New Zealand is a remote place, which may explain why most people know little more about it than that it served as the backdrop for the Lord of the Rings movies.
The now-concluded HBO series Flight of the Concords also had a lot of references to New Zealand, but it could be tough to discern which ones were real (I checked, and it seems there actually is a toothbrush fence) and which were created for comedy value.
In any case, there’s now a real and important effort going on in New Zealand that involves the creation of a nationwide ultra-broadband network. That state-of-the-art network will help New Zealand’s citizenry and businesses communicate with one another and the rest of the world, and to access existing and next generation information and applications. It’s also intended to make New Zealand a more important player on the world economic stage and to give the country a competitive edge over others in attracting business.
“Having that ubiquitous broadband access in a country like New Zealand that has a strong theme of ingenuity and entrepreneurship, this allows them access to global markets, and I think it brings a lot of things beyond what you can measure on the macro level at the micro level, which is really important to the local communities,” explains Sean O’Halloran, CSO at Alcatel-Lucent, a key supplier for the New Zealand effort.
In fact, New Zealand’s push for nationwide broadband is the subject of an interesting case study and two videos by Alcatel-Lucent. The first is about the case study in general and the second includes and an interesting interview which includes comments by Hon Steven Joyce, New Zealand Minister for Economic Development.
The New Zealand government set up Crown Fibre Holdings to spearhead the ultra-broadband effort. Crown Fibre Holdings decided to create a private-public partnership to spread the project’s risk and contracted with local fiber companies to deploy the open access infrastructure. Chorus was awarded 70 percent of the build; three other companies are sharing the remainder of the business.
Chorus is leveraging Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON access technology to enable 100mbps download and 50mbps upload rates. It’s also using Alcatel-Lucent’s IP multiservice core platform further upstream. Alcatel-Lucent, which is the communications system integrator for the New Zealand build, is also providing 24-hour management and fault rectification services to Chorus as a managed service. In addition to operating the NOC, Alcatel-Lucent is heading up an ng Connect effort in New Zealand to support market trials and other work to support the creation of new and innovative applications and services.
Already, dairy farmers – who once had to record data about cows in a book and then re-enter that information in a computer later on – now can access and enter needed information wherever they are from smartphones. Meanwhile, the New Zealand government is integrating the online experience into education and has implemented a rent to own device program in select low-income areas in the country. Cloud-based businesses in the New Zealand, such as point of sale software provider, are also excited about how the ultra-broadband network will help them support and grow their companies.
The ultra-broadband network also sets the stage for broadband service providers to leverage that connectivity and pair it with data analytics to create new opportunities in advertising, retail, municipal, and other business environments. That includes faster price optimization in stores, the ability to offer real-time maintenance on cars and other items, and more.
New Zealand, which currently has a population of 4.5 million, plans to bring the ultra-broadband network to 86 percent of its rural customers by 2016, and to 75 percent of its citizens by 2020. It expects the network to create $26 billion in value over 20 years.
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Originally appeared on Alcatel-Lucent Blog February 10, 2015
Perched on the southern edge of New Zealand, a small picturesque city with a big digital vision is about to be wired with the fastest broadband speeds in the Southern Hemisphere.
You may never have heard of it, but Dunedin is the envy of New Zealand after being crowned the winner of Gigatown, an online and real world competition for communities to receive 1Gbps broadband* and two development funds to support entrepreneurs, innovators and social initiatives. The competition was run by Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications infrastructure company which is rolling out the nation’s world-leading Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) program.
Gigatown was developed by Chorus to help educate and inspire New Zealanders about the possibilities and opportunities for a country connected with ultra-fast broadband. It attracted entries from no less than 50 towns and was something of a social media phenomenon with almost 6 million online conversations about Gigatown and the power of UFB during the 13-month long competition. Dunedin was one of five finalists – alongside Gisborne, Nelson, Timaru and Wanaka – which competed to develop a plan for their gigabit future.
Gigatown placed ultra-fast broadband firmly into the community consciousness and raised awareness of the social and economic benefits the New Zealand government’s investments in UFB and RBI could provide. It highlighted the very real human benefits enabled by the rollout of ultra-fast broadband.
