimpelcom extends Sicap’s service browsing to four subsidiaries

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Sicap, long term mobile solution partner to the Vimpelcom group, has announced the integration of its value-added mobile service menu browser solution into subsidiary networks.

In the Vimpelcom network, branded as Beeline, sicap UMB (USSD Menu Browser) is an interactive and user-friendly interface to over 2000 USSD menu items. Subscribers can now scroll down and choose the service they need, from prepaid credit checks and topups, to subscription options and information services such as weather reports, finance or chat. The UMB platform has interactive options and bookmarking so that subscribers have readily available information at their fingertips at all times. And because it uses the USSD channel; a return message to a subscriber request takes no longer than 2 to 3 seconds.

In Russia, Vimpelcom network users rapidly adopted UMB menu browsing for its speed, simplicity and convenience. The extension of UMB services to four new subsidiaries in the CIS, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Tajikistan and Georgia, brings the number of subscribers who benefit from the browser up to over 70 million.

Behind the scenes, Sicap UMB has allowed Vimpelcom to bring all its services under one access code, simplifying content updates and marketing efforts, and providing statistics on service usage.

“Simplicity is a key concept at sicap,” said Мг. Yury Morzeev, Head of Operations, at sicap Moscow, “and we believe that simple services are a great way for Vimpelcom to maintain its excellent brand image, while gaining in efficiency and reducing service costs.

“In our essentially prepaid market, with mobile devices arriving in the network from many different sales channels, the sicap browser has all the ideal attributes. It works on any device, whether on the home network or roaming, and whatever the credit balance,” said Мг. Alexander Molozhavsky, Senior Project Manager of Vimpelcom.

Infonetics finds Huawei biggest gainer in microwave market

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Revenue gains in Ethernet and hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave equipment sales failed to offset price erosion across most microwave market segments, leading to a thin 2.4% rise in the overall microwave equipment market in 2Q 2011, according to research firm Infonetics.

The total market reached $1.3 billion worldwide for the quarter, Infonetics Research said, with Ericsson and NEC the leaders by market share, and Huawei pushing into third place with a growth of 90% by revenue. All three are now separated by just one point market share, Infonetics said. The analyst attributed Huawei’s succes to “the considerable amount of higher-spectrum microwave gear they sell, particularly 23- and 38-GHz equipment, and to leveraging their contracts with their mobile RAN and optical equipment customers.”

Infonetics Research’s  Microwave Equipment vendor market share and forecast report also found that:
•    As carriers seek to accommodate traffic growth on their 3G networks and prepare for 4G/LTE service launches, the need for enhanced mobile backhaul bandwidth will continue to drive the Ethernet microwave equipment market
•    In preparation for the expected need for denser on-the-street cell topologies in 4G networks, small cell backhaul solutions are already coming to the microwave equipment market, sporting all-outdoor ‘zero footprint’ lower power form factors
•    Microwave equipment vendors are emphasizing new higher-capacity products, with several vendors now claiming 1G+ capacity links
•    Between 2011 and 2012, global shipments of Ethernet microwave radio equipment are forecast to double, while TDM microwave gear will continue its inexorable decline, and the decline of hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave gear will accelerate
•    Revenue from Ethernet microwave equipment surpassed that of TDM microwave in 2010, and is expected to overtake hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave equipment by 2014
•    The sharpest growth in microwave equipment spending will come from North America between 2011 and 2015
•    Equipment in the spectrum clusters 4-7.99GHz, 8-11.99GHz, and 12-17.99GHz accounted for 82% of microwave equipment revenue in CY10

Infonetics has also carried out a survey of 21 operators asking them about their deployment plans, feature preferences, ratings of vendors, and criteria for choosing vendors. Select excerpts from the report, Microwave Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Provider Survey, follow.
“The bottom-line result of our latest microwave strategies survey is that, for operators, customer support is the key way to differentiate from the pack. Technology is important, and of course vendors love to talk about new product features. But this does not always align with the way in which their customers and the market in general assess vendors. To operators, a vendor that can build a lasting and productive relationship with them, based on strong service and support, will most likely win the purchase decision,” advises Richard Webb, directing analyst for microwave at Infonetics Research.

