Carl Ford
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4G Wireless
Liveblogging -- Femtocell Session
September 2, 2009
There's an overflow crowd here at the 4GWE session on femtocells, so I'll try some liveblogging to keep you in the flow of the discussion if you're not here in the room with us. Keep refreshing this post, we are adding as it goes along.
What is a femtocell? David Chambers from Amdocs, our session moderator, gives the overview: It is basically a "complete [cellular] base station, shrunk to size."
Chambers says North America is a ripe femto market, since it has poor cellular coverage, good wired broadband, and people with money to spend. Theoretically :-)
David Nowicki, VP of marketing and product management from femto manufacturer Airvana, now speaking.
What is a femtocell? David Chambers from Amdocs, our session moderator, gives the overview: It is basically a "complete [cellular] base station, shrunk to size."
Chambers says North America is a ripe femto market, since it has poor cellular coverage, good wired broadband, and people with money to spend. Theoretically :-)
David Nowicki, VP of marketing and product management from femto manufacturer Airvana, now speaking.
Developers Have the Upper Hand in 4G Apps Ecosystem
September 2, 2009Two afternoon panels Tuesday at the 4GWE conference here in Los Angeles made it clear that software developers, and not carriers, will drive innovation when it comes to 4G wireless applications of the future. The big, unanswered question is if, how and when two very different camps -- developers and service providers -- will work together in a fashion profitable for both camps.
There was more than a little animosity on display during the panel talks, and perhaps it was a good idea to keep developers on one panel, and service provders (and their large-equipment vendor partners) on another. Francisco Kattan, who is newly signed on at Alcatel-Lucent as senior director of the company's developer ecosystem, said that while in the past developers "had to beg" to get on any provider's mobile application "deck," with the iPhone and its revolutionary App Store, "the tables have now turned and competition for developers is at an all-time high."
But while device manufacturers (Nokia, RIM) and large service providers (Verizon) are trying to catch up to Apple by establishing developer programs and appliction stores, developers aren't so sure that the old guard are the best leaders for the 4G app development future. "Maybe operators shouldn't be running an apps store," said Shai Berger, CEO of Fonolo, which builds applications that allow users to bypass automated dialing systems.
Voice on 4G? Inevitable... But Not Anytime Soon
September 1, 2009With back to back sessions this afternoon at the 4GWE Conference, it's tough to cram all this great info into short blog posts (but of course that won't stop us from trying). In a panel this afternoon about Giving Voice to 4G, the bottom line seemed to be that given the advanced characteristics of 4G delivery technologies (mainly LTE, but WiMAX too), it shouldn't be a problem to eventually add voice to a 4G wireless service. The harder part? Trying to decide which technological path to take, and how to mix voice in without killing off existing 2G and 3G services, which rely on voice margins for profit.
Mehmet Balos, CTO of Genband, did a good job of explaining the different methods being considered for Voice over 4G -- basically either a 2G-compatible direction, a method called VoLGA, or a full-blown IMS.
Brough Turner: App Developers Will Lead Mobile Innovation
September 1, 2009
If there was one key takeaway from Brough Turner's excellent kickoff presentation Tuesday at the 4GWE conference it was that application developers, and not the carriers themselves, will lead the way when it comes to the next opportunities for the mobile Web.
"The initiative has passed to application developers, and that's something the [service] providers now concede," said Turner, at the end of a far-reaching look back at the development of mobile data usage, and where the future lies.
Some key trends for the future as identified by Turner:
-- Apple's iPhone and its app store are the wave of the future everyone else will copy. "It's just an easier method of discovery and distribution," said Turner.
-- More and more smartphones will ship from multiple providers. "The iPhone has shown what is possible, and everyone's scrambling to provide a similar rich browsing experience," Turner said.
-- There won't be a PC-like consolidation of the mobile platform market anytime soon, due to the wide choice of devices, operating systems and presentation methods -- none of which has established a Windows-like superiority over any other. Turner said that at least three to five mobile formats -- iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and perhaps one more -- should remain relevant enough for the near future to continue to attract developer attention.
