Telecommunications (International Edition) articles from January 2002

Telecommunications (International Edition) archives from January 2002

Valuable lessons. (Commentary).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... Stephen McClelland, Editorial Director, Telecommunication? International I was surprised that Frank had chosen a London winebar for our meeting, both from the point of view that he drank only cooled boiled water and from the point of view...

GPRS: What are you paying for? (Financial Perspectives).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Over the last year, mobile operators have built up momentum launching their GPRS portfolios. Amongst all the hurdles they have faced in doing so, developing billing mechanisms for GPRS services has been a tough one. "The challenge for...

New revenue opportunities for e-mail portals. (Financial Perspectives).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The decision by Hotmail, Yahoo and Another.com to charge for a premium e-mail service will open the door for other portals to do the same and be a vital revenue generator. "Survey after survey has indicated that e-mail is the primary...

Big TETRA contracts in pipeline. (Global News Analysis).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The European TETRA supplier community is in fine for a much-needed boost. Largely due to a greater urgency on the part of governments for different national emergency organisations to be able to communicate with each other at the scene of major...

Metro DWDM to the rescue. (Global News Analysis).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... As voice-centric SDH networks struggle to cope with increased data traffic and the need for ever-shorter lead-in times, bandwidth bottlenecks are being created at the metro level. This has led to the emergence of a number of metropolitan...

Hutchison 3G strikes roaming deal. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Hutchison 3G UK has signed a GSM roaming agreement with mmO2 (formerly BT Cellnet). As a consequence, subscribers to Hutchison's 3G service will be able to use mmO2's network, which has a 99 per cent national coverage for GSM calls and texting....

Mobile expansion in China. (News in Brief).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Ericsson and Sichuan Mobile Communication Company have signed a contract valued at US$143 m ([euro]l58 m) for expansion of the GSM/GPRS network in the Sichuan province. The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2002 and will raise the...

COLT upbeat about ROI prospects. (View From the Top).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... During 2001, COLT Telecom embarked on full-scale European infrastructure build-out. President and CEO, Peter Manning, believes that now is the time to drive revenues forward and focus on return on investment (ROI). Concerns about COLT's...

ARPU levels under scrutiny: Subscriber acquisition is no longer the priority for Europe's mobile operators. To impress the financial markets, they need to increase ARPU and reduce costs. (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... This time last year, many mobile operators in Europe didn't need to be overly concerned about failing ARPU (average revenue per user). The number of net subscriber additions was usually great enough to compensate. However, with mobile markets...

Where's the value in wholesale?: The phrase 'value-added services' has become a cliche -- what does it actually mean and what role will it play for wholesale providers striving to increase revenues? (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... With the current downturn and increased market consolidation, wholesale providers will need an improved market strategy to survive. As bandwidth prices continue to plummet, will value-added services (VAS) become the new differentiator in this...

The CLEC Holy Grail: VAS; Will DSL CLECs survive and differentiate themselves by VAS? (Value-added Services).(competitive local exchange carriers)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The DSL market is starting to resemble a scene from a bleak gothic horror novel. Dark clouds have gathered around the business model for the sole delivery of high-speed internet access, and venture capitalists have receded into the background....

In search of incremental revenue: As the threat from cable companies grows, telcos are under increasing pressure to decide on the merits of delivering bundled packages of entertainment services over their networks. (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Telcos are under increasing threat from cable companies and alternate service providers. In the UK, Europe's most competitive market for residential services, cable companies alone have already helped themselves to around 3.2 million of BT's...

Neutralising the IP security threat: Prevailing security concerns have dampened demand for real-time IP video and voice. Can a technique, known as Firewall and NAT Traversal (FNT), allay those fears? (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Shortly after the atrocities of 11 September, there were widespread reports of an increase in the use of videoconferencing. Many companies imposed restrictions upon travel and, as happened during the Gulf War, corporate users turned to video as...

Interactive CRM benefits: The sales cycle can be long and complicated. Is interactive CRM the remedy? (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Global deregulation and the Internet have created a new wave of innovation in the communications industry. With the rising importance of data services in the small business and even residential markets, complexity is no longer limited to...

Can IP entertain you?: IP has the potential to shake up the digital entertainment and interactive services market. It can increase competition and break the current stranglehold of a select band of service providers over content. (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... IP is increasingly seen as a way to break the oligopoly of network and service providers in the digital entertainment and interactive services market. This is because it is understood by many as a potential way of connecting a universe of...

What makes a successful MAN?: The successful delivery of high-speed services across the MAN will be dependent on the combined implementation of new metro technologies. (Value-added services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Until recently, the development of the metropolitan area network (MAN) had been restricted by the incumbent technology of mid-capacity synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) rings. But now, technical advances in optical infrastructure equipment...

Bridging the digital divide: The delivery of digital radio, via satellite, promises to reduce the information gap between the developing and developed worlds. (Value-added Services).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... For over seven decades, most developing countries - for their radio service powered medium wave AM broadcasting. And when you consider that one million to two million people per station is a typical ratio in the developing world (combined with...

A transforming world: Life is changing for the submarine cable industry and greater integration into the telecoms fold will be a positive step forward. (Industry & Market Update).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Due to the current turmoil that has engulfed telecoms and the submarine cable business in particular, it can be hard at times to be overly optimistic about the future prospects of the industry. However, history shows that every major...

Don't let the fraudster win: Telecoms fraud is here to stay. However, companies can significantly reduce their exposure to it by putting detection measures in place. (Industry & Market Update).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Despite the recent slump in the stock market, telecom companies are big business. They represent the future from everything to enabling closer links with customers through e-commerce to next-generation wireless networking for business...

E-procurement won't work on its own: Online purchasing offers new opportunities for companies to deliver significant tangible bottom line benefit, but only when understood and approached correctly. (E-Commerce Focus).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Whatever happened to e-procurement? It wasn't so long ago that online purchasing was being touted by consultancies and software vendors as a great way for companies to reduce costs and increase productivity, but the economic benefits simply...

WES. (MMS Content Testing Package).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Wireless Entertainment Services (WES) has developed an MMS (multimedia messaging service) trial package which will help mobile operators adopt the new MMS standard. It consists of various kinds of multimedia content, prepared according to the...

NetTest. (CMA4000i Optical Test System).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... NetTest has announced the CMA4000i Optical Test System which provides test and measurement solutions for the alloptical network. According to the company, with its modular design, the instrument can be configured to meet the requirements of a...

Huawei Technologies. (OptiX2500+).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... OptiX2500+ is an I M- 1 6 system that can be deployed in provincial back. bone network and metropolitan area backbone networks. Features include large capacity cross-connect matrix, powerful accessibility (15Gbps), multiple ADM design which...

Trend Communications. (AuroraTango).(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
January 1, 2002... AuroraTango is a modular tester for ADSL networks. It provides incumbents, CLECs and service providers - who have significant numbers of ADSL circuits to commission - with a way of determining the suitability of the local loop. It enables...