Now having won Gigatown, Dunedin is very much focused on the future, placing its gigabit vision at the heart of a plan to be recognized as one of the world’s great small cities. Drawing inspiration from Chattanooga Gig, Dunedin has outlined a smart city framework that brings community together, and encourages innovation and enterprise. Its Gigatown plan identified key opportunities for smart infrastructure, engagement, accessibility and culture, health and medicine, digital inclusion, and a smart city hub, while creating a comprehensive community of engaged stakeholder groups.Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull says Gigatown has awakened the city. “This has been a time for us to think about the possibilities that 1Gbps ultrafast broadband will open up for Dunedin,” Mayor Cull said. "Win or lose, the Gigatown competition has helped us focus on the fact that faster broadband is part of our future and, as a community, we need to be ready to make the best of that. Winning means we can bring the future forward much sooner.”
Bringing that future forward is where Alcatel-Lucent comes in, both as a significant technology and services partner with Chorus, and via the ng Connect Program, which has invested with Chorus in a development fund to support entrepreneurs and innovators taking new gigabit services to market in Dunedin. ng Connect will also work with Dunedin and other Gigatown finalists to foster innovation through collaboration and broadband vision.
While best known for its stately gold rush era buildings and as the home of New Zealand’s oldest university, Dunedin has gradually transformed and experienced the flourishing of niche industries such as engineering, software development, biotechnology and fashion. With Gigatown, it now has a new advantage to grow those and other sectors to become a true smart city of the world.
* Chorus will make a special 1Gbps UFB service available in Dunedin at entry level broadband prices.
Gigatown Dunedin - Plan for Gig Success from Virtual Eye on Vimeo.
]]>What if you didn’t need to have your phone beside you at all times? What if instead, you can use your own car to connect with you, direct you and protect you wherever you go?
Well, by 2022, a Telefónica Industry Report (PDF) predicts that there will be 1.8 billion automotive Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connections that can do just that. This will comprise 700 million Connected Cars and 1.1 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices for services such as navigation, insurance, stolen vehicle recovery (SVR) and infotainment. In fact, Machina Research predicts that by 2020, 90% of new cars will feature built-in connectivity platforms, growing from less than 10% today.
Connected Cars will not replace smartphones - merely it’s a way to extend the IoT connectivity and bring the everyday lifestyle right to the car. Ellis Lindsay’s blog on Connected Cars as an everyday lifestyle does a great job of explaining this concept. He goes into detail about connected cars giving us the ability to link our life experiences – whether it’s our deadlines, travel plans, monthly payments or Facebook notifications – to wherever we are and wherever we go.
I really think this quote by Henry Ford “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster horses’” explains the evolution of Connected Cars perfectly. Connected Cars have changed the way we approach the future of communications and if I had the chance to ask Henry about the future of Connected Cars, he probably would have repeated the same quote. Another great Ford leader, Steven Odell, an EVP at Ford Motor Company, believes “Cars are the smartphones of the future” stating that 79% of industry experts believe the IoT connectivity will soon be the primary decision in car purchases and that 80% of cars will be connected by 2020.
Today’s primary decisions in making car purchases are pricing and gas mileage, without a doubt. However, when the M2M players and service providers join forces to bring connected cars to end users, they will have to realize the challenges of bringing M2M to the masses. These challenges include simplifying the use of technology and creating an experience where they consistently feel connected to their everyday lives. Oh, and let’s not forget the millennials’ preferences to self-service. There will be more to purchasing decisions than pricing and gas mileage – the means of having voice over LTE (VoLTE), push notifications, customer self-support, and mobile data will be major players in the decision.
All of the services of the Connected Car I mentioned have two important elements: It further connects us to our everyday lives and enhances the customer experience. This enables us to have our cars become our smartphones. Just imagine, making payments right from your car, having your car find the best available parking spots and not having to worry about the maintenance of your car as there are automatic vehicle system checks, firmware updates and data management services. What else could you ask for?
To learn more about Connected Cars, take a look at the ng Connect program. Is there an application or service you think every Connected Car should have? How big of a role will the IoT play in that service? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. I’d like to hear from you.
When he’s not blogging or tweeting, Anthony Trinh (@Trinh_Anthony) is a third-year marketing and information systems student from Carleton University in Ottawa. He is currently completing a co-op term as the Integrated Marketing Assistant for the Motive marketing group at Alcatel-Lucent.
