Tag Archive for 'Telecom'

Google unveils Nexus One phone

Published on January 5, 2010 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Google has unveiled an own-brand smartphone called the Nexus One. Google is aiming to take on Apple’s iPhone and defend its dominance in Internet search, introduced a touch-screen mobile phone that runs on its own Android operating system.

The device is 0.45 inches (11.5 millimeters) thick, about the same as the iPhone, and has a larger screen than its rival. The phone will cost US$179 with a T-Mobile USA contract and US$529 without it, Mario Queiroz, Google’s vice-president of product management, said today at an event at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California [Source 1] [Source 2].

Beyond 3G

Published on April 23, 2009 in High Tech & Media. 2 Comments Tags: .

anycallMobile phone operators are turning to LTE as the fourth-generation technology to provide inexpensive wireless broadband access for cost-conscious consumers and businesses.

The attractions of the mobile phone–based Internet are many: surfing the Web from anywhere, e-mail on the move, location-based services, GPS, mobile e-commerce, portable software, videos on cell phones, and even a substitute for fixed-line connections. Anticipating added demand, many mobile carriers are eyeing a new network technology to supersede 3G. Termed LTE, or long-term evolution, this planned network is expected to be available in 2010 and will provide significantly more capacity at far less cost.

To explore why LTE is the best fourth-generation mobile solution — and a host of related questions — strategy+business turned to Peter Weichsel, a Booz & Company partner and technology expert. The full interview can be found here.

Mobile Broadband Fastforward

Published on March 18, 2009 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

mobilebroadbandMobile broadband is taking off! Increased usage of mobile broadband is among others fuelled by the fact that handsets turn into computers, laptops are becoming more like mobile phones, networks are becoming faster, and prices for mobile data traffic is rapidly decreasing. Even industry veterans have been surprised by the rapid take-up of mobile broadband using built-in receivers or plug-in “dongles” to provide internet access to laptops via high-speed mobile networks.

In Western Europe alone, the number of mobile-broadband users will grow by 50% to 27m this year, according to IDC, an analyst firm. Worldwide, there are thought to be around 100m.

However a few questions still remain: Will mobile broadband replace fixed broadband in the longer term? Will emerging economies leapfrog directly to mobile broadband like with mobile phones?

Chinese Telecom Market Liberalisation?

Published on July 10, 2008 in Emerging Markets, Global Strategy and High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Chinese Telecom Market LiberalisationTo date foreign Telecom players like SK Telecom (S-Korea), Telefonica (Spain), and Vodafone (UK) have been limited to minority stakes of under 7% in Chinese telecom operators.

However brighter times for foreign telecom operators may lie ahead! Owing to the ongoing Chinese telecom industry restructuring (consolidation wave) and a planned infrastructure revamp (issuing of 3G Network licenses). As Chinese Telcos are not primarily looking to attract more capital the latter can provide opportunities for foreign players. Respectively for foreign telecom operators that are already engaged in 3G networks in their home markets.

Foreign telecom operators have the technology and experience their Chinese counterparts lack.

“We should attract more foreign investment when we roll out 3G and use other people’s money to build the networks,” says Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications professor Lu Tingjie (source).

Diversification @ Vodafone

Published on April 12, 2008 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Vodafone HQIn an interview with the BBC, the boss of the world’s largest mobile phone company (by revenue) Britain’s Vodafone Group plc was upbeat about his company’s prospects at weathering the credit crunch clouds hovering over businesses in Europe and the US.

Under oversight of Arun Sarin (CEO), Vodafone has successfully repositioned the company to counter global forces for the upcoming years. It can be characterised as a textbook example of a diversification strategy in terms of market segments (offered products and services) and geographical areas (geographic spread).

Yesterday it was a mobile telecom company and tomorrow it wil be a mobile telecom, internet, broadband, and financial service company. Furthermore, Vodafone used be very OECD developed market centric and now they have added an emerging markets portfolio with strong presence in the BRIC countries and further pushing into the Next Eleven (n-11) countries. The entire interview with Arun Sarin can be found here.

Samsung Announce WiBro Mobiles

Published on November 19, 2005 in High Tech & Media. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

samsung_mobile1Samsung is ready to demonstrate two new products at the 2005 APEC IT Exhibition, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

WiBro- the Korean brand name of Mobile WiMax comes to mobile phone handsets, bringing with it new functionality for broadcast, video phoning, VOD and navigation. Two handsets will be presented at the show- the phone style H1000 and the PDA style M8000.

The H1000 is a twisting clamshell phone, with a full QWERTY keypad, 2.2 inch LCD screen, dual 2 megapixel VGA cameras and an output to TV capability. The M8000 smart phone is billed at the mobile office demographic, focusing on easy email.

