WIFI RIDES AGAIN!

INSIGHT REPORT LTE, outdoor small cells MOBILE and the cloud RAN - analysis and report on the new vendor strategies EUROPE

EUROPE’S WIRELESS MAGAZINE S issue no. 218 S October/November 2011 S www.mobileeurope.co.uk ALSO INSIDE:

SFR GOES FEMTO FREE > French operator to offer free residential femtos, and tie up WiFi access.

P07 PRICING STRATEGIES > Making an offer that customers can’t refuse - how operators can innovate in pricing.

P34

MOBILE MONEY > Orange shows future with national CityZi plans, THE SMALL but what are the rest of Europe’s operators doing OUTDOORS: in mobile money? the LTE challenge P38

Contents October/November 2011

Operator innovation: The price must be right augmented reality pic from page 11

Gig-E Ethernet backhaul contract puts a smile on face of Transmode CEO REGULARS FEATURES EDITORIAL PRICING INNOVATION From mobile money, to pricing, to network architecture, The mobile operator of 2011 has to think differently about 04 operators are not as conservative as they are portrayed. 34 their customer data, and subscriber experience, to deliver pricing strategies that deliver maximum value to the user, but also NEWS deliver increased profitability for the operator. Can they square this TAG spins out m2m; Tele2 to disrupt Netherlands with LTE; circle? 06 SFR to integrate WiFi with 3G; Bouygues pays top amount for LTE spectrum; Broadcom aims for wireless infra share; Ericsson MOBILE MONEY “dominant” LTE provider till 2014; Operators integrate MMS with Operator-led mobile money and payments services are still Twitter; Telefonica working on AR; Virgin Media signs £100m Gig-E 38 thin on the ground, but momentum is growing across deal; Huawei biggest gainer in microwave market; Monitise at mobile Europe, as operators move to commercialisation of NFC technology. money "tipping point"; Operator-backed Paypal rival; Telefonica So where can we look to for operator-led market momentum? doubles Redknee investment; Traffic management takes central stage.

DIARY A selection of the major mobile events and conferences in 42 the weeks ahead and a glance at some of the stories to have missed the real news pages.

INSIGHT REPORT FULL CONTENTS, FOREWORD Keith Dyer introduces this issue’s Insight Report and charts 19 the impact the LTE is having on how mobile network architectures may evolve.

VENDOR DEVELOPMENTS Vendors are taking differing approaches to solving a 26 common operator challenge: from integrated base stations Mobile money to cloud-based processing. Femtocell and WiFi, and market entries momentum from some new players also promise to shake things up.

go to www.mobileeurope.co.uk for the latest information on mobile Mobile Europe |3 Comment editor: keith dyer

Operators can innovate, but it’s about delivery Operators are often castigated for being poor incubators of innovation. Organisations MOBILE run on spreadsheets, with high volume and low margin services, are poorly positioned to drive innovative services into the market. So it is interesting to view this issue in the EUROPE light of operator attempts at innovation. A look at both the news and Editor: Keith Dyer GAI N ! I RIDE S A feature pages reveals several aspects where operators are taking WIF [email protected] INSIGHT steps to innovate. REPORT Direct tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8999 lls LTE, outdoor small ce MOBILE - and the cloud RAN EUROPE on the analysis and report tegies k new vendor stra leeurope.co.u S www.mobi vember 2011 S October/No issue no. 218 AGAZINE S : S WIRELESS M ALSO INSIDE EUROPE’ Production Manager: Tania King SFR GOES At a network level SFR is moving to a free model for femtocells, a FEMTO FREE > French operator tial to offer free residen iFi femtos, and tie up W first within Europe, with the aim of providing customers with the access. Sales Manager: Shahid Ramzan best user experience possible in home and small office. Tele2 is [email protected]

considering the transition from MVNO to full operator with LTE P07 Direct tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8980 PRICING STRATEGIES > Making an offer ’t and an aggressive marketing approach in the Netherlands. that customers can tors refuse - how opera nnovate in pricing. Operators are behind the thrust of our Insight Report, which looks can i Commercial Director: Justyn Gidley [email protected] into the drivers and developments in heterogenous networks and P34 Direct tel: +44 (0) 20 7933 8979 MOBILE MONEY Cloud RAN solutions for LTE networks. It is MBNL, which wraps up ure > Orange shows fut lans, with national CityZi p st of but what are the re oing Europe’s operators d T-Mobile and Everything Everywhere, as well as Three UK, which THE SMALL in mobile money? Publishing director: Chris Cooke has signed an innovative backhaul contract with Virgin Media OUTDOORS: Business. All of these are developments aimed at innovating at the the LTE challenge P38 ISSN: 1350 7362 network level to provide customers an enhanced user experience. Free Subscriptions Mobile Europe is a controlled circulation monthly magazine available Then, at the service level we see Telefonica, in the news pages, working with Layar, free to selected personnel at the publisher’s discretion. If you wish one of the companies driving forward Augmented Reality services and applications. to apply for regular free copies then please write to: Yet this is far from a case of an operator leaning on a partner for service innovation. In Database Services fact, Telefonica has its own well-established project. We also carry news of operator St John Patrick Publishing Ltd integration of messaging APIs with Twitter, to enable users to upload pictures to their PO Box 6009, Thatcham, Berkshire, RG19 4TT. Twitter profiles using MMS. Not too Tel: +44 (0) 1635 879361 exciting, perhaps, but an example of the Email: [email protected] If there is a lesson there for reality of “3rd party integration” that or register free online at: www.mobileeurope.co.uk operators are told they must enable. mobile operators, it is that Paid Subscriptions Readers who fall outside the strict terms of control may delivery is what counts, rather Our features, too, deliver news of purchase an annual subscription . than innovation. But the signs momentum building in the way operators UK 1 Year - £96. International 1 Year - £120. communicate with and view users, and are that lesson has been learnt. Subscription enquiries should be sent to: the way they are developing services that Saint John Patrick Publishers could change the way we pay for digital PO Box 6009, Thatcham, Berkshire RG19 4TT and “real world” items. Our feature on pricing innovation suggests that operators are United Kingdom dedicated to developing a different view of their customers, so that they can innovate Tel: +44 (0)1635 879361 around pricing offers, but also in the way that users can control their own experience. Fax: +44 (0) 1635 868594 Email: [email protected] And our article on mobile money projects continues to suggest that if there is a critical Web: wwwmobileeurope.co.uk party driving forward widespread awareness of mobile NFC payments, then that party is the mobile operator. It is the carriers that are bulk ordering the NFC-enabled handsets, the NFC-compatible SIMs. Printed by Finally, even our sponsored feature, written in association with Ericsson, suggests that Pensord Magazines & Periodicals, Pontllanfraith, UK. operators are driving forward with dedicated go-to-market focused strategies for the enablement of services based on the Rich Communications Suite.

So, as we enter into iPhone5 territory, and all the hype that that will bring, remember that Apple’s record is of taking tried and tested industry ideas – video calling, instant The views expressed in Mobile Europe are not necessarily those of the editor messaging – and making the experience easy to understand and use. If there is a or the publisher. lesson there for mobile operators it is that delivery is what counts, rather than Mobile Europe is published by Saint innovation. But the signs are that lesson has been learnt, and real progress is being John Patrick Publishers Ltd, made. 6 Laurence Pountney Hill, London EC4R 0BL.

4|Mobile Europe

News m2m in Austria l LTE in Netherlands

Tele2 to disrupt TAG SPINS OUT M2M Netherlands market

Telekom Austria Group (TAG) has formed a with LTE play dedicated company to address the M2M market. The new subsidiary will act as the MVNO Tele2 has strongly indicated that it operator’s competence and service centre for all will bid for 800MHz spectrum in the M2M activities, working at Group level. Netherlands, and that it may become a full Telekom Austria has confirmed to Mobile mobile network owner, seeking to disrupt Europe that the unit will start with about the businesses of the three incumbent 500,000 SIMs under management, as a result of operators by combining its fixed and mobile the operator's existing M2M activities. assets to best effect. The business, known as Telekom Austria Tele2’s Market Area Director for Western Group M2M, will focus on eight application especially within the vertical industries and the Europe, Günther Vogelpoel, said that areas: automotive, consumer electronics, health respective account managers, which all in all favourable legislative and regulatory care, logistics and transportation, retail and amount to about 150 people out of those 200. decisions have presented the operator with payments, security and surveillance, industrial TAG M2M is currently recruiting people to be a “unique” opportunity to make the move and smart business as well as energy and employed directly at this competence center, from MVNO to MNO. utilities. and targets a mid two digit number by middle The Netherlands has mandated that The unit will be run by Bernd Liebscher. “The of next year. 2x10MHz spectrum at 800MHz be reserved Telekom Austria Group has been a long- for new entrants, just as it did for the standing and reliable partner for Are there any partners, developers, etc that 2.6GHz spectrum band. Parliament has communications solutions in the business Telekom Austria already knows it will be gone further and said that it also wants to customer segment. We are now bundling our working with? see 2x5MHz for new entrants at 900Mhz. It extensive know-how in terms of data For M2M we leverage the existing network of can ask for this because in the Netherlands, communications and billing systems for a new solution partners, but also aim to further extend not only is 800MHz being auctioned, but emerging field of business,” Liebscher said. our partner network beyond the borders of our 900, 1800 and some 2100MHz spectrum is Telekom Austria said that the M2M business traditional footprint and establish a network of also being re-auctioned. will aim to provide its customers with "industry best-in-class partners. We are working with our Vogelpoel said that with a reserve price know-how along the entire value chain" from existing partners in all our operating companies for a 2x5MHz block of €35 million and a product design to the implementation and and will announce further partnerships as soon rollout obligation of 40% within 5 years, operation of M2M solutions. as we are agreed on the terms of reference. Tele2 needs to evaluate closely the benefits Telekom Austria said its would have a focus A clear differentiator is, that TAG M2M of bidding. But with a 17 year license, he on international corporate customers across its actively manages and services its partnerships said that “either we do it now or that central and southern European markets. The by expert employees dedicated exclusively to window of opportunity is gone.” business unit is also responsible for steering and the maintenance and development of the “We have a very weak competitive coordinating individual initiatives in the local relations. situation in The Netherlands – with prices at companies. For the time being Telekom Austria Group the highest levels, and mobile broadband M2M GmbH approaches about half a million penetration at the lowest levels, in the area. Q&A WITH TELEKOM AUSTRIA SIM-Cards and records a 50% growth in SIM We have our fibre network that is perfect ON ITS NEW M2M BUSINESS volume for year to date. for backhauling already – we have the capacity. All these elements look good, and UNIT: Has Telekom-Austria looked at joining the over the next months we are working hard Deutsche Telekom/ FT Orange/ Telia-Sonera to evaluate this, but we are pretty serious,” How big will the unit be? M2M interoperability alliance? Vogelpoel said. For TAG (Telekom Austria Group), leveraging The Telekom Austria Group M2M GmbH As well as the favourable auction terms the existing resources throughout all OpCos is closely looks at the current ecosystem and for a new entrant, Vogelpoel said that The key, especially when it comes to technical evaluates and decides each opportunity on a Netherlands’ net neutrality laws were good experts and sales. Considering the entire OpCo case-to-case basis. For the time being there has news for disruptive players – enabling Tele2 ecosystem within TAG, the total number of been no decision taken regarding the M2M to push new business models into the experts working on M2M is currently around interop alliance, but any future alliances and market. 200 people. partnerships will be announced to the public as For more, see: Strong alignment is taking place constantly, soon as they are agreed. mobileeurope.co.uk/news/news-analysis/8931

6|Mobile Europe News Free French femto l Pricey French spectrum l Swedish LTE SFR TO INTEGRATE WIFI WITH 3G SERVICE PLUS OFFERS FREE FEMTOCELLS

French operator SFR is close to commercial broadband user experience, completely fluid three cities covered with 42Mbps HSPA before launch of software that will automatically between its WiFi Hotspots and 3G". the end of 2011. At the moment, it has the 12 connect users to WiFi hotspots or to the 3G In addition to its WiFi strategy, SFR has largest French cities covered with 21Mbps network, depending on availability. The WiFi started marketing a "free" femtocell product to HSPA. The operator also said it is "densifying" Auto Connect driver is in a pilot phase in three all its subscribers. Users pay €49 for the 3G coverage in key areas, such as tourist resorts Departments, prior to a planned nation-wide femtocell, which can be redeemed when the and along TGV routes. rollout later this year. unit is activated. The unit, called "SFR Femto" is The company, which has just won 2.6GHz SFR has access to nearly 4 million hotspots in being marketed as a mobiel coverage solution. spectrum for the provision of LTE services, France, through its residential neufbox product, It can be plugged in as an "add on" to "most" also this week held an LTE demo in Marseilles and public access points. Its Auto Connect existing DSL routers, and as a USB "click-on" to in collaboration with Nokia Siemens service is intended to enable users to SFR's own Neufbox Evolution product. Networks. The company said it invests €1.5 automatically connect to SFR's WiFi network As well as these femto and WiFi investments, billion annually in its overall network and to switch between 3G or WiFi networks. the operator also continues to expand its infrastructure, which includes a degree of SCR said this would offer a "unique mobile macro network. It said it would have its first fibre backhaul connectivity.

