Roamware, a global specialist in mobile roaming solutions and financial services, has announced the global availability of Cardless ATM. The service enables bank customers to withdraw cash from an ATM without the use of a cash card, and can be used in case of loss or theft of a cash card as well as to send money to friends or family at home or abroad.

Cardless ATM is already in use in Europe – Permanent TSB (PTSB) launched the service in Ireland as part of its mobile banking solutions in 2009. Branded as ‘Emergency Cash’, the service allows customers to send €100 to anyone in Ireland simply by sending an SMS. Upon receiving the text message, the recipient may go to any PTSB cash point to withdraw the emergency cash – without the need for an ATM card. Registered customers can request payment five times per month up to a maximum of €500 (€100 per withdrawal). The account holder is charged €2 per withdrawal.

“Emergency Cash is one of the many ways we are differentiated in the market,” said Eamon Martin, Online Development and Mobile Banking Manager at Permanent TSB. “And it gives our customers peace of mind – knowing they still have access to cash if their card is stolen.”

“There is great interest in this product from banks around the world,” said Avnish Chauhan, Executive Vice President at Roamware. “It is particularly of interest in Asia and Africa where banks plan on using it for mobile money purposes, that is to send money to friends and family. This is a cost saving solution that could potentially complement ‘no frills’ bank account offering to underbanked and unbanked communities in developing economies,” added Avnish.

Both fixed and mobile broadband markets will continue growing in revenues, up to $416bn in 2020, but operators face some hard decisions about future business models, according to a new study published by the Telco 2.0 Initiative.

The new report, “Mobile, Fixed & Wholesale Broadband Business Models: Best Practice Innovation, ‘Telco 2.0′ Opportunities, Forecasts and Future Scenarios” finds that telecom operators will benefit from both new types of broadband wholesale and more sophisticated direct-to-consumer retail propositions and tariffs. Recent introductions of new tiered and capped wireless Internet data plans are early evidence of this trend.

Key findings from the report include:

• Global broadband access is forecast to increase from $274bn in 2010, to $416bn in 2020, an increase of 52% in revenue terms.
• More than half the revenue growth will come from wholesale and “two-sided” fees for improved access capacity and quality.
• By 2020, mobile broadband will be worth $138bn, or 32% of the total broadband industry revenues.
• Three new revenue streams are identified: “Bulk Wholesale”, “Comes with data”, “Slice and Dice”.
• New ‘upstream’ customers are forecast to generate over $90 billion in broadband revenues globally by 2020.

Many operators are said to fear the supposed risks of becoming “dumb pipes”, but the study suggests the forecast market value means the term “happy pipe” is more appropriate for some. Certain telecom carriers will be able to add further value through enhanced “Telco 2.0” services and platforms, but it is important to note that the basic carriage of data can itself be profitable and a source of substantial growth.

On the conventional retail broadband side, the big winners are fibre-based fixed services and mobile data for smartphones, says the report. ADSL and cable revenues will peak in mid-decade, and then decline with substitution from the progressive deployment of fibre. PC-based mobile broadband retail revenues will grow strongly in the short term, before being impacted by price competition and a shift from user-paid retail subscriptions to new wholesale-enabled models.

The  study predicts that the wholesale market for broadband will evolve in three separate directions:

• “Bulk wholesale” is an evolution of today’s approach to MVNOs and data roaming in mobile, or loop-unbundling and open fibre access in fixed markets. The report predicts an acceleration of this type of wholesale provision, as governments force greater openness on telecoms licencees, and operators look to alternative partnerships to supply new market niches with capacity. There is also a possibility for parties other than the end-user to pick up the bill for subscriptions – for example, some local authorities are now providing free broadband to disadvantaged communities.
• “Comes with data” business models have started to emerge recently, with devices such as the Amazon Kindle. Here, a product vendor or service provider contracts for data capacity with the broadband provider, and bundles it in a combined offer – the user does not have a subscription or direct relationship with the telco. The report expects this approach to be important for laptops, netbooks, tablets and various other new device categories.
• “Slice and dice” wholesale is more complex, and more controversial. This involves operators selling data capacity in fine-grained “parcels” to parties other than the user, who is typically also paying for some level of access. This type of “two-sided” business model could involve deals with device vendors for inclusion of data in bundled M2M offers, or to content/application providers where they pick up the bill for data transmission rather than the end-user.

