ip.access, a developer of 2G and 3G in-building wireless solutions, today announced that it has 'significantly enhanced' the capabilities of the nanoGSM product range with a new system release 4.1 that supports "plug and play" customer self installation and a range of other features said to extend the performance and capabilities of the system.

By enabling enterprise customers to directly install the nanoGSM BTS on their own premises, mobile operators can save up to half the total cost of a picocell deployment. This in turn expands the range of sites and businesses where nanoGSM can be deployed economically.

To support "plug and play" installation, the nanoGSM system includes automated BTS pre-configuration prior to delivery to the customer, and templated site creation within the BSC. Once the customer has installed the picocell, it connects automatically with the chosen BSC and can then either come directly into service, or send a notification to the network management system for the site to be finalized with automated handover configuration.

The new System Release 4.1 expands and extends the features and performance of the ip.access nanoGSM picocell which, with live deployments in more than 50 operator networks worldwide, is the most popular picocell in the world. Enhancements include a new capability to hand over a call directly from a nanoGSM BTS to the operator's 3G network for better network capacity management, and a fully dynamic AMR capability which enables much greater call density per BTS, thereby improving the efficiency and payback of the whole system.

Commenting on the release, ip.access CEO Stephen Mallinson said, "ip.access continues to innovate and expand the capabilities of our nanoGSM system by improving the value it delivers for our many mobile operator customers. It's a misconception that picocells are hard to deploy; in fact installing picocells is easy.  Our plug'n'play capabilities make it possible for the installation to be carried out by the end-customer, saving substantial costs."

ip.access will be showcasing the nanoGSM "plug and play" capability, alongside its other 3G picocell and femtocell solutions at Mobile World Congress.

Marking the third anniversary of the merger between the Microwave Communications Division of Harris Corporation and Stratex Networks, Inc., Harris Stratex Networks announced today that it has changed its name to Aviat Networks. 

The new brand is said to represent a culmination of the Company's transformation over the last three years from that of a specialized microwave backhaul equipment supplier into a provider of advanced IP wireless network solutions, with a comprehensive portfolio of migration solutions and lifecycle services.  Today, Aviat Networks says it is ideally positioned to help operators successfully evolve their existing networks toward an all-IP broadband future, expand into untapped rural and remote markets, and capitalize on the explosive growth of mobile data traffic around the globe.

"Today's unveiling of Aviat Networks marks a significant milestone in the evolution of our Company.  The Aviat brand embodies our commitment to quality and innovative products, highly individualized services, operational excellence and industry leadership," said Harald Braun, president and CEO of Aviat Networks. "In markets around the world, advancements in wireless network capacity have often been constrained because carriers are grappling with operational network limitations and cost-related challenges that historically haven't been sufficiently addressed by telecom equipment vendors.  Instead of ‘handshake' assurances that do little to mitigate the perceived risk of IP migration, operators need practical and innovative solutions that help them bridge seamlessly from the legacy network of today to the network that will fuel their success in the future."

Network optimization specialist Actix has announced the establishment of a Self-Optimizing Networks (SON) Centre of Excellence in Dresden, Germany.

Actix' Dresden unit, which has traditionally been the centre for all automatic optimization research and development for Actix and which is closely linked to a number of advanced radio optimization research groups, has already been designing and building multi-technology SON systems for some time.

With additional investment in staff and resources, Actix says its SON Centre of Excellence will allow a full focus on the rapid acceleration of SON system development to meet customer requirements for LTE deployments, combining expertise from across the company to build a telecoms grade SON network node.

The Dresden SON Centre of Excellence builds on almost 20 years of automatic diagnostic and optimization experience within the company. The Centre of Excellence is part of the company's existing R&D resources in Germany, and will continue to work closely with operators that are in the planning stage for the deployment of 4G networks.

"Actix is taking its prime mover role in this area very seriously," said Bill McHale, Actix CEO. "The new SON Centre of Excellence builds on our team's unrivalled experience in automatic diagnosis and optimization, and helps make sure we are focused on building these systems in a way that matches customers high expectations."

Actix will be demonstrating a working centralized SON system during the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Mobile security platform specialist, Accumulate, will get a new shareholder when PayEx, a Nordic specialist in payments, invests in the mobile technology provider. Together with the existing owners' contribution, the company will get over $2 million in new venture capital. Among current owners are the Sixth AP Fund and private investors and, says Accumulate, the capital will be used to further develop the company's business area for mobile payments and mobile security.