Bouygues pays top amount for French TELIA TO HAVE 231 LTE 2.6Ghz LTE spectrum LOCATIONS by end of 2011 The first part of the auction in France of €228 million Euro for its 15MHz duplex Telia has said that its LTE network in spectrum designated for LTE servces has block. However, it is worth nothing that the Sweden now covers 153 "locations", and seen all four bidders win spectrum and the operators will have made a calculation of the that by the end of 2011 the operator French government exceed its reserve price value of spectrum in alliance with what they wants to have 231 sites with LTE by 33%. intend to bid for in the 800MHz. Broadly coverage. The expansion will see The auction for spectrum in the 2.6GHz speaking, the 800MHz band will provide TeliaSonera move beyond urban areas band saw: wider coverage and will come with service into smaller towns and tourist sites. • Bouygues Telecom allocated 15 MHz, for obligations. The 2.6Ghz band will be better “Our 153 locations is a good start, but which the company bid the sum of suited to smaller-sized cells in urban or only a start. With the surge in mobile €228,011,012 and made a commitment to suburban territories, although its in-building data usage, we will continue to extend host MVNOs on its network. penetration performance will be worse. By and enhance the capacity of our mobile • New entrant Free Mobile allocated 20 bidding the highest, Bouygues will also gain networks to provide our customers with MHz, for which the company bid the sum first consideration from the regulator in the the best online experiences possible,” of €271,000,000 and made a commitment position of its frequency within the 2.6GHz Ulrika Step, head of Mobility Services at to host MVNOs on its network. band. TeliaSonera, said. • Orange France allocated 20 MHz, for which In the coming weeks, ARCEP will issue the Telia said that its LTE network, opened the company bid the sum of €287,118,501 winning candidates with licences to use their in late 2009, offers practical speeds of up and made a commitment to host MVNOs respective frequencies, once it has to 80Mbps. It has also carried out an on its network determined each operator’s position on the upgrade to its 3G network to enable top • SFR allocated 15 MHz, for which the 2.6 GHz band. For this determination, ARCEP theoretical speeds of 32Mbps. Telia also company bid the sum of €150,000,000, and will examine the wishes that each candidate has more than 4,000 WiFi hotspots in did not make a commitment to host has expressed in regard to position, in the Sweden. MVNOs on its network. following order – which corresponds to the See www.telia.se/4g for a complete list The auction therefore raised a total of average mark per 5 MHz duplex: Bouygues of all localities with 4G and planned €936 million – compared to the reserve price Telecom, Orange France, Free Mobile and, locations for the remainder of the year. of €700 million. lastly, SFR. In addition to urban areas continues Telia On a straight price per MHz calculation, The deadline for the second auction stage to expand in smaller towns and more Bouygues has paid the most, by bidding is 15th December 2011. tourist sites.

go to www.mobileeurope.co.uk for the latest mobile news Mobile Europe |7 Sponsored Feature SUPPORTING THE MOVE TO RICHER SERVICES

As major operators move towards deploying services based on the RCS-e specification, Mobile Europe looks at how Ericsson is supporting operators to achieve maximum benefits, and at how one Ericsson customer, Telefónica Group, views the implementation of RCS.

There was some understandable skepticism when, earlier this year, five major European operators announced that through the latter part of 2011, and into 2012, they would launch commercial services based on the Rich Communication Suite (RCS) specifications. RCS delivers evolved and an interoperable communications service, that utilizes existing telecom standards, such as chat and group chat, file transfer and live video share, in one direction. This skepticism was perhaps merited, as the vision of interoperable, enriched communications services has been proposed by some within the operator community for years. There were initial trials of RCS services in France, Italy, Japan and Korea from 2008 through 2010, and they achieved good results in terms of user satisfaction, and operator interoperability. Yet, despite these efforts, real commercial progress never A multi-platform the behalf of operators to move to commercial materialised, as operators struggled with the business messaging experience is deployments. There is a tangible move to become case, but also with grasping the full technical one of the potential much more market focused, as evidenced by several implications of scaling the RCS specifications. benefits of RCS-e. ongoing operator development programmes, in This year’s announcement was different, though, Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. coming as it did on the back of work to redefine RCS specifications, to allow operators to launch services Towards an ecosystem for RCS based on a tighter, enhanced and go-to-market This change of focus has also fostered an outward focused, version of RCS, now called RCS-e. That looking approach, as operators aim to create an progress lead to Telefonica, T-Mobile, Vodafone, ecosystem of compatible clients and applications. This Telecom Italia Mobile and FT-Orange all publicly has lead to the formation of the Rich Communications committing to launching services based on the RCS-e Ecosystem (RCE) project with the GSMA, the industry specification. body that has driven the development of RCS to date. RCE is focused on facilitating device and infrastructure More market focussed availability for RCS-e, by driving go-to-market activities The adoption of RCS-e is likely to see a range of such as interoperability testing (IoT) and support for services being introduced, all flowing from a connected operators. The GSMA says that the RCE project has address book. Key among them will be chat and group gained broad support from leading mobile operators, chat functionality, as well as file transfer and the ability OEMs and client application developers to develop to utilise voice from non-telephony devices, such as new service packages for today's 'always-on' mobile tablets and PCs. users. The principal structural change with RCS-e has been To give an example of this ecosystem-led approach, in the way presence is handled within the network. The the GSMA has launched to the wider market a Request RCS-e specification has taken away the requirement for For Proposals for the selection of RCS-e applications for a network-based presence server, instead handling those smartphone platforms that do not support native service capability detection and information implementation of RCS-e. This could lead to users of distribution within the SIP client on the device. This Android and iOS devices being able to access RCS-e places a much lighter network integration task upon services, even though RCS-e is not supported by a operators, as well as reducing signaling and network native client on the device. load.Yet aside from these technical alterations, the It has also called on vendors and developers to adoption of RCS-e signaled a deeper commitment on provide their support within the standards bodies,

8 | Mobile Europe Sponsored Feature

Developing an ecosystem operators as they plan and specify services, ensuring could enable delivery of RCS compatibility with the standards, and technical services to devices without assurance. Crucially, the company is also leveraging its native RCS support. close relationships with operators to verify and test service interoperability of clients, services and equipment. Operators are on a tight timeline to get to market; therefore they need to work with a partner that they trust, a partner that will enable them to deliver to the market this collection of business-critical services and applications.

RCS – THE OPERATOR VIEW principally the OMA and 3GPP, by participating in IoT Mobile Europe asks Javier Arenzana Arias, Director Rich tests, and by providing commitments to release IoT- Communication Services, Telefónica Group, what advantages an RCS tested equipment within tangible timeframes. Ericsson strategy may deliver – for customers, operators and application partners. is fully committed to enabling this process, and has formed close co-operation with leading operators that Is RCS a consumer service or is it an enabler for other services or is it both? are developing and launching RCS-e services. Instant Messaging, blogs, posts and updates to social networks, tweets… In This is a most important aspect of RCE, as it moves the last few years all these new advanced communication services have become key to the lives of our customers. They account for a continuously growing RCS away from being viewed as a set of service share of the total communications that our customers generate, share and definitions, into an enabler of in-service offerings on receive. Usage from PCs is massive right now, and our clients are increasingly the market.Importantly, this enables operators to both demanding to have the same services available on their mobile devices. interoperate but also differentiate on services, by To remain reference providers of communication services, telcos must exposing APIs to developers and partners, to add new therefore extend their service offering into this advanced communications elements to the core communication services in RCS-e. space. RCS gives us the opportunity to do that, by leveraging the differential One of the barriers to RCS adoption to this point has benefits to customers of our core service model: universality, native/optimised been the worry that operators, driven by the need to usability in any device, and direct availability. These are very valuable attributes ensure interoperability between services and networks, for a mass-market service that the OTT offerings from ISPs won’t provide. would all be delivering the same set of services within a market. An ecosystem approach, which treats RCS-e Will RCS be an operator exclusive community or will it be open for interoperability with OTT players? as an enabler of services, rather than a set of services The way we would position RCS is that it is complementary to the services of itself, has the potential to be a much stronger strategic the ISPs, bringing additional value to the communications space. tool for operators. RCS is designed to be open for interoperability with all agents that want to It also has the potential to give operators a tool to participate in the communications ecosystem, either via service interconnection compete with other providers of enhanced messaging (open standard) or via the open APIs that are being defined. Developers and services – the competitive threat from what are termed ISPs interoperating with RCS will reinforce the value of the universality that Over The Top services – such as Facebook messaging, operators can provide. iMessage from Apple, Blackberry Messenger and Whatsapp. The emergence of these players has been What is the likely impact of introducing RCS services upon SMS and other one of the driving factors behind operator messaging? commitments to delivering RCS-e, and has also served Instant Messaging (IM) services in RCS will act as an enhancement to today’s simple sms/mms messaging, bringing richer functionality and a more to prove the consumer appetite for such services. Yet compelling user experience. This should certainly increase the use of messaging. operators are in a position to go beyond what an individual OS platform, device manufacturer or online How will support for RCS support be introduced in the market on devices: community can offer. Operators have the means to do you envision it being pre-installed on new devices and/or offered as integrate cross-platform interoperability, bringing downloadable for Smartphones, Tablets, PCs and as Web clients? together communities that have remained discreet to The ambition is to get RCS natively integrated in all devices as soon as this date. By ensuring interoperability, operators can possible. Integration by the manufacturer into the UI of handset will ensure also open up these platforms to other application optimum usability and service performance on each device. Nevertheless, developers, taking advantage of a standards-based downloadable RCS applications will also be important to facilitate the rapid approach to reach much wider markets than have propagation of the service into those devices that do not natively support RCS, previously been available to them. such as exist in the current installed base. Application developers and telcos themselves will also be able to offer downloadable apps that introduce new To take these steps, operators need to work with innovative features to the core RCS services, and in that way the value to all companies that can understand their requirements, players in the ecosystem of an interoperable, open-standards approach can be and ensure that they are working within the guideline maximised. specifications and standards. Ericsson works with