The incremental revenue opportunity for new “slice and dice” wholesale business models in mobile broadband alone is forecast to be $21bn worldwide by 2020, says the report.

According to Chris Barraclough, co-author of the report and Managing Director of Telco 2.0, “Telco 2.0 is not about throwing away existing operator business models, but about evolving them to generate additional value. In new Telco 2.0 style ‘two-sided’ business models, there are ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ customers – upstream customers are typically enterprises or merchants seeking to reach their markets – the so-called ‘downstream’ customers.”

“As we show in this report, there are many creative ways that operators can add more value for existing downstream customers.  However, it is also clear that those companies providing services over the internet will increasingly seek to mash-up connectivity more tightly with their own offerings, for example by including connectivity as a part of their products.  These new ‘upstream’ customers are alone forecast to generate over $90 billion in broadband revenues globally by 2020.”

The report’s co-author and founder of Disruptive Analysis, Dean Bubley, said “Both fixed and mobile operators need to look beyond the traditional ‘end user subscription mindset’, and examine new and innovative wholesale opportunities. At the same time, they need to embrace radical evolution of their retail portfolios – for example, supporting prepaid fixed broadband, or offering innovative tiering and policy structures for mobile Internet access from smartphones and tablets. Whoever coined the term ‘dumb pipe’ has cost the industry billions in shareholder value”.

A new study by Juniper Research forecasts that the value of digital and physical goods that people buy with their mobiles will reach $200bn globally by 2012, compared to just less than $100bn this year. Digital goods include entertainment and tickets, whilst physical goods include groceries, gifts and books.

The new study – Mobile Payments for Digital and Physical Goods – found that the availability of secure, easy-to-use, payment applications and the growing realisation of users that they can make ecommerce purchases by mobile will drive the market.

Report author Howard Wilcox gave more details: “Our research showed that the purchase experience has been enhanced by improved mobile commerce transaction processes due to faster mobile networks, more powerful devices and much more user friendly Smartphone apps. Amazon Payments for example has recently introduced payment-processing tools for mobile devices, enabling Smartphone users to buy with one click.”

However, the Juniper report also underlined that retailers and merchants need to communicate the cost of transactions clearly so that people are not discouraged from buying by mobile.

Further key findings from the mobile payments report include:

• The frequency of physical goods purchased will be higher than average in developed regions such as North America and Western Europe;
• Brands, retailers and merchants have a significant opportunity to increase their revenues through highly targeted marketing campaigns, using apps and mobile web payments as a convenience play for users.

Vodafone today announced that it is to extend its Vodafone 360 services with the launch of a 360 Shop for Android.

The 360 Shop on Android has been designed specifically to ensure that customers can easily search for and browse the applications most suited to their needs and interests.  This is achieved through a personalised recommendations tool and dynamically changing promotional areas such as best rated, top downloads, categories and filtered lists. Feature content promotions will be run by local market editorial experts to further showcase locally relevant apps. All paid-for content is charged to the customer through operator billing, with funds regularly transferred into the developer’s bank account, making it simple for developers to keep track of revenue.

Through the 360 Shop on Android, Vodafone is giving apps developers the ability to publish either JIL or native Android apps in the 360 Shop.  Developers can also take advantage of existing Vodafone features such as clear pricing, a transparent review process and in-depth reporting.

“Developers want to know that their app will be seen by consumers, and the 360 Shop on Android has been designed to maximise opportunities for content promotion,” said Lee Epting, Director of Content Services at Vodafone Group. “Initial data is showing that up to a third of the catalogue gets exposed in a single day. This is a market-leading approach which will allow both customers and developers to get great value out of the 360 Shop.”

JDSU has introduced its RoamerNet MaxG Service, a global managed service for mobile operators that is claimed to speed the testing of high-bandwidth video and data applications and is compatible with emerging 4G/LTE technology.

JDSU’s RoamerNet supports testing of advanced roaming services including video telephony and video streaming as well as existing tests for voice, data and Simple Messaging Service (SMS).  The managed service also supports the testing of web applications, downloads and content verification.