"Accumulate's mobile security platform has great potential. PayEx use it for its service "PayEx Mobil" launched in July 2009. "PayEx Mobil" has already many users and the mobile payment solution arouses great interest every time we show it. As one of the leading players in the Nordic market for overall payment services, and now also as a partner and owner in Accumulate, we look forward to many new and exciting commercial projects", says Krister Fingal, president of PayEx.

Accumulate markets two mobile platforms, said to be with more than nine million users: Mobile Everywhere – secure transactions for identification and payments; and Flexion – payment and access and usage rights solutions for mobile retail of content and services.

"Our existing and new owners see a great potential in Accumulates technology. For example, our partnership with PayEx and their mobile payment solution PayEx Mobil has attracted great interest. With our patented technology for mobile payment and identification and the new capital, we can now accelerate the pace of development and opening up in more markets", says Stefan Hultberg, CEO of Accumulate.

IMImobile, the global service creation partner for operators, media providers and enterprises, has announced the launch of DaVinci Social, a white-labeled service that will enable people to easily manage their mobile digital social-life.  Users will have immediate access to all of their communications, social networks and communities and ensure their content and contacts are safe, all from one place on their mobile.

IMImobile says DaVinci Social will enable operators to offer a competitive social service, and rapidly launch their own service without the associated high operational costs.  Operators will also benefit from DaVinci Social's flexible architecture to innovate and differentiate their service by extending it into other third party services and applications.

The service provides a seamless experience across the handset, WAP and Web enabling consumers to remain in full control of their digital social-lives.  Users can keep connected with friends from multiple social networks, update their status information, send pictures and videos and receive IM and email notifications, all managed from a single interface.  Contact information, photos, video and messages can be backed up and synced onto the cloud from the mobile and PC, ensuring the consumer's contacts are always up to date and their content is safe. 

Anu Shah, head of IMImobile Europe said: "DaVinci Social fulfills some of the most fundamental needs of consumers today; to be able to easily stay in touch with everyone they want to and protect personal contacts and valuable digital content in the event they loose or change their handset. 

"DaVinci Social places the operator at the heart of a consumer's daily activities. Combined with an intuitive user experience built on IMImobile's open technology, it is a spring-board to launch other consumer services such as music, content and advertising.' 

The service incorporates an award winning user experience and can be offered as a fully managed service.  DaVinci Social is powered by IMImobile's unique flexible and modular open API DaVinci technology that works as a catalyst for innovation by bringing together multiple services and third party applications enabling operators to respond rapidly to the latest market trends.

DaVinci Social is part of the DaVinci services and products portfolio that brings together music, social networking, mobile advertising, mobile marketing, voice and messaging services.

SwissQual, the independent Swiss network quality measurement company, has carried out drive testing on the new TeliaSonera LTE network in Stockholm. The measurements were made using the Samsung Kalmia LTE 4G modem mounted in the SwissQual Diversity Optimizer platform. The Diversity Optimizer, in common with all of the probes in the SwissQual Evolution range, is said to have been designed to easily integrate new handsets and modems for emerging technologies such as LTE.

The drive test is said to have collected very interesting measurement results from the new TeliaSonera 4G data service.   Downlink data throughputs up to 47 Mbps and TCP latency as low as 20 ms were recorded.   This is approximately 5 times better than the performance typically seen in 3G HSPA+ networks, says SwissQual.

Says Magnus Hylen, SwissQual Product Manager commented:  "The Diversity Optimizer measurement probe has long been recognised for ease of integration and use with a multitude of measurement devices and interfaces including the scanner which we use for LTE testing.  Configuring the Optimizer for the new Samsung Kalmia LTE modem took just a matter of minutes before measurements could be started. By using the Swedish Internet Infrastructure Foundation's server to test data download and upload, we can be sure that there were no bottlenecks in the IP connection.   This is crucial for accurate and reliable throughput assessment, especially at the speeds we now see with LTE.   Naturally LTE is in its infancy.   This meant that we saw regular disconnects and modem restarts.   However, this is something we have experienced with all new mobile technologies during the early phases of the rollout.    Apart from these issues, the performance that we have recorded is really impressive and sets a new baseline for mobile high speed data services."

SwissQual already provides a Voice over IP testing solution. Together with the Samsung LTE modem this allows SwissQual to provide a complete solution for LTE 4G, testing both data and voice services.