Mobile Europe | 9 News Base station tech l Ericsson dominant l Twitter MMS

Ericsson LTE BROADCOM AIMING FOR equipment in INCREASED WIRELESS Sweden INFRASTRUCTURE SHARE Broadcom's acquisition of NetLogic will enable it The company hopes that combining NetLogic's to more than double its addressable market, most digital front end processors with other assets it significantly into the wireless infrastructure and has in the backhaul space would allow it to play a base station markets, Scott McGregor, broader role in the wireless infrastructure market. Ericsson to be Broadcom’s President and CEO, said on an McGregor added that as DSP gets a bigger role in analyst call. base stations, as they evolve to LTE and beyond, "dominant" LTE base McGregor said that the combination of the Broadcom-NetLogic combination would give station provider till Broadcom's switching and routing platforms with it a “significant expansion of the addressable NetLogic's knowledge based and digital front end market in wireless infrastructure”. 2014 would allow the company to address the “BroadCom and NetLogic are currently used in In-Stat has forecast the biggest winners in many of the same platforms, and this proposed the LTE infrastructure market. The research THIS IS AN IMPORTANT NEXT acquisition is an important next step to company is forecasting that the total STEP TO SOMETHING UNIQUE something truly unique in embedded processing number of LTE macro base station — creating highly differentiated digital front end deployments will reach 1.5 million in 2015, concerns of network operators as they deal with solutions for wireless base stations, and best-in- with Ericsson claiming a "dominant" first rapid growth in demands on their networks. class integrated platforms for this segement,” position while Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent “Network operators are struggling with the McGregor said. battle it out for the second spot. number of connected devices on the network and Ron Jankov, NetLogic Microsystems President “Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have become the exploding demand for bandwidth. The need and CEO, added that combining the “leading the early LTE leaders as a result of to handle a wider variety of apps is forcing multicore, knowledge based and digital front end modernisation contracts with Verizon and corporations and operators to use more and faster processors with Broadcom's tools, IP and AT&T. Nokia-Siemens Networks recently switches and increase intelligence by integrating ecosystem” would create, “a complete comms claimed a prestigious contract win with more embedded processors. In the long term our platform solution for customers' next generation Telecom Italia,” said Chris Kissel, Analyst. goal is to combine the multicore front end designs. It will allow us to re-think the positioning “Huawei has won both A1 Telekom and T- NetLogic processors with BroadCom's platforms, of functionality on the platform, the design and Mobile in Austria. Samsung has been to integrate higher bandwidth functionality and footprint.” instrumental in the MetroPCS LTE launch intelligence into one solution, with a lower Broadcom's proposed $3.7 billion acquisition of and will be a major factor in South Korea as integration cost, enhanced system performance NetLogic is due to close in the first half of 2012, their LTE market comes online.” and lower execution risk.” the company said.

FOUR EUROPEAN OPERATORS integrate MMS with Twitter using messaging APIs Subscribers of four European operators now that the Twitter integration was not carried The use cases for using MMS to update have the capability to post photos to their out through any particular partner or Twitter seem limited, however. At the Twitter accounts using MMS, following developer programme, "We just enabled it," moment, users can either upload photos application level integration with Twitter. he said. within dedicated Twitter clients, or from Three UK operators, Vodafone, Orange O2 seem a bit more excited about the use Twitter's own mobile platform. There may and O2 will offer consumers the service, as of its API. Jose Valles, Head of BlueVia, said be scope for those users with feature will Vodafone Italy. in a statement, “We’re very excited about phones to use MMS to update a Twitter O2 said that users would be charged the this new service. Our customers in the UK account. usual MMS rate for sending an MMS to will satisfy a need of tweeting in certain Perhaps of greater importance is that the their Twitter account. UK users will be able specific circumstances and that, we expect, integration with messaging APIs shows that to send photos to Twitter by sending a will help Twitter grow its presence in the these operators are relaxed about opening message to short code 86444. O2 is UK. On the other side, we in BlueVia are access to a third party messaging platform, enabling the service integration through its slooking forward to spread this service to and in doing so turn MMS from a peer-to- BlueVia API. A Vodafone spokesperson said the whole footprint of Telefónica.” peer to a peer-to-app service.

10 | Mobile Europe News l Telco innovation l TELEFONICA WORKING WITH LAYAR ON IRIS AR PROJECT

Layar, a provider of mobile augmented reality develop a service that provides information (AR) technology, has entered into a strategic related to an object just by taking a picture of partnership with Telefonica I+D to provide it it. The object needs no special packaging, tag with its Visual Search Technology: IRIS. Visual or marker. For this objective, Telefónica I+D has Search enables Layar to search through millions developed and patented proprietary visual of images to identify these images and correctly recognition technology. This technology augment them on the mobile phone resulting enables the identification of objects such as in a more intuitive user experience. supermarket products, logos, posters, or Visual Search is a key component in the paintings among others. The collaboration of delivery of vision based Augmented Reality services to end-users. It makes it possible for EMPOWERING LAYAR WAS A real world objects to work as identifiers and/or NATURAL STEP hyperlinks for augmented reality experiences. Layar is adding IRIS Visual Search capability to this project with Layar is framed within the Layar UI their Layar Reality Browser, making it Open Innovation initiative of Telefónica I+D. that we were building. Our visual recognition significantly easier for users to discover relevant David Marimon, Initiative Leader at engine is a ground breaking technology Augmented Reality content. Telefonica I+D, said, “When we started our delivered to users. Empowering Layar with this The goal of Telefonica's IRIS project is to collaboration, we immediately saw the synergy technology was a natural step.”

go to www.mobileeurope.co.uk for the latest mobile news Mobile Europe |11 Backhaul News UK Gig-E backhaul l Huawei gains VIRGIN MEDIA BUSINESS SIGNS £100M GIG-E BACKHAUL DEAL WITH MBNL PACKET OPTICAL WIN FOR TRANSMODE

Mobile Broadband Network Ltd (MBNL), the said, “Mobile data and the increase in Transmode’s CEO, company that operates the 3G network used smartphone usage is a big growth opportunity Karl Thedeen. by Everthing Everywhere and Three UK, has for us. Connecting our end users to the online signed an eight year, £100 million deal to world, from any location and from any device upgrade their backhaul network. is at the heart of what we do. Working MBNL has signed a deal with Virgin Media together with Virgin Media Business, the first Business (VMB) which will see it become the company in the market to offer this first customer for VMB’s Sync-E solution. The synchronous Gigabit Ethernet service, we will contract will see VMB build 14 regional be able to scale for future demand.” aggregation networks across the UK to VMB’s service is built on technology from enhance MBNL’s bandwidth capacity. A Transmode. Transmode said that it estimates statement said the deployment would be the that the new contract is worth up to SEK150 performance than alternative solutions in the UK’s only synchronous Ethernet mobile million in 2011 and 2012 and that deliveries market”. backhaul service. The first phase of deployment will begin in the third quarter 2011. “Analysts estimate that by 2015 globally will see MBNL have access to a 1 Gigabit per The dedicated networks will rely on there will be a ten-fold increase to more than second (Gbps) Ethernet service to meet Transmode’s Native Packet Optical two million fibre-connected base stations. We growing mobile data demand. architecture, including the recently-launched believe that this is one of the biggest packet- EE and Three have 35.2 million customers Layer 2 Ethernet Muxponder family. Ethernet optical based mobile backhaul projects in between them, and are faced with same the services will be provided from the mobile Europe and it will provide Virgin Media priorities that all mobile operators are in operators’ core node locations right through to Business with a state-of-the-art platform for dealing with the growth in mobile data on the the operator’s cell sites. Transmode said the their Sync-E enabled, Gigabit Ethernet mobile dowlink and uplink. service would enable VMB to provide “highly backhaul services,” said Karl Thedeen, Chief Graham Payne, Managing Director, MBNL, flexible services with better synchronisation Executive Officer at Transmode.

INFONETICS FINDS HUAWEI BIGGEST GAINER in microwave market Revenue gains in Ethernet and hybrid Equipment vendor market share and forecast • Revenue from Ethernet microwave TDM/Ethernet microwave equipment sales report also found that: equipment surpassed that of TDM failed to offset price erosion across most • The need for enhanced mobile backhaul microwave in 2010, and is expected to microwave market segments, leading to a bandwidth will continue to drive the overtake hybrid TDM/Ethernet microwave 2.4% rise in the overall microwave Ethernet microwave equipment market equipment by 2014 equipment market in 2Q 2011, according to • In preparation for the expected need for Infonetics also carried out a survey of 21 research firm Infonetics. denser on-the-street cell topologies in 4G operators asking them about their The total market reached $1.3 billion networks, small cell backhaul solutions are deployment plans for its report, Microwave worldwide for the quarter, Infonetics already coming to the microwave Strategies and Vendor Leadership: Global Service Research said, with Ericsson and NEC the equipment market, sporting all-outdoor Provider Survey. leaders by market share, and Huawei pushing 'zero footprint' lower power form factors “For operators, customer support is the key into third place with a growth of 90% by • Microwave equipment vendors are way to differentiate from the pack. revenue. All three are now separated by just emphasizing new higher-capacity products, Technology is important, and vendors love to one point market share, Infonetics said. The with several vendors now claiming 1G+ talk about new product features. But this analyst attributed Huawei's succes to “the capacity links does not always align with the way in which considerable amount of higher-spectrum • Between 2011 and 2012, global shipments their customers assess vendors. To operators, microwave gear they sell, particularly 23- and of Ethernet microwave radio equipment are a vendor that can build a lasting relationship 38-GHz equipment, and to leveraging their forecast to double, while TDM microwave with them, based on strong service and contracts with their mobile RAN and optical gear will continue its inexorable decline, support, will most likely win the purchase equipment customers.” and the decline of hybrid TDM/Ethernet decision,” said Richard Webb, directing Infonetics Research's Microwave microwave gear will accelerate analyst for microwave at Infonetics Research.

12 | Mobile Europe Payments News Tipping point l Buyster launches

MONITISE BENEFITS from mobile money "tipping point" I Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint have announced and Mobile banking and payments company exceeding £160 million. demonstrated Google Wallet. Available Monitise has hailed its latest financial results Monitise reported a loss for the year of in the USA for now, the service uses NFC- as evidence of a “breakthrough year” for the £14.5 million (2010: £16.8 million), a loss per enabled phones and payment terminals company. share of 2.1p (2010: 3.7p). It expects to to enable users to pay for items using CEO Alistair Lukies said that the mobile break even credit cards encapsulated on their money space has reached “its own tipping in the phones. With the service still in trial point” as the global demand for mobile calendar phase, Google has invited additional banking, payments and commerce takes off. year 2013. issuing banks, payment networks, mobile carriers, handset manufacturers, point of This momentum has driven revenues at Monitise sale systems companies and merchants Monitise up 133% from £6 million in 2010 has a to join the initiative. to $14 million in 2011, for the year ended strategic