"The initiative has passed to application developers, and that's something the [service] providers now concede," said Turner, at the end of a far-reaching look back at the development of mobile data usage, and where the future lies.
Some key trends for the future as identified by Turner:
-- Apple's iPhone and its app store are the wave of the future everyone else will copy. "It's just an easier method of discovery and distribution," said Turner.
-- More and more smartphones will ship from multiple providers. "The iPhone has shown what is possible, and everyone's scrambling to provide a similar rich browsing experience," Turner said.
-- There won't be a PC-like consolidation of the mobile platform market anytime soon, due to the wide choice of devices, operating systems and presentation methods -- none of which has established a Windows-like superiority over any other. Turner said that at least three to five mobile formats -- iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia and perhaps one more -- should remain relevant enough for the near future to continue to attract developer attention.
Skype Sale has 4GWE Buzzing
September 1, 2009
Talk about a wake-up call -- as folks file in for today's 4G Wireless Evolution conference here in Los Angeles, everyone is talking about the sale of Skype to some Silicon Valley private investors at a valuation of $2.75 billion.
Though the news of the deal was first reported last week by TechCrunch, we like our old pal Om's take on why eBay shareholders shouldn't feel so good about the deal. For VoIP veterans on hand here in Los Angeles, the deal brings back memories of the 2005 VON Fall show in Boston, when the first "Skype Sale" deal put a big number on the enthusiasm behind Internet voice. What does the current deal tell us about the state of the industry in 2009? That is one topic we are sure to hear more about this week at 4GWE and IT Expo.
Though the news of the deal was first reported last week by TechCrunch, we like our old pal Om's take on why eBay shareholders shouldn't feel so good about the deal. For VoIP veterans on hand here in Los Angeles, the deal brings back memories of the 2005 VON Fall show in Boston, when the first "Skype Sale" deal put a big number on the enthusiasm behind Internet voice. What does the current deal tell us about the state of the industry in 2009? That is one topic we are sure to hear more about this week at 4GWE and IT Expo.
Thats a lot of Stimulus
August 27, 2009Over 2,200 Applications
Over 25 B Requested (4 B has been Allocated)
WASHINGTON- The Commerce Department's National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's
Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced today that they received almost 2,200
applications requesting nearly $28 billion in funding for proposed broadband
projects reaching all 50 U.S. states and territories and the District of Columbia.
This is the first round of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding
aimed at expanding broadband access and adoption to help bridge the
technological divide and create jobs building Internet infrastructure, with $4
billion available through loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations.
The Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to NTIA and RUS to expand
access to and adoption of broadband services. Of that funding, NTIA will utilize
$4.7 billion to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas
in the United States, expand public computer center capacity, and encourage
sustainable adoption of broadband service.
No Degrees of Separation: SMS vs. Mobile IM
August 27, 2009
Some good friends and I keep a dialogue going about the industry. We don't make public our views, so as to protect the people from being exposed with their views versus their consulting / job opportunities.
A thread that I thought was intriguing was about the reason SMS / txting has not been successfully bypassed by IM. It may be that the price is right to avoid the cross elastics.
But I think there is a simpler answer. Signalling on IM on a mobile phone requires a learning curve and a redirection, while texting is via SMS is an embedded application. So the cost to do the IM is in the time, and the cost to do the SMS is nominal.
I bring this up, because of the discussion about Apple's iPhone coming to China. In the article IDC states that about 7% of the iPhone market share is in Asia. Previously, I have pointed out that Telefonica has not gotten the boost ATT has from the iPhone.
I think China Unicom will have a big enough market that the opportunity itself will change the marketshare. While Touchscreens are hot according to the article and my expectation is that will point to more gaming being done and less phone calls.
The reality is that Kanji characters are very easily navigated by the Asian market with alphabetic keyboards. Spelling phonetically on the alpha the kanji characters appear on the screen until the option of four or five appears and bingo they mouse over to it.
It will be interesting to see if the that kind of a mix on a touch screen can be duplicated. On my gPhone, this feature is less that spectacular for english, so the touch screens may be need to go through a few generations of optimization for this to work properly.