Microwave survey highights
•    NEC is the highest-rated vendor for customer service and support among operators participating in the survey
•    Ericsson joint-leads with NEC in financial stability ratings, and ties Nokia Siemens Networks for the second-highest ratings for technology (NEC is first)
•    Huawei gets top marks from operators for pricing and price-to-performance ratio, reinforcing the perception that it is undercutting the pricing structure of its competitors
•    Alcatel-Lucent ties for the third-highest rankings from operators for a number of criteria, including product roadmap and security
•    There will be an increasingly significant shift from dual Ethernet/TDM microwave to Ethernet-only microwave backhaul, driven by the exponential increases in data traffic caused by HSPA/HSPA+ and later, LTE adoption
•    Microwave will continue to be the dominant mobile backhaul solution even as fiber to the cell site is more widely deployed, as fiber will not always be available or cost-effective
•    Though mid-tier (13-24 GHz) and low-tier (1-12 GHz) spectrum bands currently dominate microwave deployments, use of high-tier spectrum (24-42 GHz), unlicensed spectrum, and millimeter wave spectrum will notably increase as operators seek to leverage less exploited spectrum to address backhaul needs

Operator-backed Paypal rival launches in France

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Operator-backed Paypal rival launches in France

“mCommerce finally becomes accessible” claims Buyster

Buyster, a payment institution regarded as a rival to Paypal and co-owned by Orange, SFR, Bouygues Telecom and Atos Origin, will begin commercial operations in France on 13 September.

Buyster is an online and remote payment solution that will allow users to buy without disclosing their bank details over the phone or internet. The ambition for Buyster is for it to become a key payment player in eCommerce and the leader in mCommerce in France.

A statement from Buyster made the claim that “mCommerce finally becomes accessible thanks to a unique operating mechanism on the market”.

Users that register for the service will have their bank account associated with their mobile phone number and will be provided with a security code. When they buy an item they enter the code, authenticating them for payment.

The operators said that they will market the solution to their combined user base of 50 million subscribers as well as e-tailers. Buyster said that its systems would provide retailers with an improved conversion rate thanks to its ease of use in particular for mobile phone purchases. The mobile phone also offers stronger authentication and reduces the risk of chargeback.

Buyster said in a statement that it is already supported by ten partners forming an ecosystem that can reach almost 30,000 e-retailers. The partners are:
· Payment service platforms: Mercanet, Paybox, Payline and Sips
· e-Commerce platforms: Store Factory and Wizishop
· Publishers and agencies: Baobaz, eDecision, Kapsicum, Prestashop and Think And Go.

E-retailers who will be connected from 13 September include 4 Pieds, AchatDesign, Ada, Allopneus, Aquarelle, Barrière Poker, Boulanger, Bouygues Telecom, BrandAlley, But, Camaïeu, Cariboom, Darty, Easy Fichiers, Feu Vert, reenWeez, Jennyfer, Kiabi, La Boutique Officielle, Monde Bio, National Change, Orange, Partouche, RazWar, RueDuCommerce, Rue Du Tee Shirt, SFR, Spartoo, Surcouf, Téléthon, Ubaldi.

The operators and Atos announced their intention to form a payment institution in February 2011, saying they were aiming for a mid-2011 service launch.

Telefonica doubles Redknee investment for precision tariff analysis

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Telefonica doubles Redknee investment for precision tariff analysis

Telefonica Spain is doubling its investment in pricing analysis technology from Redknee, to allow it to generate more precise business intelligence about its business and consumer customer segments.

Redknee CEO Lucas Skoczkowski said that he also expects to see other Telefonica properties in Europe and Latin America step up their investment in Redknee’s products and services. Redknee’s other Spanish customers – Vodafone, Orange and KPN – are already in active discussions to do so, Skoczkowski added.

Redknee founded its presence in Spain through the acquisition last year of Madrid-based Nimbus Systems for €11.25 million. The software vendor said that Telefonica Spain will spend double the amount with it this year compared to last year, adding customer segements and increased funtionalities to Redknee’s Price Simulator package.

Explaining this rising interest in detailed customer analysis, such as that performed by Redknee’s Price Simulator package, Skoczkowski said, “Operators are looking to drive a lot higher efficiency, and more understanding, of how to best tailor their businesses to extract more value from each of their customer segments: so precision becomes much more important. Historically there has been sufficient room in the market so that precision wasn’t necessarily the operating word.”

That has changed, however, and operators are under greater pressure to identify new customer segments, and address those with the most efficient and profitable tariffs and bundles.

“What we are looking for is agility but with more precision. Sometimes you can create something speedily but lack the precision to ensure you get the result the CFO of the company expects. We see Price Simulator as a really great way to have a very specific ability added to the operator’s business which then ties into both marketing and finance roles in the organisation.”