30 June. agreement I Accumulate and PayPal will work The company reported that platform with Visa jointly on mobile services projects for development and integration revenues were Europe to the Swedish local market, based on up fourfold on 2010 reaching £6 million. develop and supply mobile payments Accumulate’s award winning security User generated revenues accounted for services for Visa Europe's 4,600 member platform Mobile Everywhere. ”The £6.3m, more than more than double the banks and financial institutions across 36 agreement is great news and we look previous year. countries. It also has a five-year agreement forward to partnering with PayPal and The company says it now processes with RBS Group, announced August 2011, to to support the innovative mobile services based on our technology”, says Stefan more than 10 million mobile banking broaden mobile banking and payments Hultberg, CEO of Accumulate. transactions a month, with a value services. OPERATOR-BACKED PAYPAL RIVAL LAUNCHES IN FRANCE Buyster, a payment institution regarded as a enter the code, authenticating them for Bouygues Telecom, BrandAlley, But, Camaïeu, rival to Paypal and co-owned by Orange, SFR, payment. Cariboom, Darty, Easy Fichiers, Feu Vert, Bouygues Telecom and Atos Origin, will begin The operators said that they will market the reenWeez, Jennyfer, Kiabi, La Boutique commercial operations in France on 13 solution to their combined user base of 50 Officielle, Monde Bio, National Change, September. million subscribers as well as e-tailers. Buyster Orange, Partouche, RazWar, RueDuCommerce, "MCOMMERCE FINALLY said that its systems would provide retailers Rue Du Tee Shirt, SFR, Spartoo, Surcouf, with an improved conversion rate thanks to its Téléthon, Ubaldi. BECOMES ACCESSIBLE" ease of use in particular for mobile phone The operators and Atos announced their CLAIMS BUYSTER purchases. The mobile phone also offers intention to form a payment institution in stronger authentication and reduces the risk of February 2011, saying they were aiming for a Buyster is an online and remote payment chargeback. mid-2011 service launch. solution that will allow users to buy without Buyster said in a statement that it is already disclosing their bank details over the phone or supported by ten partners forming an I Paypal has announced in-store mobile internet. The ambition for Buyster is for it to ecosystem that can reach almost 30,000 e- payments technologies that do not require NFC become a key payment player in eCommerce retailers. The partners are: in PoS terminals or phones. The intention is to and the leader in mCommerce in France. • Payment service platforms: Mercanet, Paybox, let a user enter a telephone number and a A statement from Buyster made the claim Payline and Sips personal identification number and the amount that “mCommerce finally becomes accessible • e-Commerce platforms: Store Factory and will be charged to a bank account or card thanks to a unique operating mechanism on Wizishop associated with the number. PayPal added that the market”. • Publishers and agencies: Baobaz, eDecision, it also plans to issue a plastic card at the point Users that register for the service will have Kapsicum, Prestashop and Think And Go. of sale. There is also an intention to emnable their bank account associated with their mobile E-retailers who will be connected from 13 users to scan items in-store using a barcode, phone number and will be provided with a September include 4 Pieds, AchatDesign, Ada, pay through Paypal and then exit the store security code. When they buy an item they Allopneus, Aquarelle, Barrière Poker, Boulanger, without needing to queue at a till.

go to www.mobileeurope.co.uk for the latest mobile news Mobile Europe |13 BSS/OSS News Telefonica Spain l Fizzback l Orange Switzerland TELEFONICA DOUBLES REDKNEE INVESTMENT FOR PRECISION TARIFF ANALYSIS Telefonica Spain is doubling its investment in Historically there has been sufficient room in the pricing analysis technology from Redknee, to market so that precision wasn’t necessarily the allow it to generate more precise business operating word.” intelligence about its business and consumer That has changed, however, and operators are customer segments. under greater pressure to identify new customer segments, and address those with the most PRECISION BECOMES efficient and profitable tariffs and bundles. MUCH MORE IMPORTANT “We see Price Simulator as a really great way to have a very specific ability added to the operator’s business which then ties into both Redknee CEO Lucas Skoczkowski said that he marketing and finance roles in the organisation.” also expects to see other Telefonica properties in last year, adding customer segements and “When we run reports we not only allow our Europe and Latin America step up their increased funtionalities to Redknee's Price customers to understand how profitable investment in Redknee’s products and services. Simulator package. segments are but also how that compares to all Redknee’s other Spanish customers – Vodafone, Explaining this rising interest in detailed other tariffs from their competitors in that Orange and KPN – are already in active customer analysis, such as that performed by market. That means you can say not only if a discussions to do so, Skoczkowski added. Redknee’s Price Simulator package, Skoczkowski tariff is likely to be good for you as a business, Redknee founded its presence in Spain said, “Operators are looking to drive a lot higher but you can use it to differentiate, and be sure through the acquisition last year of Madrid-based efficiency, and more understanding, of how to you have a chance to be successful in a Nimbus Systems for €11.25 million. The software best tailor their businesses to extract more value segment,” Skoczkowski said. vendor said that Telefonica Spain will spend from each of their customer segments: so For more, see www.mobileeurope.co.uk/ double the amount with it this year compared to precision becomes much more important. news/news-analysis/8920

NICE BUYS FIZZBACK FOR $80 MILLION Orange selects Investor hails more than five times return on exit CustVox for Swiss

CEM service provider Fizzback, which feedback responses annually. CEM operations counts BT, Virgin Media, T-Mobile, Zeevi Bregman, President and CEO of CustVox has been selected by France Telecom Carphone Warehouse and Meteor NICE explained the acquisition, said, to deliver a multi-lingual Customer Experience amongst its customers, has been bought “With the addition of Fizzback, NICE is Management platform for its Swiss affiliate, by NICE for $80 million. expanding the scope of its capabilities by Orange. The acquisition will combine Fizzback's introducing a Customer Experience CustVox said that the agreement would customer response software service — Management solution with the most significantly improve customer loyalty and termed Voice of the Customer — with complete Voice of the Customer offering. share of wallet for the telecom giant. NICE's customer analytics capability. This enables our customers to more The decision to pick CustVox came after a Fizzback offers its Voice of the effectively capture, understand and six-months pilot. After two months using a Customer product on a SaaS basis. The leverage VoC as the foundation to a CustVox "out of box" solution, Orange was service sends consumers requests for cross-enterprise CEM strategy.” able to identify and target customers who feedback relating to a specific interaction Mike Chalfen, of private equity were extremely unsatisfied early in the or transaction via mobile, web or social investor Advent Tech, said in a Twitter lifecycle. In nearly 55% of the cases they were media. The customer feedback (or post that his company had made “overall able to improve their satisfaction. Fizzback) is then analysed by the system 6x our money” through the exit. He The rollout will begin immediately to to determine a relevant response. The added that the sale would also give support France Telecom's goal to position company's lead investor said that it Fizzback “big distribution” for its SaaS Orange as the ”Best loved communication currently generates 150 million of these based solution. brand” in the market.

14 | Mobile Europe News Feature l traffic management l TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT TAKES CENTRAL STAGE Bytemobile has launched a new product line, sit behind that and optimise the content. monitor real time analytics on the platform, the T3100 Adaptive Traffic Manager, which it is Where we differentiate that we inspect the track a user and get a view in real time of how marketing as an integrated solution to enable content, and that allows us to understand and much stalling there is, how quick a page is operators to gain access to real time intelligence manipulate the content, largely to deliver a downloading in reference to other benchmarks, on network conditions and user experiences, better user experience. The benefits of that, and and come up with an index. Based on that and take traffic management decisions the main focus of the value proposition, is the running index we then apply traffic accordingly. amount of data it reduces in the downstream management policy in a real adaptive fashion. By collapsing DPI, load balancing, caching network, creating a less congested network Because we control each and every packet of and optimisation capabilities into one element, where more users can get on and enjoy the data each and every flow we are able to do it Bytemobile says it is creating a new class of services. adaptively during the session. network component. The idea is that operators The benefit of what we do from an operator have a way to react to live events, and ensure Ronny Haraldsvik: perspective is that they have a far better the user experience, as data traffic volumes By leveraging the insight of being able to see paradigm of being able to tariff. This is a increase in next generation mobile networks. By everything that’s going on, we can bring that contentious area. Today their segmentation doing so, they could also create new together into one platform that no-one else can paradigms are pretty basic, and mostly volume monetisation opportunites. Bytemobile sees do. So sitting at that Layer6-7 level gives us a based. Moving forward they could break out of 4G/LTE as the inflection point for the unique advantage. that model. introduction of these solutions, and says that the It’s a lot easier to go down the OSI stack than need for traffic management solutions has it is to go back up again, so we have a unique We have seen a number of vendors putting caught the big equipment manufacturers on the situation where the DPI people and the GGSN together a policy-optimisation-traffic hop. guys are at L2-3-4-5, but they do very little with management portfolio, whether that’s Keith Dyer spoke to Ronny Haraldsvik, Vice the content. They can see what the packet is coming at it through acquisition, like Amdocs President, Global Marketing, and Jeff Sanderson, and where it’s headed and that’s it, they don’t and Bridgewater, or through partnership as Senior Director of Product Marketing (Adaptive follow the flow, etc. They’re trying to go up the with Vantrixx and Ericsson, or Juniper and Traffic Management), Bytemobile. They stack now, and looking at “how do we do Openwave. explained the thinking behind the design and optimisation, what else can we do?” But rather development of the T3100 series, what operator than inserting more network elements into the Ronny Haraldvisk: needs it meets, and how they expect the architecture we’re collapsing them and bringing The shift in traffic, where it’s headed, over the competition to react. them together. past 12 months completely took NEPs by surprise. They have standard elements, yet lo What is the T3100 about, how is it different What are the benefits of that collapsed, and behold these non-standard elements are from your current Unison optimisation integrated approach? now taking control of traffic, and helping approach? operators mitigate the effects of this onslaught Jeff Sanderson: of traffic. No-one has this fully – Cisco has DPI Jeff Sanderson: What we don’t do today in Unison is extend and they are saying anything can be done on We are taking what we do today and making our field of vision to look at all the applications; the GGSN. We know better and operators know sure that we are moving forward with the so as a subscriber on your laptop connected to better. That’s why we see these announcements evolution of mobile networks — to try and the mobile internet you probably have other that are more or less trying to cobble together manage the capacity crunch by creating a more multiple applications open at the same time as the GGSN with some optimisation and portfolio holistic approach to the traffic management you’re watching a video. stuff. It’s not taking a holistic view of traffic problem. So by opening up our field of vision we can management, it’s a reaction. Traffic management for operators tends to be make assessments based on network conditions This all related to what’s going on in the a pretty fragmented approach today. They’re plus all the other applications you are using. So network, where the traffic pattern has shifted doing some specific DPI at certain points in the we can start to make wiser judgements on how and operators need more intelligence and network, either standalone or integrated into we can deliver a better UE to you. insight. I would not be surprised if a month components like the GGSN, and they create an So for example we could put some level of from now another adaptive traffic management enforcement point for being able to control the restriction on downloading an attachment to solution is announced. logical pipe a subscriber can get access to in your PC, to give a bit of a boost to a real time Read the full interview at: terms of throughput and so forth. We typically application such as video. The way we do it is to mobileeurope.co.uk/news/news-analysis/8911.

go to www.mobileeurope.co.uk for the latest mobile news Mobile Europe |15 Advertorial Samsung

HOW CAN OPERATORS MEET THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR MOBILE DATA WHILE REDUCING CAPEX AND OPEX?

While Smartphones are driving the need for network capacity expansion, network operators are targeted with reducing CapEx and OpEx budgets.

The introduction of Smartphones has seen enormous take-up amongst business users and consumers. Smartphones represented 23% of all active handsets in Western Europe in 2010. They will account for more than half by 2014, and will have reached 72% by 2016 (see Figure 1). However the implications for the operators are far reaching as the mobile data explosion puts enormous strain on the operators existing 3G networks. Operators around the world are all facing an exponential growth in data traffic as a result of the rapid uptake in Smartphones. This has led to cell splitting and additional cells being deployed to handle the dramatic increase in data traffic. However, an increase in the number of cells in an urban environment results in smaller cell sizes and reduced performance due to inter-cell interference and thus operators face rising Figure 2: Average Data 3G networks were not designed for heavy data usage and OPEX costs to manage a large number of cell Traffic per Subscriber are now creaking under the load. What’s more, data configuration changes, and a subsequent cell [Source: Korea Telecom, network performance becomes a key issue for operators as optimisation, without fully meeting the capacity SK Telecom, 2011] users develop higher expectations and churn to alternative requirements. networks that can better support their data consumption As seen in Figure 2, smart devices have produced a needs. huge mobile data traffic increase, which has reached Figure 1: Active handsets more than 1 Giga Byte per subscriber per month in by type in Western IS INCREASED CELL COUNT THE SOLUTION? Korea. Europe [Source: Analysis To deal with exponentially growing traffic, some operators Mason, 2011] have split existing cells or adopted small cells. However, increasing the number of cells while reducing their size in an urban environment results in lower performance due to increased inter-cell interference. Additionally, on top of having to invest additional CapEx, operators face rising OpEx from the configuration and optimization of an increasing number of cell sites, without fully meeting the capacity requirements. So, whilst additional cells provide additional capacity they also introduce the unwanted factors of increased interference, CapEx and OpEx.

