O2 UK has announced that it is boosting its UK workforce by 1,427 people as a direct result of the iPhone launching in the UK.  700 new jobs will be added to customer services while another 727 people are being recruited for O2's retail stores to ensure the best possible customer experience for new iPhone customers.

"The iPhone is a revolutionary device and we need to ensure a fantastic overall experience for customers using it," said Mark Stansfeld, Sales Director, O2 UK. "So we are investing in training and increasing our workforce to ensure this good experience from the moment you purchase the iPhone through to activation and on-going support."

Each O2 retail store will have live demonstration devices and a dedicated iPhone specialist to guide customers through the device's innovative features. They will be able to advise customers on everything from setting up personal email through to downloading songs via the iTunes Wi-Fi music store. All other staff are also receiving iPhone training.

A dedicated iPhone customer services unit will be created in O2's Glasgow call centre with 1,000 agents. As a result, new jobs are being created in Glasgow as well as O2's other call centres in Leeds, Cardiff and Dearne Valley. In total, 700 new jobs will be created in customer services with the rest of the roles going to existing employees.

The additional jobs are also to ensure that O2 is well equipped to handle expected significant demand for the iPhone while at the same time catering for overall customer needs during the busy seasonal period.

Ruckus Wireless has announced a deal with T-Home, a division of Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe's largest communications provider.  Ruckus Wireless has been selected by T-Home to supply 802.11a Smart Wi-Fi systems to enable in-home wireless distribution of its Entertain Comfort IPTV service.

Available immediately, Deutsche Telekom is private-labeling the Ruckus system as the Speedport W 100 Bridge under its popular T-Home brand.  The Speedport W 100 is available to consumers from more than 700 Telekom shops and from the online portal www.t-home.de.  T-Home is offering the Ruckus Wireless Smart Wi-Fi system as the only in-home wireless distribution option for its IPTV service.  The SpeedPort W100 Bridge (a Wi-Fi access point and Wi-Fi adapter) is provided to T-Home customers at a one-time cost of Euro 149.99.

"Our Entertain Comfort IPTV service provides our customers with a new dimension in high-quality TV and multimedia communications," said Christian P. Illek, member of the board of management, marketing T-Home.  "The new high-capacity Speedport W 100 Bridge, with Ruckus Wireless technology, is easy to use and gives subscribers simple access to our broadband-based services, making our IPTV offering even more user friendly."

With the Ruckus system, German subscribers will now be able to extend the location freedom they enjoy with Wi-Fi to their television viewing experience, giving them the power to place TVs virtually anywhere in their homes without cumbersome cabling. 

The Ruckus Wireless system is the world's first and only Wi-Fi system specifically developed to reliably transmit IP-based streaming digital video over standard 802.11 technology.  It achieves this by continuously routing Wi-Fi signals over the best and highest performing paths while steering these Wi-Fi signals around interference in real time.

"Signing such a world-class carrier as Deutsche Telekom represents a defining moment for our company," said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless.  "Our partnership with Deutsche Telekom represents a major milestone for us as well as for the industry.  It signals to the world that conventional Wi-Fi just isn't good enough for applications that require more than merely surfing the internet.  We've built a company around this singular purpose: making extended range Wi-Fi that's reliable."

Subex Azure, the global provider of Operations Support Systems (OSS) solutions for telecom operators, has announced that Telenor is deploying its Concilia Interconnect software to offer an internal interconnect bureau across the Telenor Group.

The deal further extends Subex Azure's relationship with the Telenor Group, as the company has previously deployed interconnect billing solutions for Telenor Networks and Telenor Mobil, and Telenor Global Services.   This new agreement will enable Telenor to offer an Interconnect bureau service across its entire business worldwide with Telenor Global Services being the first internal customer.

Harry Moen, Manager Interconnect Operations at Telenor, said, "By offering the interconnect bureau across the whole Telenor Group we can provide a very cost-effective service and a high degree of standardisation.   This will enable us to reduce costs and provide improved services to our internal customers and network partners."

Concilia Interconnect will provide Telenor with an easy-to-use and scaleable solution to manage interconnect data.  Concilia enables operators to quickly and accurately settle interconnect agreements with their network partners and gives operators the ability to adapt to rate changes quickly, enabling them to manage costs and revenues much more effectively.

Knut Ingvar Eriksen, Director of Operations at Telenor Global Services said, "Subex Azure has been a trusted Interconnect billing partner of Telenor for a number of years.   The bureau deployment will enable us to cost-effectively manage our interconnect processes and continue to be as accurate as possible with our billing."

Saul Nurtman, President EMEA at Subex Azure, said, "We are delighted to be extending our relationship with Telenor and this is a further endorsement of our credentials working with tier-1 operators worldwide.   Effective interconnect billing is vital and our bureau is a proven solution for operators of all sizes."

Synchronica, the international vendor of mobile synchronization and device management software, has announced that it has acquired essentially all assets of the US mobile email specialist GoodServer. GoodServer's technology is a key component of Synchronica's Mobile Gateway and underpins the mobile email products of a number of players in the telecoms market. The acquisition will give Synchronica sole rights to GoodServer's intellectual property and existing license contracts.