Said John May, SwissQual's CEO:  "SwissQual offers the perfect solution for determining VoIP quality over LTE networks. The SQuad algorithm was designed from the very beginning to provide a true measure of quality in VoIP applications. With LTE we expect the emergence of VoIP implementations using a much wider range of smart coding and processing capabilities including wide band. With our most recent version of SQuad, an ITU-T P.OLQA candidate, we are offering a solution that is already well proven for this new technology."

The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) confirmed today that 2,137 HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) user devices have been launched in the market by 214 manufacturers. The figure includes several new products which were announced at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas earlier this month.

According to the latest HSPA Devices survey published today by GSA, 861 new devices were launched on the market in the past year alone, representing growth of over 67% year on year (YoY). The number of suppliers grew in the same period by more than 30%, from 164 to 214 companies.

There are 897 HSPA-enabled mobile phones including smartphones, with 382 new products launched since January 2009, representing 74.1% YoY growth. The number of HSPA-enabled notebooks grew by almost 52% in the same period. Twenty two HSPA femtocell products and 8 HSPA-enabled Ebook readers have been launched.

Support for higher data speeds is a major trend in mobile broadband networks and devices. According to related GSA surveys, more than 96% of WCDMA networks have deployed HSPA, with the majority (over 52%) supporting a peak downlink data capability of 7.2 Mbps or higher. The majority of HSPA devices
(51%) also support a peak downlink data speed of 7.2 Mbps or higher. With 22% of HSPA network operators committed to HSPA Evolution (HSPA+), GSA confirms that 32 HSPA+ devices are launched by 11 suppliers for peak data speeds up to 21, 28 and 42 Mbps (depending on the specific model).

Support for higher uplink speeds has significantly increased, with 493 HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) devices now launched, an increase of 156% YoY.  219 HSUPA devices (over 44%) support or are upgradeable for, 5.76 Mbps peak operation, compared to 64 devices in January 2009.

Excluding notebooks and Ebook readers, 529 HSPA devices (31%) incorporate WiFi, which is over 83% growth YoY. 491 HSPA devices (29%) incorporate GPS or A-GPS, an increase of more than 112% YoY, and 188 HSPA devices support mobile TV, covering various standards.

Most WCDMA-HSPA mobile broadband networks operate in the 3G/2100 MHz band, except in the Americas where HSPA systems typically operate in the 1900 and 850 MHz bands. Deploying HSPA in lower bands (below 1 GHz) gives a much larger coverage area and a significant reduction in cell sites needed, compared to 2100 MHz, saving OPEX and CAPEX. Several operators are now deploying HSPA in the 900 MHz band (UMTS900), typically as a complement to 2100 MHz systems, to extend voice, data and mobile broadband services coverage to rural areas; voice quality is also improved. Indeed, UMTS900 is becoming standard for devices destined for Europe, MEA, and APAC markets.

Excluding notebooks and Ebook readers, 15% of HSPA devices support UMTS900.

Similar benefits/efficiencies are obtained when HSPA is deployed in the 850 MHz band, as in the Americas, Australia, and Asia, for which there is a well established eco-system including several hundred user devices. Support for the AWS band (1700/2100 MHz) has also improved considerably.

RAD Data Communications has unveiled the Vmux-2120, a scalable, fully redundant carrier-class voice trunking and 3G media gateway for DCME applications that provides compressed voice transmission over TDM and IP networks.

Designed to significantly reduce satellite and microwave bandwidth consumption and lower leased line expenses, the Vmux-2120 is said to employ powerful DCME voice compression algorithms as well as RAD's patented TDMoIP pseudowire technology to compress up to 16 full E1/T1 circuits over a single E1/T1 or IP uplink. According to RAD, this guarantees optimal bandwidth utilization while maintaining toll quality voice, lowering both operating (OpEx) and capital expenses (CapEx). At the same time, all legacy services and signaling are maintained. The Vmux-2120 also features link protection, so that it can transmit over a channelized TDM or IP link while employing a second TDM or IP link as a back up.

Cellular operators can use the Vmux-2120 to eliminate expensive leased lines between MSCs or between MSCs and the PSTN by leveraging existing 2G backbone segments while introducing 3G Next Generation MSCs. This avoids needless 2G forklifts in order to support 3G services, and the platform is fully interoperable with Next Generation MSCs and softswitches.