THE OFDMA PARADIGM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) technology is playing a key role to solve current network issues in the mobile broadband era, because OFDMA can deliver better peak and average spectral efficiency. OFDMA technology is a key component of LTE and WiFi networks.

16 | Mobile Europe Advertorial Samsung

IS WI-FI THE SOLUTION? Wi-Fi was introduced back in the early nineties as the first way to access the internet wirelessly. Its benefits include less cost, time and space to deploy. In addition, Wi-Fi chipsets are inexpensive, which has led to many mobile devices including Smartphones and laptops being able to connect wirelessly to the Internet via Wi-Fi. According to the Wi-Fi alliance, about 800 million new Wi-Fi devices are introduced every year. However, because the Wi-Fi spectrum is unregulated and open to all, Wi-Fi access points proliferate and compete for the same small piece of spectrum. As a result, interference levels increase and network increasing number of cell sites, without fully meeting the capacity requirements. So, whilst additional cells provide additional capacity they also introduce the unwanted factors of increased interference, CapEx and OpEx. Figure 3: Average Active February 2011. This solution dramatically reduces OPEX IS LTE THE SOLUTION? Users per Cell over Time and and CAPEX by reducing several cell sites into a centralized LTE, the latest standard in 3GPP focuses on adopting Effected by Cell Splitting one. With easy installation and self-optimization, 4G mobile communication technology through an all-IP [Source: Samsung, 2011] Centralized Base Station drastically lowers CAPEX and flat networking architecture. OPEX for network operator while providing all the same LTE is expected to play a key role in solving current Smart LTE advantages. network capacity issues, because it can deliver better Samsung is also committed to minimize inter-cell spectral efficiency. interference for Heterogeneous Networks, to enhance cell Since the world's first available LTE-service was edge throughput and average cell throughput. launched by TeliaSonera in Sweden in 2009, 218 mobile Commercial Heterogeneous networks comprising macro- network operators in 81 countries have announced their cells and small-cells with Samsung’s Smart LTE technology commitment to this technology. The number of LTE will be commercialized in 2012. subscribers is expected to grow rapidly as operators and manufacturers work together to build up the LTE CONCLUSION ecosystem. Increased data demand is a reality for today’s mobile However, it is not enough to just adopt LTE technology network operators and the speed and quality of data to handle increased mobile data traffic. Now is the time access is increasingly a key differentiator for the consumer. for operators to embrace mobile networks that minimize The 3G networks are straining both from the data the risks of inter-cell interference and excessive network demand and also the associated signalling requirements. management cost, as well as networks that guarantee Operators not only need to plan their migration to LTE higher performance in a cost-efficient way. Such LTE as a matter of urgency but they also need to carefully technology is available now in the form of Smart LTE consider their LTE network architecture; maximising the Solutions from Samsung. benefits offered by infrastructure vendors and deploying the most appropriate options in the macro, micro/pico THE SOLUTION: SMART LTE and femto layers. After providing the first commercial LTE network in USA Careful selection of the right Smart LTE Solution can in September 2010, Samsung has developed an advanced provide operators with improvements in incremental solution for supporting unprecedented network data CapEx, OpEx and the user experience, therefore ensuring traffic needs. Aptly called Smart LTE, it offers benefits the satisfaction of both the CFO and the end customer. unimaginable with traditional LTE deployments. Smart LTE hosts a unique air resource management function and For more information, visit guarantees dramatic increase in coverage and capacity. http://www.samsungnetwork.com This results in a huge reduction in the number of required cell sites, leading to reduction in CAPEX and OPEX for the operator. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Thompson is responsible The latest offering within Smart LTE, the Centralized for the Sales & Marketing of Samsung LTE Solutions Bank Base Station, is to be rolled out in Korea at the end throughout Europe. Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of this year (2011). Based on a close collaboration with a of Sales & Marketing Managers (FinstSMM). leading operator, Samsung unveiled this innovative solution at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in

Mobile Europe | 17

MOBILE EUROPEINSIGHT REPORT

The LTE Generation: SMALLER AND CLOUDIER

REPORT SPONSORS: CONTENTS:

P14 Foreword

P15 Introduction

P15 Small cell drivers

P16 Heterogenous Networks

P18 Son at first, cloudy later

P19 Small cell backhaul

P20 Vendor updates INSIGHT REPORT EDITOR’S FOREWORD

Keith Dyer introduces this issue’s Insight Report, and traces the course of a network evolution that looks set to take networks smaller, and change the architecture of the networks themselves.

The aim of LTE — to provider higher capacities with lower cost of operation — has brought with it the need for the Heterogenous Network; small cells layered with the macro network, working together to provide coverage and capacity. The fact that LTE looks like it might work better, or be more spectrally efficient, where small cells operate with large cells in shared spectrum has led many operators to assume they will deploy, at some point, a small cell strategy for LTE. In turn this creates a need for SON capabilities, so that networks can work without interference and disruption, and with handover of sessions and calls between small and macro cells. It also creates a different vision for backhaul. Finally, it has fostered another approach, active intelligent antenna with integrated radio, and plans to pool baseband processing power – the Cloud RAN.

This vision is being drawn from two ends of a continuous line. Put crudely, the femtocell players, who already have SON elements designed in, and of course low price points and low power operation, address this from the bottom end. The major equipment NEPs, with on or two notable exceptions, have started to address this from the other side – by integrating small cells within an overall architecture in LTE, using the SON standards that are written into LTE standards at 3GPP. And they have started to go further, to iterate a vision of a network that makes the most of centralised processing power, the Cloud RAN.

This report, drawn together by a Mobile Europe team from a variety of sources, after many conversations, after input from many commentators, is intended to trace the rationale for these two main changes in network design, to put into context the challenges that will need to be overcome, and to guid the reader through the headline strategies of the main players addressing the opportunity. Where we mention specific company names, it is often as a means to illustrate wider market developments, and it should not be assumed these are the only companies active in a certain field, or that any specific endorsement is intended.

We have found this an interesting and fruitful report to compile and hope you find value this latest Insight Report from Mobile Europe.

Keith Dyer, Editor, Mobile Europe

20 | Mobile Europe Insight Report INSIGHT REPORT INTRODUCTION

he move to imagining a operation and have been for years, appear. Apart from outdoor small cells reformed mobile network outdoor picocells are undergoing operator having a role in urban areas, they also T architecture starts with trials, with several companies focusing have a role in rural and suburban areas accepting the logic that smaller cells, no their attention on alternatives that are where zoning restrictions prevent macro matter what terminology you apply — designed to be lower cost and easier-to- tower deployments.Yet the potential pico, metro femto, femto — will have to deploy. These outdoor picocells require network of the future, with thousands of play a greater role in mobile network little of the permissions and supporting small sites dotted into a macro network in deployments. Despite concerted moves to plant of macro-base stations. They can shared spectrum, has raised another find a “happy medium” spectrum range plug onto utility poles, lamp-posts, and possibility. For the most cost-efficient between the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, rooftops, sharing power supplies from deployment and operation, vendors and with re-farmed 1800MHz spectrum the cable plant, for example. That then raises operators are considering an approach favourite LTE target of many operators, the question of how traffic will be that centralises network intelligence, there is now growing, if not quite backhauled from a multitude of sites — pooling what would have once been universal, acceptance that small cells will an area identified as a major challenge by processing power dedicated to the base increasingly be deployed to provide spot ABI — with the candidates being fibre, station, and sharing it across a collection coverage and capacity in a range of copper, microwave, E-band, and point-to- of smaller sites, each of which are outdoor environments. multipoint microwave. equipped with more intelligent, active ABI Research states that the outdoor ABI thinks that operators are likely to antennas. picocell market, which it characterises as start with identifying specific ‘hot sites’ in This vision, for want of a better word, is still in the early stages of development, is congested metro areas, and start using known as the Cloud RAN. This report projected to reach $8 billion in global outdoor picocells to alleviate capacity traces that journey, looks at the revenues by 2016.Indeed, ABI points out demand. Metro areas aren’t the only challenges it presents, and at the offerings that while many outdoor microcells are in places where small cells are expected to of the major companies driving the vision. SMALL CELL DRIVERS

n an IP/Ethernet and small cell example, has said publicly that DoCoMo I backhaul survey carried out in would have 35,000 eNodeB’s by the end 2011 by Infonetics, 58% of of 2014, many of them providing the operators that the analyst firm coverage over no more than 100-200 interviewed said they would deploy small metres. cells (microcells and picocells) by the end There is an apparent link between LTE of 2011, with 68% planning to in the deployment and increasing small cell future. Infonetics took this as a clear deployment. Although some operators indication that small cells are a growing worry that deploying large numbers of small cells are interleaved with macro part of a total coverage/capacity/quality LTE sites will bring with it increased costs layers. Telefonica has presented results of strategy for mobile broadband networks. in terms of new antenna lines, backhaul trials in Spain which appeared to show With LTE still an emerging technology, and network management, there is also that optimum performance was actually only 5% of respondents said that they evidence that LTE networks will operate achieved when small cells and macro would have deployed LTE at optimum spectral efficiency where cells operated together in shared, non- microcells/picocells within 2011, yet the partitioned, spectrum. Telefonica’s radio scope for growth is shown in the fact manager, Jaime LLuch, said that results that 37% more plan to deploy in 2012 Telefonica’s results were were showing that with cell sizes three or later. So although we are still very showing that with cell sizes times smaller, or for three times the early in the game for LTE number of cells, Telefonica was achieving microcells/picocells, there seems cause to three times smaller, or for three seven times the capacity. This involved a believe that as licenses are awarded and times the number of cells, spectrum sharing strategy, where 20MHz spectrum dedicated for LTE becomes Telefonica was achieving seven was shared between macro and micro available, the growth in small cell layers. This enabled Telefonica to target deployment will follow. NTT DoCoMo’s times the capacity. very precise traffic locations, using SVP of R&D Strategy Seizo Onoe, for clusters of cells to see huge capacity

Mobile Europe Insight Report |21 INSIGHT REPORT

increases. The optimised location of This need for targeted, location-specific micro versus using existing macros sites This small cell performance capacity solutions, operating in harness gave 40-50% better throughput per boost could be crucial to mobile with macro layer cells, forms the chief average user, Lluch reported. driver for small cell LTE deployment. This small cell performance boost could operator tasked with With this demand comes a number of be crucial to mobile operators. Operators differentiating on network challenges; around interference are of course tasked with differentiating speeds and quality of service management, deployment, backhaul, the on network speeds, and the sorts of need for new antenna lines. But it has offers they can make users – perhaps also led to the creation of a new based on location, time of day, traffic target increased capacity and coverage orthodoxy in the industry, the concept of type, and quality of service. Being able to very precisely is attractive. the heterogenous network. HETEROGENOUS NETWORKS

Certainly the big vendors have innovative cube design that packs a with LTE release dates. This could encouraged the new orthodoxy of the large punch in a very small glove. compromise HetNet plans, although HetNet. Ericsson, which doesn’t market Huawei and ZTE have both others are viewing it as an opportunity. anything called a femtocell, is announced a focus on ever-smaller One such is Wazco, a company that committed to the HetNet, or the microcells, with ZTE also making an has teamed with Interphase, AirHop heterogenous network, as the dominant announcement that it too would follow Communications and DataSoft to market strategy for its mobeil broadband a Cloud RAN strategy. Nokia Siemens an LTE, small cell called the MetroStorm. network operator customers. As part of Networks recently announced Liquid Dubbed “LTE in a Streetlamp”, that strategy it has announced its Radio, and its overall cloud network Wazco’s introduced MetroStorm is a Antenna Integrated Radio, marking it as concept, Liquid Net, which uses multi-sector, high- small base station for a key step on the road to the distributed antennae and virtualised the LTE mobile-infrastructure market integrated, multi-sized network. In baseband processing to provide a that allies the ability to mount the unit January this year Alcatel-Lucent highly distributed architecture built on streelights and power poles with self- announced a miniature base station around small cells and miniature base- organizing, self-optimiszing, elements. LTE in operation in Sweden called lightRadio – a stylistically station designs. In fact, most of the dedicated femto Allied to these efforts are those of the players see SON, and advanced dedicated femto vendors, those who are interference management, as a natural approaching the small cell opportunity advantage in the outdoor small cell from the other end of the size chart – market over their macro rivals. looking at a scaling up of capacities, So Ubiquisy, for example, is one whilst retaining the built in SON and dedicated small cell company that management capabilities of their announced an agreement with Texas products. Instruments to create small cells that will Any HetNet strategy will succeed or combine TI's infrastructure solutions fail on the ability of operators to with Ubiquisys' adaptive and self- manage this collection of small cells organizing capabilities to deliver what within their existing network Ubiquisys calls an adaptive small cell. management and operating tools. Small The two companies plan to bring to cells will need to be as “low touch” as market a range of dual-mode possible for operators. They will need to WCDMA/LTE small cells for public-space be easy to locate, either for regulatory or and metro environments. The first network management reasons, and will products are expected during the first have to manage neighbouring cell half of 2012. relations to cause minimum interference. Although SON elements are specified Heterogenous networks — those with within 3GPP LTE standards, the delivery small and macro cells — will be part of of SON within networks is being seen 3GPP Release 10 of the LTE standard, as a market differentiator by equipment but some are warning network vendors, many of whom have launched equipment with the required dedicated SON programmes - interference management and hand-off something that becomes vital in the support will not be available in time HetNet.