With a global addressable market of more than three billion mobile phone users and an additional one billion subscribers expected in the next 18 months, the market for push email is set to increase drastically as mobile email and personal information management (PIM) services cross over into the mainstream. Industry analyst Forrester estimates that mobile consumer email will grow to 62.7 million users by 2008, easily outnumbering business users receiving and sending emails with their mobile devices.

Strategy Analytics cites the open standards Push IMAP / LEMONADE and OMA DS (formerly SyncML) as being crucial for the growth of mobile email in the mass market, where consumers cannot afford to use expensive smartphones. GoodServer provides email server technology with proven implementations of the most important industry standards and is best known for its IMAP4 Server Software Development Kit (SDK), POP3 Server SDK, and SMTP Server SDK.

The IMAP and SMTP technology of GoodServer is embedded in Synchronica's Mobile Gateway, making push email accessible on the majority of mass market phones. Other licensees of GoodServer's IP include Nokia Intellisync, BellSouth, Cisco, NUASIS, Teamware, and Axis Mobile. Under the terms of the agreement, Synchronica will be granted sole rights to the intellectual property and will benefit from future revenues of all existing license contracts.

"Open industry standards have cleared the way for accessing PIM and email on mass market phones, and the mobile email market is set to explode over the next three years. We expect a dramatic increase of mobile email, in particular in emerging markets, where the mobile operators have the opportunity to make the mobile phone the primary form of accessing the internet and email services", said Carsten Brinkschulte, CEO of Synchronica. "By acquiring the rights to GoodServer's technology and extending our own IP licenses to other players in the industry, we are strengthening our position in the market for consumer and corporate mobile email."

Synchronica's Mobile Gateway provides a unique combination of industry standards-based solutions for delivering mobile email and synchronization to the vast majority of mobile phones – without requiring additional clients to be installed on the handsets. It supports calendar and contact synchronization for the estimated 1.5 billion OMA DS-compatible mobile phones (source: Visiongain) in use today. For push email, Mobile Gateway uses LEMONADE (OMA EMN and IMAP IDLE), enabling operators and service providers to deliver push email to both smartphones and mass market feature phones.

Commenting on the acquisition, Andrew Brown, Director for Strategy Analytics' Wireless Practice said: "We have always believed that OMA DS and IMAP formed a critical basis for open standards-based vendors to take their slice of the mobile email market. This acquisition will open up mobile email and PIM synchronization to the majority of consumer and corporate mobile phones, with the potential for significant incremental mobile data revenues to operators, ISPs, and service providers."

Nokia and STMicroelectronics have announced the closing of their deal, announced on August 8th, to deepen their collaboration on the licensing and supply of integrated circuit designs and modem technologies for 3G and its evolution.

The closing of the multifaceted agreement transfers a core part of Nokia's Integrated Circuit (IC) operations to STMicroelectronics and positions ST to design and manufacture 3G chipsets based on Nokia's modem technologies, energy management and RF (radio frequency) technology and to deliver complete solutions to Nokia and the open market. The agreement includes the transfer of approximately 185 highly-skilled engineers and other Nokia personnel in Finland and UK to STMicroelectronics. The transfer has been subject to a personnel consultation process required by local regulations

As part of the arrangement, Nokia has awarded ST a design win of an advanced 3G HSPA (high-speed packet access) chipset supporting high data rates. This design win represents ST's first complete 3G chipset.

Motorola has completed end-to-end testing of its 3G femtocell solution and has begun trialing its solution with a major European operator.

"Motorola is pioneering the development of femtocell solutions that play a key role in realizing our vision of Seamless Mobility," said Joe Cozzolino, corporate vice president and general manager Motorola Home & Networks Mobility EMEA. "Leveraging expertise from across the Motorola organization, we offer a fully integrated and tested end-to-end solution, based on open standard interfaces, which includes a range of femtocell customer premises equipment (CPE) and 3G devices, a core network concentrator, systems integration services and a CPE management solution – the Motorola Netopia Broadband Server (NBBS)."

Femtocells enable operators to provide higher-quality and higher-performance wireless voice and real-time data services to their customers inside their homes. In addition, they enable a significantly lower cost of delivery for wireless traffic, in comparison to the macrocell network. For consumers, the benefits of femtocells include a seamless communication experience as they roam from inside to outside their homes, reduced "in-home" call charges, improved indoor coverage and consolidated billing, all from their existing 3G handsets.

"In Europe, 30 to 40 percent of the cellular traffic is generated from inside the home.  Femtocells provide a more efficient way for operators to manage traffic generated indoors, compared to the outdoor macrocells of the public cellular infrastructure," commented Vincent Poulbere, principal analyst, Ovum. "In Western Europe, we forecast that 12 million femtocells will be deployed in 2010 rising to 17 million in 2011."

Motorola is a member of the Femto Forum, the independent industry association that supports femtocell deployment worldwide. In addition, Motorola leverages its leadership in Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) deployments and experience in delivering convergence solutions to major operators worldwide.

