Operators falling short on indoor coverage

According to a new study from Signals Research Group (SRG). 88 per cent of licensed spectrum is

“underutilised” in enterprise campus buildings because operators are choosing to rely on macro radio access network (RAN) technologies that are entirely unsuited to the environment.

Responsible for 80 per cent of all mobile voice and data traffic, indoor usage is putting a severe

strain on the outdoor macro network that could be relieved through the use of alternative technologies, says SRG. SRG insists that Wi-Fi is not a satisfactory alternative to inbuilding cellular technology,

because the quality of a Wi-Fi service diminishes quickly when lots of people are using it.

Source : GSMA, MWC, 2013

Telstra CEO : LTE use is exploding in Australia

One in five Australian smartphone owners plan to buy a 4G handset in the next 12 months.” Our target is to extend LTE coverage to two thirds of the population by June 2013”.

Source : GSMA, MWC, 2013

Huawei launches flagship 4G phone

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business unit, told reporters that the P2’s category 4 LTE

radio was able to support download speeds of 150Mb/s, claiming this made it considerably faster than rival devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Apple iPhone.

According to recent figures from Gartner, Huawei is now the world’s third-largest smartphone maker

behind Samsung and Apple. Yu said that in 2012, out of 52 million handsets shipped by Huawei, 32 million were smartphones, representing a 60 per cent year-onyear increase. Annual sales at the unit were up 10 per cent to $7.5 billion.

Source : GSMA, MWC, 2013

UK operator EE seeing one in four subscribers upgrading to 4G

A the end of 2012, EE’s 4G network covered 43 per cent of the UK population in 18 towns and cities, with its fibre infrastructure passing 11 million premises. It is targeting 55 per cent LTE population coverage across 65 towns and cities by June 2013.

Source : GSMA, MWC, 2013

Mobile Operator data revenues to surpass by 2018

Industry association the GSMA claims mobile operator data revenues will overtake voice revenues globally by 2018, driven by a surge in demand for connected devices and machine-to-machine

(M2M) communications.

The GSMA’s new report, developed in partnership with PwC, highlights a number of statistics it

says will “revolutionise people’s lives over the next five years.”

Touted benefits in developed countries include: a saving of $400 billion in healthcare costs in OECD

countries from mhealth services, a saving of one in nine lives through emergency calling services via socalled ‘connected cars’; a reduction in student drop-outs by eight per cent or 1.8 million children, thanks to mEducation services; and a reduction in carbon emissions by 27 million tonnes (the equivalent of planting 1.2 billion trees) via smart metering technology.

In developing countries, the report argues that mHealth could help save one million lives in sub-Saharan Africa; mAutomotive technology will improve food transport and storage, which could help feed more than 40 million people annually – equivalent to the entire population of Kenya; mEducation could enable 180 million students to further their education; and intelligent transport systems

could reduce commute times by 35 per cent, giving commuters back a whole week each year.

Souerce : GSMA, MWC 2013

Facebook: a mobile company...

680 million people now accessing the social network via a mobile device each month and 70 per cent

of those accessing it every day compared to just 40 per cent on desktop computers.

23 per cent of Facebook’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 was generated from mobile, compared

to nothing a year earlier.

Advertisers are now using Facebook’s sponsored stories and promoted posts tools while around 10 per cent of the top 400 iOS and Android developers are paying for mobile app install ads.

Facebook is also pushing its Open Graph platform to bring social features to other apps.

Source : GSMA, MWC 2013

Firefox OS wins operator backing

A group of 17 operators have committed to support Mozilla’s open web initiative, as the commercial launch of the first devices

Source : GSMA, MWC 2013