22 | Mobile Europe Insight Report

INSIGHT REPORT FORECASTS: SON AT FIRST, CLOUDY LATER

o Heterogeneous Networks in automated femto derived metro cell play” while operating very efficiently. (HetNets) composed of a deployments,” he said. Indeed, Donoso Donoso’s view is that femto cell vendors S combincation of macro cells, and Maravedis think SON support is are, overall, more mature in developing small cells, and/or “Cloud RAN” essential to success. “Adding the massive the automated deployment and distributed base stations look set to form number of base stations required in the operation features that small cell the future of mobile wireless networks. future will demand sophisticated and networks will require. Mravedis expects Research company Maravedis says that effective auto-configuration and auto- both pico cells and carrier metro cells to the small cell market will, as a result, optimization capabilities to minimize become fully proven, complete solutions begin to show real growth in 2012, and deployment and operational costs" said in the short to medium term, while reach up to $5 billion by 2014. So of the increasing SoC sophistication and cost two strategies developed to meet meet effectiveness drives down costs for both operators' need for the HetNet – small So who will provide the types of solutions. base stations, or distributed intelligent dominant technology for small So who will provide the dominant antennas, which is likely to meet more technology for small cell deployments? success? Maravedis’ Fernando Donoso cell deployments? That may That may depend on the overall speed of pointed out in a recent article that major depend on the overall speed of take-up of LTE. Maravedis forecasts that a network vendors are offering macro cell take-up of LTE. rapid take off of the LTE market and small derived pico cells. cell deployments will tend to favour the metro cell and carrier Wi-Fi providers. On the other hand, a slower take off of the LTE market will favour the Tier-1 incumbent vendors who have folded small cells into their mainstream product offers. Donoso points out that carrier Wi- Fi vendors are also growing quickly and have scored some impressive contract awards with Tier-1 carriers. If the femto cell vendors falter in their promise of hassle-free automated deployment, carrier Wi-Fi vendors could take over a substantial portion of the small cell market, leaving the Tier-1 vendors to provide the larger pico cell equipment. In short, Maravedis sees carrier Wi-Fi, carrier femto and pico cells co-existing as complimentary technologies not only in the short term but in the long, with “Tier-2 vendors (plus Alcatel-Lucent) Fernando Donoso, Maravedis Senior anticipated future advances in silicon are offering femto cell derived small cells Analyst. breaking down the distinctions between (also known as carrier femto cells or “A vendor's SON suite, Network carrier femto cells and pico cells in two to carrier metro cells). Both technologies Management System (NMS), and OSS three years. represent deployable small cell solutions integration capabilities are likely to The adoption of the Cloud RAN model for mobile network traffic. However, both become more important to the success of looks set to be a fair way further out. This carrier pico cells and carrier metro cells the solution than the actual small cell is mainly because many of these have trade-offs at this time:Macro derived device.” approaches are still on the drawing pico cells are more expensive, larger Huawei, for example, has developed a board, designware rather than hardware format, and have higher power feature called SingleSON (single self or software. Yet the the move to smaller consumption than femto derived metro optimising network), which extends their cells, integrated into macro networks, cells. SON support for macro derived pico SON capability developed for LTE to with self organising and self optimising cells as well as their deployment operate with 3G and GSM too. This capabilities need not preclude to move to automation features parallel existing automatically reconfigures and tunes the a Cloud RAN. Indeed, in some ways it macro cells functionality. There is still a network to match demand and the lays the groundwork, by preparing lack of clarity concerning whether environment. From their viewpoint, network planners for a more radical interference can be adequately managed cellsites must be simple to install "plug and shake-up of network architectures.

24 | Mobile Europe Insight Report INSIGHT REPORT SMALL CELL BACKHAUL

here is, however, a major cost, Ethernet/IP support, and capacity. ABI challenge for operators Research says that by 2016, an estimated T thinking of deploying networks 58% of outdoor small cells will be composed of small cells, carrier WiFi and backhauled using wireless techniques. remote antenna: how to deploy the While fiber, copper, and traditional required backhaul. microwave are currently being used to A shift to flatter IP-centric architecture backhaul rooftop micro base stations, the brings new cell site topologies as operators emergence of wireless technologies like migrate to LTE. This means that macro NLOS OFDM (sub 6 GHz), MMW (60-80 sites will have to accommodate 2G, 3G, GHz) and also Wi-Fi backhaul solutions and LTE, plus there will be a greater could find preference due to their proportion of small (micro/pico) cell sites perceived flexibility, low cost and ability to to provide the coverage density required to use point-to-multipoint (PMP) and point- support high bandwidth services. to-point (PTP) techniques to backhaul Equipment that sits on streetlights or clusters or rows of small cells. Small cell similar street furniture is one thing; but backhaul space is still in its early days, with running fibre to hundreds of cells in an a number of small vendors positioning urban environment is not going to be their solutions, especially on the wireless practical. That is why WiFi/cellular dual backhaul side. Companies such as mode vendors such as BelAir have Cambridge Broadband networks in P2MP proposed using existing street plant from microwave, BluWan and millimeter wave the emerging next-generation radio access cable companies. Microwave, point to specialists BridgeWave, Siklu and E-Band network, by offering higher bandwidth, multipoint microwave and even free space Communications are all targetting the flexible frequency options, and new optics could prove alternatives, as the small cell opportunity, as are the major backhaul radio form factors such as all- industry tries to find a cost-efficient and microwave vendors such as NEC with its outdoor, zero-footprint solutions. The technically scaleable solution to the ePASOLINK millimeter wave product line. relatively small but fast-growing millimeter deployment of bunches of radios that each A company like Wazco, mentioned above, wave equipment market jumped 121% in carry hundreds of megabits of data traffic has partnered with Athena Wireless 2010 to $69 million worldwide. By 2015, simultaneously. With each location-specific, Communications, to form MetroHaul, an Infonetics expects that 70% of millimeter traffic-busting small cell comes the solution that combines Wazco’s multi- wave equipment will be deployed in requirement for high capacity backhaul. So sector LTE small cell with Athena’s backhaul networks as the demand for high while outdoor small cells have received a backhaul radio for backhaul. ABI Research, capacity mobile backhaul solutions for lot of attention lately, small cell backhaul is however, says that the cost of these metro areas with high cell density and also coming into its own. Due to its unique solutions still needs to come down to allow small cells in particular. characteristics, there are numerous operators to make a favorable small cell At the moment, though, analysis of considerations that need to be taken into business case. small cell backhaul is hard, as small cell account for a small cell backhaul solution. Microwave and millimeter wave deployment strategies for LTE are These include product footprint, range, technologies are evolving to accommodate themselves unformed.

SUMMARY That move to integrated management across 3G and LTE his utopian network of the traffic capacity demands of the future, future – the HetNet — is a there’s no doubt that there will need to be networks, macro and micro and T combined mix of a move to integrated network picocell networks will come to macro/pico/femto and relay cellsites using management. That move to integrated be the defining quality of the 2G/3G and 4G in a co-ordinated system. management, SON, across 3G and LTE That coordination will be key, as we have networks, macro and micro and picocell Het Net. seen, with SON being a key differentiator. networks will come to be the defining With all of the large basestation vendors quality of the Het Net. related developments, of the major now saying that femtocells (whether they Another key area will be the developing vendors and their competitors, is what call them small cells, picocells or Cloud RAN strategies of the major follows next in this report, on a vendor by something else) play a part in meeting the vendors. An update on the activities, and vendor basis.

Mobile Europe Insight Report |25 INSIGHT REPORT ALCATEL LUCENT – LIGHTRADIO

he first company to publicly intensity. Therefore, a combination of pooled baseband processing (“in the iterate its plans for cloud based existing and emerging technologies is cloud”). T radio, using small, intelligent required. Al-Lu’s view is that lightRadio The five technology components of the antennas distributed in a heterogenous makes this possible, enabling operators to lightRadio product family include antennas, network, was Alcatel-Lucent, which launched “get it right” when deploying a solution to radios, baseband, controllers and its lightRadio antenna segment in January match user demand or expectations, while management. These elements collectively 2011. Alcatel-Lucent said that the current continuously optimising the overall solution create the following five business enablers,: choices for augmenting capacity are to — all the way from the antenna to baseband 1. Increase in spectral bandwidth increase the number of carriers (the method processing and controller elements. 2. Optimisation of cell site capacity used by W-CDMA) or improve the spectral Baseband digital processing modules are 3. Optimisation of technology evolution bandwidth of each carrier (LTE’s method), built on a new System on a Chip (SoC) 4. Maximum utilisation of new spectral preferably in the same band as existing technology that incorporates a number of bands deployed radio carriers. This approach previously discrete, technology-specific 5. Optimisation of antenna configuration usually provides the least-expensive solution, components into a single, low-cost, high- since the same equipment practice and radio performance device that is technology BENEFITS OF LIGHTRADIO, AS SEEN BY technology can often be re-used, though agnostic. In addition, it is remotely ALCATEL-LUCENT: Above: A stack of with expanded capacity. If spectral programmable to accommodate changing • Improves the environment: lightRadio Alcatel-Lucent’s bandwidth increases are in a new frequency features and even changing radio reduces energy consumption of mobile lightRadio cubes band, there is no clear advantage to using technologies. Therefore, when W-CDMA networks by up to 50% over current radio Below: lightRadio the same generation of wireless technology, customers shift to new LTE-based devices, access network equipment. (As a point of architecture since new antennas, radios and baseband the baseband module that has been serving reference, Bell Labs research estimates that overview, with equipment will be required. However, them can be remotely reprogrammed as an basestations globally emit roughly antennas, radios, capacity needs to be matched not only to LTE baseband module. 18,000,000 metric tons of CO2 per year). baseband, controllers and the demand in specific locations but also to In addition, increases in spectral Also, lightRadio provides an alternative to management the device population and related usage bandwidth can be accommodated, when today's jungle of large overcrowded cell site combined with advanced load-balancing towers by enabling small antennas and modem-pooling functions. anywhere. Finally, wideband radios and adaptive • Addresses digital divide: By reducing the antennas enable broadening of an existing cell site to just the antenna and leveraging spectral band — or extension to a new band future advances in microwave backhaul and — without adding an entirely new radio and compression techniques, this technology will antenna to the cell tower. eventually enable the easy creation of Five key business enablers of the broadband coverage virtually anywhere lightRadio paradigm are all aimed at adding there is power (electricity, sun, wind) by sufficient capacity, in the right place, with using microwave to connect back to the the right technology, to optimise end user network. experience and operator economics. The • Offers major savings for operators: lightRadio architecture, highlighting two Thanks to lightRadio's impact on site, different wireless scale points — conventional energy, operations and maintenance costs; macro cells and when combined with small cells and LTE, smaller “metro this new solution can lead to a reduction of cells” — as well as total cost of ownership (TCO) of mobile three different networks up to 50% (as a point of reference, baseband Bell Labs estimates that TCO spent by processing mobile operators in mobile access in 2010 configurations: was 150 billion Euros). baseband • Enhances quality for end users: by processing in the doubling macro capacity and reducing the radio head (all-in cost per bit lightRadio opens up the one), processing at possibility to offer new services and price the base of the points. tower Alcatel-Lucent says network operators such (conventional as France Telecom/Orange, Telefonica and baseband units) China Mobile are now engaged in moving and centralised, to market implementation of lightRadio.