Samsung will also demo a WiBro PCMCIA card that can be used in laptops and Tablet PCs.

We are proud to present the world’s first WiBro terminals and latest DMB phones to the leaders attending the APEC meeting. The WiBro services will be commercialized next year and we will lead this market by providing innovative products to our consumers and provide a shift in paradigm to ease one’s lives, said Mr. Kitae Lee, President and CEO of Samsung’s Telecommunications Network Business.

Samsung Is Putting Songs In Its Heart

Published on April 20, 2005 in Global Strategy. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

samsungbrandIn recent years, the phone division of Samsung Electronics Co. has looked as if it might turn into a camera company. The unit — the world’s No. 3 handset maker — now integrates cameras into nearly every new phone it makes, with some models sporting optical zoom lenses and resolution of up to seven megapixels. Today, though, the Korean company seems to have a new ambition driving its phone development: music.

Since last summer, Samsung has introduced more than 20 phones that double as MP3 players. Of course, most of these handsets still include cameras, but music is the hot trend. The new models range from devices that store a few dozen tunes all the way up to the SGH-i300, a phone with stereo speakers and a 3-gigabyte hard drive that can hold 1,000 songs. “Music will be driving demand this year, like imaging was last year,” says Lee Kyung Ju, a Samsung vice-president.

The change dovetails with Samsung’s drive to unseat Apple Computer Inc. as the world’s No. 1 maker of music players by 2007. It’s an audacious goal, given that Samsung sold just 1.7 million players last year, vs. Apple’s 8.3 million iPods. But Samsung is serious about music. The company plans to bring out a half-dozen new stand-alone music players by summer, with an eye toward selling 5 million players — or 10% of the global market — this year.

Samsung is even more ambitious with its handsets. This year, it expects to launch scores of new music player/phone combos with features such as surround sound, a button for instant access to tunes, and a dial for playlist navigation. Samsung execs say that before long, most phones will double as portable jukeboxes with enough memory to hold hundreds of songs. And Samsung aims to stay at the forefront of the trend. “The mobile phone will be the center of digital convergence,” says Samsung President Lee Ki Tae.

The enthusiasm of Korea’s wireless carriers may give Samsung a leg up. The country’s operators have led the way in experimenting with the wireless music business. And Koreans have proved eager to buy music from the country’s operators, with 300,000 people now paying SK Telecom $5 a month for a service, launched in November, that provides unlimited access to tunes. Now, Samsung says it has deals to supply music handsets to U.S. carriers Sprint, Cingular, and T-Mobile. In the battle between the cell phone and the iPod, Samsung may well be the chief arms dealer.

Broadband growth boosts China Telecom profit

Published on March 31, 2005 in Emerging Markets. 0 Comments Tags: .

china_telecomChina Telecom Corp. Ltd., Chinas largest fixed-line phone company, reported better-than’-expected profits for 2004 on Thursday thanks to growth in its broadband business, which it expects to remain a driver amid market expectations for an industry overhaul.

China has 320 million fixed-line users and 344 million mobile users — one customer account for half its 1.3 billion population.

China’s Telcos are catching up!

Published on March 9, 2005 in Emerging Markets. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

telecomMy recent readings and thinkings are regarding the Hi-Tech and Telecommunication industries. Meanwhile a China’s leading telecoms-equipment manufacturer named Huawei is agressively pushing into international markets. In December, Huawei won an estimated $100m contract to build a third-generation (3G) wireless network for Telfort, a Dutch operator that has always used gear from Ericsson, the world’s largest telecoms-equipment firm. In January, Huawei won a $187m order for another 3G network, in Thailand, beating Ericsson and Motorola with a bid 46% below the operator’s original estimate.

Last week came evidence that Huawei can compete on more than just price. A report based on a survey of over 100 telecoms operators worldwide, carried out by Heavy Reading, a market-research firm, found that Huawei ranked eighth among wireline-equipment suppliers, up from 18th last year. (Cisco came top.) Most strikingly, Huawei ranked fourth in service and support. The report calls Huawei’s ascendancy “astounding” and says it has already surpassed several incumbent vendors in perceived market leadership.

I foresee great challenges and opportunities in this industry as we entering the “21st Century Network”. It will be an upbeaten “fight” which company can set the pace of technological innovation and which suppliers can follow. Moreover, some Chinese’s companies are pursuing to compete on quality rather then price, like Huawei and Haier, and in a broader range of industries as initially.

I’m particulary interested in how the developed-world rivals, meanwhile, are responding to the threat from Huawei and others. Finally, the outlook looks promising to keep watching closely.