]]>Talks on the topic of Connected Cars have been escalating over the years. It’s a recent Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technology which extends our connectivity to the world around us – bringing your vehicle to your lifestyle. Consumers are looking at Connected Cars as a technology which can be used to help protect you, direct you and connect you. A recent survey done by Accenture on Connected Vehicles reveals that 50% of consumers in 2014 are using Connected Cars for traffic information and 34% of consumers indicated an interest in getting information about available parking spots.
Connected Cars will give us the ability to bring the home experience right to our cars. By bringing M2M to the masses, the technology will help us manage our life better – our cars can remind us of calendar deadlines, help us to schedule our meetings, and then plan our trip with the least amount of traffic – all while finding the perfect parking space.
One of the many things I realized from Telematics Detroit 2014 was the concept of the digital lifestyle. And I couldn’t explain it any better than how Tom Gebhardt, president at Panasonic Automotive Systems of America, explained it at the event. “Without the car, you have a huge gap in being able to link your life experience. Consumers don’t want to have to change their technology just because they’re in the car,” said Tom.
What Tom said really won me over. It’s not so much about the Connected Car itself, it’s really about the lifestyle and customer experience. The car is only a technology which enables us to improve the two. Every day we are finding new opportunities to stay connected, whether it’s through downloaded apps, navigation services or new technologies. The Connected Car presents all of these features, along with the most important feature: location.
As I mentioned earlier, our network is always on. That means news feeds, notifications, changes of schedule and many other things that you would have known about if you were at home. But as soon as you step outside of those doors, you leave behind a suitcase filled with information. It is about being everywhere, while accessing everything. That’s what the world of Connected Cars brings to life.
To learn more about Connected Cars, take a look at the ngConnect program. What do you think is the most important feature of Connected Cars? Share your thoughts in the comments below. I’d like to know what you think.
Thanks to significant advances in broadband communication technology in the past few years, people from many industries and disciplines are coming up with some pretty innovative ways to work, play and do business. These often-disparate innovations represent growing opportunity for even greater changes, and greater rewards, if devices, applications and infrastructures were more effectively brought together.
With that vision in mind, Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) founded the ng Connect Program, intended to create an end-to-end ecosystem for rapidly delivering next generation services and applications, by combining the resources of industry, business and academic leaders. Enterprises, consumers and service providers all stand to benefit.
The ng Connect Program rightly claims that, “The opportunity is unprecedented. “ It has eight main goals:
Connectivity, ALU points out, is rapidly converging in ways transformative to business, daily life, entertainment, and other areas. Individual companies, however, do not have the resources or expertise to rapidly deploy innovative services, create profitable new business models, or remove barriers to mass adoption.
The ng Connect Program addresses five main areas that represent barriers to success: innovation, connectivity and distribution, digital media management and QoS, applications and service integration, and business models and cases.
Addressing these barriers to success requires driving top line revenues, increasing competitive advantages, lowering OPEX, reducing churn, leveraging assets across networks, creating new business models, accelerating time to market, and speeding up resolution of standards and regulatory issues.
The ng Connect Program is driving innovation through three main elements:
The programs summarized below exemplify how various technologies and services are being brought together in innovative ways through ng Connect.
Want to be part of helping create the future? Participation in the ng Connect program is a way to explore how working together with other innovators is the path to accelerate your progress on the road to success.
]]>Mobile network operators are always looking for new ways to more efficiently use their existing infrastructure without making large capital expenditures. With the explosion of tablets and smartphones, which will increasingly be used for a variety of video applications, streamed as well as interactive, use of a 4G LTE channel for delivering multicast services such as mobile TV is viewed as one way to do so. The reason is simple. It enables network operators to offer mobile TV without the need for additional expensive licensed spectrum and without requiring new infrastructure and end-user devices that might be required to unicast content.
A recent Alcatel-Lucent TechZine article, “eMBMS for More Efficient Use of Spectrum,” describes the enhancements to LTE specifications that have been standardized to accommodate rapidly changing user demands and concomitant network requirements. Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS) is now a multicast standard for 4G LTE precisely because it allows one-to-many distribution of video content.
“For example, during live streaming of major sports or news events, unicast must send the same video to every user individually,” explain RJ Vale, Network Architect for Alcatel-Lucent’s corporate CTO technology advisory group, and Harish Viswanathan, CTO advisor on devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) technology for Alcatel-Lucent. The authors state that eMBMS makes licensed spectrum usage more efficient by leveraging multicast capabilities. These capabilities, “take advantage of the inherent broadcast qualities of wireless networks to send video only once to reach an equal number of end users.” This reduces the cost per bit sent.