26 | Mobile Europe Insight Report INSIGHT REPORT ERICSSON – ANTENNA INTEGRATED RADIO (AIR)

ricsson E announced Ericsson AIR (antenna integrated radio) solution at the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, following closely on the heels of Al-Lu’s lightRadio announcement. Ericsson’s radio solution is based on a design that compactly integrates the antenna into the radio unit, following a partnership with Kathrein. “turning on” of thousands of small cells solution enables seamless As with light Radio, the multi-standard within a network. The small products will connection of solution is aimed at ensuring highly not be commercial until 2012, although smartphones to operator- efficient and smooth introduction of new operators have had sight of pre-market, controlled WiFi access - technologies, both 3G and 4G. Ericsson larger models, through 2011. without requiring a says that a new standard or a new Although Ericsson has always resisted specific software client in frequency band can easily be introduced the femto words, its arguments in favour the device and without by simply adding AIR and swapping the of its new product, that it will help any user interaction. The existing antenna. Mobile operators will carriers add new capacity and coverage Network Integrated Wi-Fi also benefit from reduced costs due to with lower cost and power consumption solution is markets as shorter installation time, because AIR has — are very close to those used by the providing an increase to fewer units and fewer interconnections proponents of femto technology. overall network capacity, compared to traditional site solutions, as Ulf Ewaldson, head of radio, said the AIR especially in congested with other similar solutions. Ericsson’s product is the “first step” in a broader areas. It also supports the claim is that field trials in customer 'HetNet' strategy. “We are experiencing a fast-growing ecosystem of networks proved a reduction of integration tremendous take-off in mobile broadband WiFi enabled devices. and installation time of up to 30 percent. and the user expectations on speed and Ericsson hopes that In addition, the field trial demonstrated coverage are increasing the demands on operators can benefit from that the solution provides reduced power the networks. In order to cope with the new revenue models from consumption of up to 42 percent, mainly future capacity demands, we have a clearly wholesale of WiFi access, due to reduced feeder loss and simplified defined small cell strategy. I am proud to by using a carrier WiFi solution to Above left: cooling. announce that the AIR architecture is the provide the basis for business Ericsson’s HetNet vision It has been pointed out that, at least in first stepping stone towards a agreements between themselves and public announcements to date, that heterogeneous network,” he said. hot-spot providers. Above: Antenna Ericsson has not gone as far as Al-Lu — as It’s important to note that Ericsson Integrated Radio its baseband remains at the foot of the positions its Network Integrated WiFi (Back view) mast, while lightRadio removes it from the solution as one part of its HetNet concept. cell site and sees baseband processing It’s important to note that The solution authenticates SIM based done in the cloud. Ericsson positions its Network devices in the Home Location Register In future, conversations with Ericsson Integrated WiFi solution as one and connects traffic from the WiFi access make it clear that the baseband processing network, through the mobile packet will also be integrated into the same unit, part of its HetNet concept network and up to the mobile operator's the vendor said. The AIR base stations can service environment. As the smartphone be used in 2G, 3G and LTE networks, and user is recognised by the network, the come in different sizes. The smallest has a INTEGRATED CARRIER WIFI subscription profile is maintained also radius of 100 metres and is not too far Ericsson has also embraced another when connected via WiFi. This provides different from the size of many outdoor “small cell” technology that is being users with to the same services as when femtocells. viewed as an important tool in the need connected to the mobile network. Also similar to femtos will be the fact to meet wireless bandwidth demands - The first release includes local off-load that the units will feature automated carrier WiFi. Launched in September of the traffic from the SmartEdge Border configuration — a key aspect in the 2011, Ericsson’s Network Integrated WiFi Network Gateway (BNG).

Mobile Europe Insight Report |27 INSIGHT REPORT HUAWEI –THE SINGLERAN

eemingly little interested in the The LTE Micro BTS is part of Huawei’s Cloud RAN game, with little SingleRAN solution, that adopts integrated S public mention of the concept, BTS (base transceiver station), BSC (base Huawei has launched its “end-to-end HetNet station controller), OSS (operating support solution” as a future-proof mobile system) and site solutions to drive the three broadband architecture made up of multi- radio features, including LTE, within a single layer networks. HetNet employs the network. Huawei says this means operators technologies of multi-layer coordination, are able to choose different feature eICIC (Inter-Cell Interference Coordination), combinations to suit their business. and SON to improve the capacity of For now, Huawei is leaving cloud RAN networks up to five times. messaging alone, and trying to capitalise on Huawei' bases its HetNet vision on its LTE SingleRAN. Micro BTS (base transceiver station), a The Chinese firm’s four microcells consist product that is designed to extract the full of the BTS3202E for LTE, the BTS3902E for performance out of an LTE network by UMTS, and the BTS3702E and BTS3701B for employing features such as extreme data WiMAX, all part of the SingleRAN family and rate (DL 150Mbps, UL 50Mbps on 20MHz supporting self-organising network band, 2*2MIMO) and integrated SON (self- capabilities. The new base stations integrate configuration, self-optimisation, and self- the radio, antenna and baseband in a single maintenance). compact unit. Huawei’s argument against against the Alcatel-Lucent approach, was to point up its Huawei says its solutions are reliance on plentiful fibre, and to say that geared to being implemented while more radical architectures would be suited to greenfield deployments, its with existing networks solutions are geared to being implemented with existing sites and networks. NOKIA SIEMENS NETWORKS LIQUID RADIO AND LIQUID NET

t the heart of Nokia Siemens and small, compact micro, pico and femto Networks Liquid Radio is its Flexi cells. A Multiradio Antenna System, Nokia Siemens Networks Flexi which the company sees as being Multiradio Antenna System is based on deployed as as part of the Liquid Radio active antenna technology that combines architecture that gives operators the ability antenna and radio part in one functional to respond to the fluid demands of enclosure, built with dedicated power today’s networks with baseband pooling. amplifiers for each antenna element. Baseband pooling centralises the The active antenna allows resources needed to undertake processing beamforming – focusing a particular functions common to every base station radio connection and directing it to a in a given area, helping to achieve a specific user – as well as handling of more cost efficient sharing of resources multiple technologies in one unit. over a large geographical area. Together with other layers of coverage NSN foresees demand for network provided by macro, pico and micro site capacity increasing to up to 1GB per user configurations, beamforming allows per day. Not only will this require capacity to be directed exactly where the substantial network investments, but also a user requires it, delivering up to 65% unique combination of base station sites for capacity gain. wide area coverage complemented by Wifi The Flexi Race is the next step in NSN’s

28 | Mobile Europe Insight Report INSIGHT REPORT

move to miniaturisation, being described “Capacity in today’s conventional by the vendor as the basic element to networks is typically frozen in separate build next generation active antennas and places; at individual base station sites, in future products to build micro and pico parts of the core network that manage cells. Due to its compact size, the Flexi voice and data services, or in the optical Race is equipped with additional and IP transport networks,” says Marc intelligence and scaling options required Rouanne, head of Network Systems at for this type of deployments. Nokia Siemens Networks. “Each is a NSN too is committed to the concept potential bottleneck to someone getting of the heterogeneous networks. It the broadband service they want at a describes this approach as key to a particular moment. reduction of management complexity. “Fluctuating, unpredictable demand in Connectivity for different layers of the one part of the network means huge network in one unified network and user chunks of capacity can be left idle experience will be orchestrated by the elsewhere, making poor use of existing company’s SON capability and its investments. For example, as much as continuous evolution to fully support 50% of a conventional core network’s cognitive self learning and adaptive capacity can be dormant. Instead, Liquid networks. Net unleashes frozen network capacity Liquid Radio, based on NSN’s SON- into a reservoir of resources that can flow enabled Flexi integrated antennas, itself to fulfil unpredictable demand, wherever forms a part of NSN’s LiquidNet vision - and whenever people use broadband.” NSN’s clearest iteration yet that it too NSN has created Liquid Net, to free-up sees the benefits for operators in the unused capacity and allocate it instantly Cloud RAN. Liquid Net is NSN’s term for the cloud- based network that leverages the Where Liquid Radio was capabilities of Liquid Radio. Liquid Net about supporting capacity builds on the principles of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Liquid Radio architecture. It growth and flexibility in the adds Liquid Core and Liquid Transport RAN, Liquid Net smartly carries in the Radio Access Network (RAN), functionality to the network which can be the theme forward to transport Liquid Net smartly carries the theme implemented either separately in multi- forward to transport and core networks vendor environments or in concert across and core networks promising an promising an optimisation of not only an operator’s entire network to bring the optimisation of not only user user traffic but CAPEX investments”, said full benefits of Liquid Net to bear. traffic but CAPEX investments Peter Jarich, Current Analysis, service It allows an operator to set up its director for Service Provider network to self-adapt to meet capacity across the whole network wherever and Infrastructure. and coverage requirements based on whenever it is needed. Liquid Net uses “Perhaps most importantly, Liquid Net demand. The new approach also aims to automated, self-adapting broadband speaks to a need for solutions rather than significantly improve the quality of optimisation to deliver services and point products; while components can be broadband services worldwide. content to ensure the best customer deployed as part of a multi-vendor Spectacular broadband growth means experience by always being aware of the solution, the combination of Liquid networks must be ready to cope with network’s operational status and the Radio, Liquid Core and Liquid Transport personal data consumption of more than services being consumed. into Liquid Net speaks to holistic thinking 1GB per mobile user per day. Demand is In addition, Liquid Net channels traffic around operator concerns and demands,” also highly unpredictable, fluctuating in the transport network along the path Jarich wrote in NSN’s Liquid Net press between locations at different times as of least resistance and lowest cost release. people use broadband at home, at work between operator sites. NSN says that Liquid Radio, Liquid and on the move. Abrupt changes in NSN claims that not only does Liquid Core and Liquid Transport can be broadband use can also occur when, say, Net help operators to raise customer implemented together or separately in new device software is launched, or loyalty, but it also opens up new business the network for fluid capacity, coverage updates to popular applications and over- opportunities. and services, and to enable their the-top services are released, leaving “Where Liquid Radio was about introduction and management within operators no time to prepare. supporting capacity growth and flexibility multi-vendor networks.