MACH, the clearing and settlement partner for mobile based transactions, has today launched MACH Fraud Protection, claimed to be an advanced extension of its roaming solutions portfolio that is setting new industry standards in effectively combating roaming fraud.

Levels of International Revenue Fraud have increased significantly over the last couple of years and losses are having a direct and serious financial impact; typically, 80% of cases affect the bottom line. A negative financial impact of up to 400,000 Special Drawing Rights (SDRs); a type of currency with a value based on a basket of international currencies, is what some GSM mobile operators have faced as the result of a single well planned and executed fraud attack.

The current situation for roaming fraud protection is the same as having an advanced security system to protect a home and the valuables inside, only for the system to be switched off over the weekend. Many operators only realise that fraud has occurred when they find the safe door left open.

MACH works with operators to solve this and offers a one stop shop for all operators' fraud requirements, with solutions that are fully compliant with the GSMA's NRTRDE specification. MACH Data Express, the cutting edge conversion and logistics service is already helping operators achieve compliancy with NRTRDE and has proved to be an influential success.

MACH Fraud Protection provides the final link in the fraud disarmament chain, with fraud fingerprint matches across all networks for a truly global view, instant response and fraud shut-down. The dedicated Fraud Protection Centre uses data intelligence and analysis to predict and track suspicious behaviour via non-stop 24/7/365 surveillance and 'best practice' levels.

MACH processes and analyses the data from numerous operators around the globe, allowing clients to benefits from the intelligence it gathers. For example, if a certain B-number was discovered in a fraud case for one client, MACH will instantly detect if this number is used anywhere else in the world. This will enable detection and potential blocking of an IMSI before significant financial damage occurs.

Martin Lippert, CEO of MACH commented, "Outsourcing to MACH eliminates the need for complex systems or maintenance, allowing operators to make better use of their fraud personnel. Cost savings from outsourcing, coupled with money saved from potential fraud loss, equals a definite revenue upside. There is also the benefit of scale, it's a great advantage to be part of a large network."

The International 450 Association (IA450) has announced its support of dual band CDMA2000 (IMT-MC) in 450Mhz and 2100MHz bands, as a 'superior option' for operators looking to expand network capacity and at the same time maintain strong coverage in low population density areas. Vadim Belyavskiy, IA450 Board Member, Technical Development Director, Moscow Cellular Communications, Skylink (Russia) and Piermario Di Pietro, CEO, Telemobil (Zapp Romania) set out the advantages of network operations in CDMA450 & 2100 MHz band at the 450 MHz Digitalization Conference, recently held in Lisbon, Portugal.

Both of them covered the advantages of the dual band solution including comprehensive coverage, low capital expense and synergies between the bands. While the 450 MHz band provides unmatched coverage due to better signal propagation at lower frequencies, 2100 MHz band delivers capacity in hot spots with high traffic demand.

Radio interfaces of the networks in the 2100 and 450 MHz frequency bands are based on the IMT2000 IMT MultiCarrier standard with identical protocols and features. 2100 and 450 BTS may share the same base station controller, core network infrastructure and services platforms thus minimizing the capex required to roll-out the dual-band network. Full support of inter-band interoperability was proved in the trial networks rolled out in Moscow and St.Petersburg as reported by Mr.Belyavsky.

IMT-MC 450/2100 networks are said to offer an attractive solution from both a technical and economic standpoint. Dual band IMT-MC 450/2100 networks are a flexible and cost-effective solution for providing 3G services in cities and rural areas.

Qualcomm, the developer of wireless technologies and data solutions, has today announced its executive membership in the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA).

The GSA is a forum representing the leading GSM/3G suppliers, dedicated to the promotion and deployment of GSM and WCDMA wireless technologies worldwide. "Qualcomm is committed to the GSA's cause of developing and nurturing the technologies of tomorrow and, in turn, creating a framework for innovation that benefits the consumer in helping to foster competition and development for the industry," said Andrew Gilbert, president, Qualcomm Europe.

Alan Hadden, president, GSA, said, "Qualcomm's vision of enabling choice through rendering consistent innovation within the European wireless marketplace plays perfectly into what the GSA set out to achieve in the pursuit of implementing the next wave of wireless technologies."

GSA's aim of facilitating dialogue between member companies and network operators for information sharing, business development opportunities and access to the global market sits well with Qualcomm's dedication to facilitating the evolution of next-generation wireless technologies in Europe.

"As the GSA brings together those companies committed to the growth of next-generation wireless technologies, it is an ideal platform for Qualcomm to build stronger relations with leading mobile players with similar goals," Andrew Gilbert added.

While the GSA has traditionally focused on GSM, EDGE and WCDMA evolution, Qualcomm identifies with a growing group of members committed to advancing the next generation of wireless technologies, such as UMB, LTE, HSPA and HSPA+.

Qualcomm's executive membership in the GSA is in addition to other recent wireless forum partnerships in Europe, which include Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN), the GSM Association and ETSI board membership.