The authors’ detail why the underlying structure of eMBMS is what makes it more efficient.
The example given puts the numbers in stark relief. “In one-to-many transmissions, a large number of mobile devices can tune in and receive the video from a single transmission…So, if eight mobiles within a sector all want the same content, multicast can transmit it just once. But unicast would have to transmit it eight times — using on the order of eight times the resources that would be required in multicast.” In addition, eMBMS sessions can be set up dynamically to share resources using unicast sessions, operating on a single frequency across a group of cells to improve reception.
Initial deployments of eMBMS, a standard supported by 3GPP R9, are slated to begin this year (2012). As the article highlights, eMBMS can be used to expand the capabilities of LTE networks by using the same frequency layer for multicast, broadcast and unicast. This goes to the heart as to how and why operators can not only save money and but also provide an improved customer experience because of better reception and throughput.
eMBMS deployments, Vale and Viswanathan note, involve a somewhat complex interplay of network elements:
With these elements rolled together into a solution, eMBMS provides a valuable alternative to unicast for distributing a variety of preloaded and live multimedia content.
In addition to the inherent cost savings derived from content delivery being one-to-many instead of one-to-one, as stated above the fact that eMBMS sessions can be set up dynamically — and share resources with unicast sessions — eliminates the need for dedicated spectrum. Lower cost of using a scarce and expensive resource and a better customer experience sounds like a solution that is likely to be in the future of many of us.
]]>But, the network technologies they deploy are merely the beginning, and will serve only as a medium for delivering the services, content, and applications that will present the real opportunity for differentiation. Once operators have invested in and deployed their next generation networks, their key to success will lie in their ability to quickly and effectively introduce innovative new services to their subscribers - services that will be in high demand and for which users will be willing to pay a premium. In addition, the innovation must extend beyond the applications themselves, to an ability to integrate these new offerings across multiple networks, devices, and geographies.
Operators that invest in LTE technologies, for instance, will have spent billions, even tens of billions of dollars, by the time they have completed their full deployments. ABI Research predicts that Verizon Wireless, for example, will spend close to $30 billion on spectrum and infrastructure, and while LTE technology will present Verizon and other operators with significant reductions in operating costs, they will still need to find new revenue streams to support their business models to compete effectively.
As Nadine Manjaro, senior analyst, wireless infrastructure at ABI Research, writes in her article, Ecosystems Help Evolution to 4G Services in the latest issue of Alcatel-Lucent's online magazine, Enriching Communications, "Delivering new services quickly will require collaboration across an entire ecosystem. Operators are turning to vendor partners and members of the mobile value chain to assist in developing new services."
The idea of collaborating with other industry participants isn't a new one, and many operators have already successfully developed and launched services driven by such relationships, but there is potential - even a necessity - for more.
That's why Alcatel-Lucent, among others, which of course is a key player in the network infrastructure space, is also pushing the idea of developing ecosystems to help spur innovation, lower time to market, and increase the value proposition of new services and applications.
The idea is founded on the principle that networks can provide valuable resources that can be leveraged by an entire ecosystem to increase the value of new services and applications. Traditionally, however, most network operators have been hesitant to open their networks up to developers and content providers. However, in order to create deeper relationships, many are realizing that, properly controlled and secured, these resources can be an effective way to deliver more enticing services, since developers will have access to data that will help them more effectively personalize services and ensure their compatibility with networks and devices.
An Alcatel-Lucent white paper, Working with Third-Party Services: An Action Plan for Network Operators, identifies several network resources that can easily be leveraged to create compelling services that users will be willing to pay for. They include:
By working with third parties to build wide-ranging, multi-industry ecosystems that include infrastructure vendors, device manufacturers, application developers, content providers, gaming and computing experts, universities, and others with relevant expertise, operators can discover best practices, new business models, and new revenue opportunities not possible on their own.
Alcatel-Lucent itself has launched the ng Connect program as a means of bringing together these very types of constituencies in a collaborative environment to develop new services that exploit their network assets to create compelling, sticky services and opportunities for subscriber retention and attraction.
"The ng Connect ecosystem has the power to create a nucleus to showcase what is actually possible when you connect all these devices in a real LTE environment that provides the bandwidth that is necessary to provide an enhanced user experience," said Volker Hirsch, EVP at ng Connect member Connect2Media.
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