“Mobile operators need to continue managing the critical revenue streams they derive from roaming customers,” said David Opsahl, vice president in JDSU’s Communications Test and Measurement business segment.  “As the mobile customer base moves beyond simple voice roaming to advanced data services and video communications, our RoamerNet MaxG managed service addresses this need head-on.”

JDSU’s RoamerNet MaxG enables operators to validate roaming Service Level Agreements and investigate any performance issues while assuring continued revenue streams from roaming.  The service offers higher test throughput and capacity, improved reporting, dashboards and diagnostics. With an industry-standard architectural approach, JDSU says its RoamerNet MaxG also gives operators a clear path to 4G/LTE.

Structured as a managed service, JDSU RoamerNet MaxG also enables operators to eliminate the capex, staffing costs, expertise and time-to-market delays experienced by operators who choose to set up their own monitoring infrastructure. JDSU operates the entire service on the customer’s behalf including all test configuration, management and analysis, while providing report visibility via secure, web-based portal access.

Data traffic given prioritisation

Elisa has activated new network features from Nokia Siemens Networks that provide flexible Quality of Service (QoS). This is the first commercial deployment of Nokia Siemens Networks QoS differentiation solution built by integrating multiple network elements, including its radio network and network management system. Elisa is using the QoS differentiation to prioritize time and resource critical traffic to ensure customers receive the service they have paid for even when networks are congested.

“The increased uptake of dongles has resulted in a significant increase in mobile broadband traffic at certain times,” said Timo Sippola, head of Mobile Network Planning, Elisa. “Just like our roads, networks have rush-hours and quiet periods. To improve the experience for the users on our network it is important to be able to maintain the service level they paid for.”

The Quality of Service differentiation solution takes effect in heavily loaded networks when requests to use the network can exceed its capacity. It enables the prioritization of data traffic, according to policies determined by subscription agreements, to fairly divide the available resources. Different priorities can be allocated to different user segments or applications and can be applied dynamically depending on the network load. Nokia Siemens Networks QoS aware scheduler also enables Elisa to change QoS priorities even during a data session and maintain a particular bit rate in simultaneous upload and download sessions.

“In short, Elisa will be able to manage its network traffic and utilize its network investments better while providing better services to its customers,” said Tommi Uitto, head of Product Management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Quality of Service differentiation does not replace the need for having good mobile broadband capacity and coverage, but it further helps maintain high network efficiency and reduces the need for over investing in a network*”

Huawei and BITE Group, an operator in Baltic countries, today jointly announced that the two companies have reached an agreement for Huawei to provide its SingleRAN@Broad solution and 4G-ready technologies for BITE to modernise its entire mobile network in Latvia.

According to the contract, Huawei will deploy a nationwide 2G/3G/4G mobile network for BITE, including core network and radio access network equipment as well as SingleRAN@Broad solution. The SingleRAN@Broad is a new solution unveiled by Huawei in 2010, which is said to have been developed to ‘break down the walls between different standards and technologies (2G/3G/4G)’. The first phase of the project will be completed at the end of 2010. Huawei says that BITE will not only have better network coverage in the entire country, but also environmentally-friendly infrastructure saving at least 30% of the power consumption and providing a much more efficient operation.

“We are pleased to work with BITE,” said James Chen, managing director of Huawei Nordic & Baltic, “It’s the first big footprint for Huawei in the Baltic countries. With industry leading 2G/3G/4G technologies as well as our abundant experience in network modernisation, we are confident we can provide BITE with a high-quality network, furthermore to improve user experience for BITE customers with future mobile broadband services, anywhere and anytime. We will also expand our office in Riga to better serve our customer and to reinforce Huawei’s local commitment.”

Fred Hrenchuk, CEO of Bite Group says: “This collaborative project will become the largest mobile communications network modernisation project in the Baltic telecommunications area, and will bring further benefits to our customers. This cooperation would also ensure a high quality network development for Bite in a record time, which is a strategic priority for the success of our company in Latvia. With the support of Huawei’s expertise and innovative technologies, we will continue our rapid development in order to provide our customers with the highest-quality services all over Latvia.”