But the iPhone is to fun not to be bought and with China's software development capability, I have high expectations for the App Store, although it may be jointly owned with China Unicom in the end due to China's restrictions.
A thread that I thought was intriguing was about the reason SMS / txting has not been successfully bypassed by IM. It may be that the price is right to avoid the cross elastics.
But I think there is a simpler answer. Signalling on IM on a mobile phone requires a learning curve and a redirection, while texting is via SMS is an embedded application. So the cost to do the IM is in the time, and the cost to do the SMS is nominal.
I bring this up, because of the discussion about Apple's iPhone coming to China. In the article IDC states that about 7% of the iPhone market share is in Asia. Previously, I have pointed out that Telefonica has not gotten the boost ATT has from the iPhone.
I think China Unicom will have a big enough market that the opportunity itself will change the marketshare. While Touchscreens are hot according to the article and my expectation is that will point to more gaming being done and less phone calls.
The reality is that Kanji characters are very easily navigated by the Asian market with alphabetic keyboards. Spelling phonetically on the alpha the kanji characters appear on the screen until the option of four or five appears and bingo they mouse over to it.
It will be interesting to see if the that kind of a mix on a touch screen can be duplicated. On my gPhone, this feature is less that spectacular for english, so the touch screens may be need to go through a few generations of optimization for this to work properly.
But the iPhone is to fun not to be bought and with China's software development capability, I have high expectations for the App Store, although it may be jointly owned with China Unicom in the end due to China's restrictions.
Will 'Portability' Lure Businesses to WiMAX?
August 26, 2009
When WiMAX providers talk about the technology's attributes, cellular-like mobility is usually near the top of the list. But for many business users WiMAX's simple portability -- the ability to pick up and move your broadband connection -- may prove to be a more powerful economic and operational lure, the kind of money-saving, hassle-free attribute that gets CIOs interested and gets POs signed.
The power and potential attractiveness of WiMAX's simple portability was one of the surprising themes we picked up on during the reporting and writing of our latest Sidecut Report, titled the Sidecut Reports WiMAX Business Deployment Guide. Available now as a free download, the report also includes a basic primer on what WiMAX is, and where and how businesses can connect to WiMAX services, and some broadband pricing comparisons.
And while there are potentially many customers who might eventually take advantage of WiMAX's ability to support real broadband connectivity while in motion -- we are thinking here of commuters in Chicago and New York, markets that are already on the Clearwire launch schedule -- for right now it's easy to say that most business computing is done by bodies at rest; by people sitting at a desk, a cubicle, a coffeehouse table or somewhere else well lighted and generally stable. Right now those workers' broadband needs are either met by a wired network, or by a Wi-Fi access point tied into a backbone via either DSL or cable modem.
The twist WiMAX adds into this work equation is the ability to unplug that beefy backhaul and move it across the cube, across the hall, across campus or across town -- delivering workspace flexibility not just for individuals, but for entire workgroups who could theoretically be supported by WiMAX services' rather robust plans.
The power and potential attractiveness of WiMAX's simple portability was one of the surprising themes we picked up on during the reporting and writing of our latest Sidecut Report, titled the Sidecut Reports WiMAX Business Deployment Guide. Available now as a free download, the report also includes a basic primer on what WiMAX is, and where and how businesses can connect to WiMAX services, and some broadband pricing comparisons.
And while there are potentially many customers who might eventually take advantage of WiMAX's ability to support real broadband connectivity while in motion -- we are thinking here of commuters in Chicago and New York, markets that are already on the Clearwire launch schedule -- for right now it's easy to say that most business computing is done by bodies at rest; by people sitting at a desk, a cubicle, a coffeehouse table or somewhere else well lighted and generally stable. Right now those workers' broadband needs are either met by a wired network, or by a Wi-Fi access point tied into a backbone via either DSL or cable modem.
The twist WiMAX adds into this work equation is the ability to unplug that beefy backhaul and move it across the cube, across the hall, across campus or across town -- delivering workspace flexibility not just for individuals, but for entire workgroups who could theoretically be supported by WiMAX services' rather robust plans.
