Telecommunications (International Edition) articles from June 2005

Telecommunications (International Edition) archives from June 2005

Easy come, easy go: the industry is probably baffled as to why the discount mobile operator business hasn't taken off in the UK.(commentary)
June 1, 2005... What now for discount mobile operators? What indeed. The widely anticipated launch of discounters in one of Europe's largest and most dynamic markets, the UK, seems to have been little more than a whimper. Widespread media reports, for example,...

Marconi and the generation game.(Global)
June 1, 2005... When BT did not select Marconi--which currently relies for around 25 per cent of its annual revenues on BT business--as one of the suppliers of its next-generation network equipment, the financial markets went into a collective swoon. Marconi's...

More cash means more options for Level 3.(Level 3 Communications Inc.)
June 1, 2005... Level 3, a US-based wholesaler of IP-based traffic and services, is going through a period of balance sheet tidying and strategic re-positioning. In April this year, the company announced that it had raised US$880 m through the sale of...

Dilithium predicts mobile video warp drive.(Dilithium Networks)
June 1, 2005... As this year's projected 3G subscriber numbers push through the 50 million mark worldwide, at least one CEO will be watching with quiet satisfaction: Dilithium Networks' Paul Zuber. Why? Because 3G will demand both interoperability and high...

Arbinet sees market fracture further: capacity trading on neutral exchanges will grow both in quantity and quality, CEO argues.(view from the top)(Curt Hockemeier)
June 1, 2005... It could be argued that the consolidation seen among major carriers--such as the merger between AT&T and SBC in the US--does not bode well for the future of a capacity exchange such as Arbinet. Not so, says the CEO, Curt Hockemeier. "Those high...

ZTE raises European profile.(Company Profile)
June 1, 2005... Based on all or any of the appropriate metrics--sales volumes, regional partnerships, levels of investment and strength of local presence--ZTE Corporation is today one of the fastest growing telecommunications suppliers in the global...

A journey into the unknown: in an attempt to re-energise their fixed-line networks, a string of major incumbents around the world are moving into unchartered IPTV and 'triple-play' territory.(The broadband business case)(internet protocol television)(Editorial)
June 1, 2005... After more than one hundred years of existence, a long list of incumbents are now moving beyond voice and data and entering the world of interactive video and digital TV. For some, this has created an identity crisis. "We don't want to be...

HSDPA on the way? Does it make sense for operators to implement HSDPA or has it been over-hyped?(High Speed Downlink Data Packet Access)
June 1, 2005... HSDPA is, the vendors stress, a must-have addition to the mobile operator's armoury. What it promises to do is to boost downlink speeds to a theoretical 14Mbps, or, in practice, 1-1.5Mbps per user, and increase WCDMA capacity by as much as...

Assessing Asian opportunities: business intelligence for provider profit.
June 1, 2005... Identifying and understanding business opportunities in this vast and alluring region requires far more than an understanding of technology trends and take rates. To cash in requires knowledge of geo-political issues, population, density,...

China: parting with tradition: China Telecom intends to shed the mantle of "traditional network carrier" through large-scale NGN deployment.(next generation networks)(China Telecom (Hong Kong) Group Ltd.)
June 1, 2005... China Telecom is in a period of network and business model transition. Like many wireline incumbents around the world, it has seen a drastic slowing of fixed-line voice revenue growth. Due to a mixture of deregulation and the growing popularity...

Korea: broadband, convergence and portability: big plans, big projects--but big prospects?
June 1, 2005... The boundary line that formerly distinguished Korea's highly developed broadband and mobile networks is fading. In one direction, broadband connections are becoming mobile with extensive Wi-Fi (e.g., KT's Nespot) and soon WiBro networks (e.g.,...

Japan: a future mobile society? Today's Japanese applications may be worldwide successes tomorrow.
June 1, 2005... You could be forgiven for thinking that in everyday life the mobile phone has become the most important tool for the Japanese. It certainly has spawned an astonishing range of applications and uses. Restaurant customers can check the freshness...

Submarine telecom: Asia on the move: with bandwidth prices stabilising and capacity spend increasing, there is reason for Asia's regional submarine telecom systems to be optimistic.
June 1, 2005... There may be some nervousness emerging about the global economy, but currently there seems to be no nervousness about the economy of the telecom industry. After doom and gloom in the early years of the decade, an upbeat mood has...

Access pricing: unlocking the door to competition in Asia: transparent access pricing regimes still hard to find in Asia.
June 1, 2005... The key challenge facing regulators in telecom and media across the Asia-Pacific region is to create the right environment that will stimulate investment and promote competition. Historically, the telecom industry in Asia has been...

Can you manage without next-generation OSS? Service providers want both a standardised IP network and differentiated end-products. Next-generation operations support systems (OSS) need to bridge the divide.(The broadband business case)
June 1, 2005... The marketing category that is breakfast cereals is, arguably, a triumph of chutzpah. You can, for example, have corn flakes, corn biscuits, corn puffs, crispy corn puffs, crispy hexagons, sugarcoated octagons, and a dozen other variations on...

IMS survival guide: delivering real-time services with IMS.(Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems)
June 1, 2005... Today the consolidation and partnering occurring in the telecommunications industry underscores the fact that stakes for profitability within a highly competitive environment are greater than ever before. The challenges--and opportunities--for...

SIP service: as carriers move to packet-based networks, SIP will play an increasingly important role as a service-enabler.(The broadband business case)
June 1, 2005... Telecom services, networks and terminals are currently in the process of radical transformation as the large-scale deployment of the session initiated protocol (SIP) gathers speed. SIP has the potential to enable a whole new repertoire of...

Can you bill for FMC? Without a sophisticated billing system, the full potential of fixed-mobile convergence will not be realised.(The broadband business case)(fixed-mobile communications )
June 1, 2005... After years of talk, fixed-mobile communications (FMC) is at last becoming a reality. However, there are significant challenges ahead: development of new routes to market, new applications and key business re-education will all need to be...