With operators seeing increased competition for certain demographic segments, there is more motivation to provide detailed forecasts and analysis of the impacts of certain tariffs within specific customer segments – and benchmark that against other tariffs.

“All operators are looking at how they can drive an increased understanding of the interaction between complex tariff bundles and the profitability of a sub-segment. When we run reports we not only allow our customers to understand how profitable segments are but also how that compares to all other tariffs from their competitors in that market. That means you can say not only if a tariff is likely to be good for you as a business, but you can use it to differentiate, and be sure you have a chance to be successful in a segment,” Skoczkowski said.

Skoczkowski added tha Redknee was looking to deepen its activity within operators with Price Simulator by highlighting the benefits of implement the software in alliance with Redknee’s Converged Billing services.
“The beauty of what Price Simulator does is that it outputs a bunch of proposed high efficiency bundles that can be auto provisioned into our Converged Billing platform. So if you deploy Price Simulator along with our Converged Billing solution you can achieve very quick and precise iterations of how you can try to maximise your market share of the segments you desire to be present in.”

Skoczkowski said that Redknee was experiencing 40% year on year growth, in a market that “is not quite where it was back in 2008 from a mood indicator perspective”.

“The reason why we have seen growth is that by working with customers and supplying them with critical platforms we are able to extract very good ROI for the operators and give them a sustainable competitive advantage in their geography.”

 

Android tops OS share for Telia, iPhone 4 top selling device

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Telia continued to sell more Android devices than any other OS in August, although the iPhone 4 remained the top-selling individual device.

Releasing smartphone sales comparisons from 85 of its stores, the Swedish operator said that Samsung’s Galaxy Mini was now pushing the Apple device very close for top spot. The iPhone 3G was third in the list.

With Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson phones also showing in the top ten, Android was the top selling OS – selling more than double the amount of devices it sold in August 2010. It’s a trend that Patrik Granström, sales manager at Telia, didn’t see changing soon.

“It seems that the months when Android sells more than IOS can no longer be counted as an exception but rather must be seen as a rule,” he said.

Sales of IOS-enabled handsets decreased by almost a third year on year, but August 2010 was a peak month for IOS, with the launch of the iPhone 4 on July 30.

Smartphones sales in Telia stores: August
1.   Apple iPhone 4
2.   Samsung Galaxy Mini
3.   Apple iPhone 3G
4.   Samsung Galaxy
5.   HTC Wildfire S
6.   HTC Sensation
7.   Sony Ericsson Arc
8.   Sony Ericsson Neo
9.   Sony Ericsson X8
10. HTC Desire S

Smartphone sales by operating system:
1.  Android
2.  iPhone IOS
3.  Symbian

 

Ericsson to be “dominant” LTE base station provider till 2014 – In-Stat report

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Global LTE Macro Base Station Deployments to Reach 1.5 Million by 2015, Ericsson #1 While Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent Battle for #2, Says In-Stat

In-Stat has forecast the biggest winners in the LTE infrastructure market. The research company is forecasting that the total number of LTE macro base station deployments will reach 1.5 million in 2015, with Ericsson claiming a “dominant” first position while Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent battle it out for the second spot.

“Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have become the early LTE leaders as a result of modernisation contracts with Verizon and AT&T. Nokia-Siemens Networks recently claimed a prestigious contract win with Telecom Italia,” said Chris Kissel, Analyst.

“Huawei has won both A1 Telekom and T-Mobile in Austria. Samsung has been instrumental in the MetroPCS LTE launch and will be a major factor in South Korea as their LTE market comes online.”

In-Stat said that recent research found the following:
•    Ericsson is the clear market leader through 2014. However, in 2015, four cellular infrastructure vendors will realize $2 billion or more in revenues from LTE RAN equipment sales.
•    In 2015, as Asia Pacific countries deploy LTE in earnest, Ericsson, Huawei, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia Siemens will all have at least 10% of newly deployed LTE macro base station shipments in 2015.
•    In the years 2011-2015, LTE RAN revenues will grow at a CAGR of 41%.
•    The top five vendors in global LTE EPC/router/gateways in 2012 will be Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia Siemens Networks.
•    Alcatel-Lucent will dominate the LTE packet backhaul infrastructure space in Central and Latin America in 2012, with Cisco and Ericsson assuming the #2 and #3 positions.

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