Satellite connections, international telecom providers, financial services, and call centers can use the Vmux-2120 to reduce the number of transmission lines they lease. Disaster recovery solution providers, moreover, can use the Vmux-2120 to save on expensive satellite and microwave bandwidth.

"The Vmux-2120 represents the next generation of our Vmux DCME product line, which has been deployed with great success worldwide," notes Ido Miran, Product Line Manager at RAD Data Communications. "Working opposite RAD's Gmux-2000 central-site pseudowire access gateway, the Vmux-2120 constitutes a total solution that offers 16:1 voice compression with excellent voice quality while providing a smooth migration path to Next Generation networking."

New research is said to have found that annual revenues from cloud-based mobile applications will reach nearly $9.5 billion by 2014, fuelled by the need for converged, collaborative services, the widespread adoption of mobile broadband services and the deployment of key technological enablers such as HTML5 and the Open Mobile Alliance's Smart Card Web Server (SCWS).

The Juniper Research report found that enterprise applications will account for the majority of revenues over the next five years, with businesses increasingly seeking to capitalise on the ability of Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers to offer scalable, flexible data storage solutions allied to device agnostic, synchronised office services. However, consumer-oriented apps will comprise an ever-larger proportion of total revenues, derived both from time-based subscriptions to services such as mobile online gaming and advertising from cloud-based social networks.

However, the mobile cloud applications & services report warned that many enterprise customers still remained wary of entrusting their personal data to remote third-parties, and that recent high-profile data losses amongst corporate mobile users in the USA would only exacerbate these concerns. According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "Not only is it imperative for cloud providers to ensure that access to and storage of customer data is secure, but that the procedures that they put in place in this regard – including data backup strategies – are transparent to the customer."

Other findings from the Juniper report include:

• While the onset of a cloud-based ecosystem may further erode the strength of the mobile operator/customer relationship, cloud offers operators the opportunity to develop new revenues streams as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and PaaS providers
• Lack of network capacity may continue to be a constraint on the growth of network-based services even after LTE and WiMAX networks are deployed

Facebook is now the most-visited social network on the mobile Web, according to Opera's latest 'State of the Mobile Web' report. Unique users of Facebook grew more than 600% during 2009, it says, helping the site surpass VKontakte, formerly the most popular social network among Opera Mini users. Twitter saw its usage increase more than any other social network, surging more than 2800% in just one year.
 
Opera's State of the Mobile Web Report, published monthly, is said to provide information on the top global trends affecting the mobile Web. In addition to the top global trends and country snapshots, this month, the report highlights Southeast Asia and examines social networking on the mobile web.
 
Global trends from the report include:
 
– In December 2009, more than 46.3 million people used Opera Mini, an 11% increase from November 2009 and more than 159% compared to December 2008.
 
– Those 46.3 million people viewed more than 20.7 billion pages in December 2009. Since November, page views have gone up 10.1%. Since December 2008, page views have increased 223%.
 
– Opera Mini users generated over 315 million megabytes (MB) of data for operators worldwide in December 2009. Since November, the data consumed went up by 10.5%. Data in Opera Mini is compressed up to 90%. If this data were uncompressed, Opera Mini users would have viewed over 2.9 petabytes (PB) of data in December. Since December 2008, data traffic is up 206%.
 
– The top 10 countries ranked by number of Opera Mini users are (in order): Russia, Indonesia, India, Ukraine, China, South Africa, United States, Vietnam, Nigeria, and United Kingdom. This month Ukraine overtook China, Vietnam continues its ascent (at the expense of the United Kingdom) and Nigeria is back on the list after a 3-month absence, pushing Poland out of the top 10 for the first time.
 
Social networking on the mobile web:
 
– Facebook is the top social-networking site, worldwide. Given the popularity of Opera in Russian-speaking countries, VKontakte used to be in the top position (based on unique users), but it was overtaken by Facebook in 2009.
 
– Twitter was the other big winner in terms of growth in 2009, with the number of unique unique users jumping more than 2800%.
 
– All of the listed social-networking sites, except for Friendster, showed significant user growth (via Opera Mini) in 2009.
 
"Four years ago this month we released Opera Mini to the world," said Jon von Tetzchner, Co-founder, Opera Software. "Fortunately the divide between the mobile Web and the Web accessed on PCs is now disappearing. People want to use the same sites, regardless of whether they use a phone or PC to access those sites. The success of Facebook and Twitter among Opera Mini users shows that consumer habits do not change even though their devices do."