Mobile Europe Insight Report |29 INSIGHT REPORT ZTE – C-RAN

TE is one vendor that has paid To this end, ZTE points to its activities ZTE’s C-RAN solution realises the lip service to a Cloud RAN in China, where it says it has taken the separation of the Remote Radio Unit Z wireless networking solution. lead to explore a C-RAN solution together (RRU) and the Baseband Unit (BBU) on Its C-RAN vision, which it says has been with CMCC, to develop a new generation the wireless side, and has completed the introduced by Chinese operator CMCC, is of wireless access networks through centralised evolution from base-stations to also intended to dramatically lower both centralised processing, collaborative radio, base-station clusters. On this basis, it can capex and opex for operators and greatly real-time cloud infrastructure, green further improve coordination between the reduce power consumption through its wireless access network architecture, and stations in a base-station cluster through new wireless-access network architecture. cloud computing. the upgrade of BBU, and to realise the ZTE said that the solution is expected to As such, it claims to be the the first coordination between the base-station lower the TCO (total cost of ownership) of company in the industry to realise clusters through the interconnection of wireless networks by 40%. dynamic baseband sharing, and is actively large-capacity BBUs. The BBU ZTE said that when it comes to infrastructure can be built using general IT lowering the per-bit data costs - day to platforms, to realise equipment day operational costs such as base station Based on the case of CMCC virtualisation and scheduling ability sites, data centre and day-to-day ZTE said that the C-RAN through cloud computing. It forms part of operations are often over 60% of the the continuing and deeper integration overall cost of operation. Therefore, architecture could the access between the telecom industry and the IT delivering innovation at the wireless network's capex by about 20% industry. Network costs architectural level is more impactful, ZTE says that its trials have by sector and opex by about 63%, (Source: leading ZTE to propose a new generation demonstrated that C-RAN architecture Alcatel-Lucent) of C-RAN solutions. reducing the 10-year TCO by can realise “large-capacity with a small about 40%, and reducing the number of nodes”, to dramatically reduce construction cycle by a third capex for operators. Based on the case of CMCC (in which only a small number of new optical cables needed to be promoting its application by tackling key deployed, due to the number of pipelines C-RAN technologies. For example, using already in use), ZTE said that the C-RAN Colored Fiber Connection, it says it has architecture could the access network's solved the problems associated with the capex by about 20% and opex by about consumption of LTE optic fiber resources, 63%, reducing the 10-year TCO by about completed the Phase I prototype of LTE 40%, and reducing the construction cycle Advanced CoMP (Coordinated by a third. It could reduce power Multippoint), and deployed this with a consumption by over 80% compared to number of Chinese operators. the traditional macro base-stations. OTHERS – SAMSUNG, NEC AND FEMTO

amsung has announced plans to “We are hiring now,” said IP Hong Vice portfolio, an LTE solution that includes target LTE network contracts in President of Marketing at Samsung's features such as intelligent radio resource S Europe, basing its hopes on an Telecom Systems Business. The company allocation. Hong added that amongst expanded European presence and on is already in trials with one major Samsung’s capabilities was a “special kudos gained from LTE contract wins European operator, Hong said. technology” for interference cancellation, already made in the USA, Middle East and Although the vendor has little current that goes beyond current specifications. Asia Pacific. footprint in European wireless The company is also marketing its To support its goals, the company is infrastructure, it has won LTE deals in the multi-standards base station, with both establishing a network equipment USA with MetroPCS and Cellular South, macro and small cells in its product line. It operations centre at its European HQ in with Mobily in the Middle East and will will include 2G and 3G capabilities within the UK – and aims to have 100 people support SK Telecom’s commercial launch that converged approach, hoping to offer working out of the centre in two to three of LTE in July 2011, according to Hong. operators flexibility as they swap out years if the company makes good Samsung is tying in the launch of its ageing equipment for more power and progress contracts. European operations with its Smart LTE spectrally-efficient designs.

30 | Mobile Europe Insight Report INSIGHT REPORT

Other vendors are taking an approach ease of location will all mitigate the cost opex improvements.” that views the HetNet as a step towards of delivering a multiple-small-cell network. If femtocell proponents are to have a the dominance of small cells - not just in Kenny Graham, Head of LTE and major role in the LTE network of the terms of total numbers of cells (there are Innovation Solutions at Vodafone Group, future, then their ability to interwork with already more femtocells than macro cells) said that in his view the “basic macro elements will be crucial. Work but in terms of traffic handled, and even performance” of SON has worked well so continues to prove that femto elements in terms of how operators view network far in trials Vodafone has carried out. SON will be non-disruptive in terms of design. is intended to provide automatic functions performance and management. In the Shraram Niri, of NEC, has long as interference management, device- summer of 2011 the latest in a series of proposed the view that if operators want based neighbour relations, mobility load plugfests used a real network to test to get the capacity improvements that balancing and Cell-iD collision detection. hand-over between femtocells and LTE is intended to deliver, meaning over “The basics of SON are proven,” surrounding base stations, as well as using 25Mbps, then they will need to design Graham said, “and now we are moving France Telecom’s core network to test networks almost entirely of small cells. on to the more advanced features, to femtocell integration. 13 companies Let’s be clear. He’s not talking about extract the actual performance gains participated in interoperability tests designing a network that has mainly that SON can bring, and not just the conducted between femtocell network macro coverage but with some small cells gateways, security gateways, dropped in where capacity demands are management systems femtocell access highest. No, he’s saying that to get the The basics of SON are points and chipsets to verify 3GPP’s Iuh most out of LTE, operators need to deploy proven,” Graham said, “and now interface, as defined in the Release 9 series networks that are composed mostly of of specifications. small cells. we are moving on to the more The companies involved were Ablaze So what of the argument that tens of advanced features, to extract the Wireless, Alcatel-Lucent, Alpha Networks, thousands of small cells are too expensive actual performance gains that Askey Computer, Cisco, Continuous to deploy – challenging the backhaul Computing, France Telecom, Huawei network, and driving up opex? Niri said SON can bring Technologies, ip.access, NEC, Node-H, that SON, interference management, and NSN and Picochip. WIRELESS LAN – WIFI 2.0

utside of femtocells and mean that mobile operators would view cable plant’s power and locations. BelAir integrated radio approaches, WiFi providers as trusted roaming says that the unit can sit on overhead O lies a third way — carrier WiFi. partners, opening up new business cable, or on residential pedestals, or in The introduction of new WiFi standards, relationships and increasing the cabinets. It can use AC power from the designed to support the automatic opportunities for data offload and cable plant and use the cable network for selection (if desired by the user) of carrier- roaming. The WBA calls the programme backhaul. This addresses the three owned or partner WiFi networks raises the the Next Generation Hotspot (NGH) problems mobile operators have in cell proposition of operators using licensed programme, and it is working with a pilot site planning – site availability, power and and unlicensed spectrum to onload and group of operators and technology backhaul. offload data traffic, and even in some providers to define interoperability Because the cells offer radios covering cases voice calls. requirements for hotspot and 3G/4G both licensed and unlicensed spectrum, The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) operators. they could be deployed by mobile and the Wi-Fi Alliance have outlined plans One company aiming to give operators operators to offer cell site coverage, but to create commons standards that would increased flexibility between WiFi and also be used to offload traffic from enable users to connect automatically to cellular networks, and address backhaul at wireless networks directly over the cable WiFi hotspots using SIM-based the same time, is BelAir Networks. network. The WiFi side of the unit would authentication and security protocols. BelAir launched its100SP Strand Picocell also enable cable operators to offer The aim is to enable a device to last year, and has an updated product due wireless access to their own subscribers. authenticate automatically at a WiFi as Mobile Europe went to press. The Of course, if carrier WiFi does take of, hotspot, using cellular-based Strand Picocell is designed to sit on the major providers such as Cisco will also authentication methods such as EAP- end of cable network infrastructure, address carriers with integrated, policy SIM/AKA and EAP-TLS/TTLS. This could allowing operators to take advantage of aware, solutions.

Mobile Europe Insight Report |31

Pricing innovation KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER

The mobile operator of 2011 has to think differently about their customer data, and subscriber experience, to deliver pricing strategies that deliver maximum value to the user, but also deliver increased profitability for the operator. Can they square this circle?

he promise of constant connectivity and ever- smarter connected devices presents the industry T with great opportunities. But service providers are also confronted with the challenge of increasing revenues, managing network congestion and capex expenditure, whilst not irritating customers who have come to believe that data is free and ubiquitous. In order to better monetise their networks and data services, service providers have moved away from unlimited data packages and are looking to implement innovative packages and promotions. For example, the following aspects have been highlighted by Amdocs, as possible routes for operators to take: G Ability for customers to select packages based on the type and quality of data service such as the number of films they wish to download in high definition (not just harder-to-understand metrics like size and speed of data download) G Shared data allowance across multiple devices or family data packages with different policies for each family Is the price right? phone stated that they have encountered problems with member Operators are taking steps the service, while a further 70% of video users have G More creative promotions based on multiple factors to make more personal experienced problems when they access video. For video pricing offers. such as customer monetary or lifetime value, usage specifically, stalling was found to be the most frequent and behaviour and network status at peak and non-peak least acceptable issue (60%), followed by having to wait a network times. long time for the video to play (26%). Another advantage that is often proposed operators hold Yet in these apparent negatives, lies opportunity. The is competing on service Quality of Experience (QoE). Yet research also revealed that only 11% of consumers does this really hold true from a customer perspective? disagree or strongly disagree with operator intervention to Well, mobile operators do indeed have an opportunity to optimise video during periods of congestion and 21% of improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn and drive respondents are even willing to pay to prevent the video new revenue streams, according to consumer research from stalling and improve the overall quality. carried out by YouGov and Acision, outlining a dream The findings also highlight a strong desire among vision for those who see quality-based tariffing as a key consumers for more context-aware and personal tool in the operator armoury. preference-oriented services. 70% of those questioned The research conducted YouGov questioned UK stated that they would like to be notified in real-time about consumers on the quality of their mobile broadband and network congestion, while another 71% wanted to be data services experience across mobile handsets, notified about large download sizes, which may impact smartphones, tablets, laptops and dongle-powered their data usage. Greater tariff flexibility and differentiation devices. It showed that 77% of users have encountered also appears to be high on consumers’ wish-lists, with 26% some form of quality of experience issue using services on of video users stating that they would be happy to pay for mobile broadband – with 54% of consumers having a service that would enable them to save on their bundle. experienced slow speeds and 42% having had connection Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents, meanwhile, problems. wanted the option to delay application updates to a time The increasing popularity of time-sensitive, data-heavy when downloads are free. applications and services, driven by the soaring adoption Commenting on the research, Steven van Zanen, SVP of smartphones and feature-rich devices, has not only put Marketing at Acision, says, “In order to enhance the end pressure on operators’ networks but means that user experience, operators need to define new strategies consumers have higher expectations of the quality of and take a holistic, 360° quality of experience approach, services they receive. However, while service usage is which takes into consideration a number of key factors higher, 77% of consumers who use VoIP on their mobile such as subscriber type, service characteristics/experience,

34 | Mobile Europe Pricing innovation

personal preferences, device and content/context end up with soiled data. awareness.” “The problem is to turn that key data into So are operators in a position to do this? Gordon insights that can be actioned. Operators are Rawling, Senior Director of Regional Marketing, looking for new revenue streams and to go beyond Oracle Communications, EMEA, says that “there is the new pricing matrix, beyond these legacy not an operator who hasn’t expressed the conversations, to deliver personalized, hi touch and objective of having a more dynamic pricing and more profitable customer experiences. billing structure”. Yet Rawling says that Ari Banerjee, senior analyst, Heavy Reading, identifies although that desire is there, there are still one of the key technical barriers operators have been some barriers to overcome. Chief amongst facing - that their existing policy and charging tools are these are “business” and some technical not integrated, and can’t provide the required issues. functionality. “Our research shows there is global “For instance, the traditional separation consensus that integration of charging and policy of off/on line, pre/post pay is technically management capabilities is required to monetise these driven, yet in theory doesn’t mean a lot to consumers. new data pricing strategies. Service providers have found It’s just a way of paying. If I happen to be a post-paid attempts to integrate charging and policy management by VoIP service, operator- customer, it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to take their internal IT and network departments challenging and provided or “Over the advantage of a pre-paid service opportunity an operator too expensive and are now seeking pre-integrated vendor Top” are one example of might want to offer me,” Rawling says. solutions.” how user profiles are As for those “business” issues, this year the the CMO changing. Amdocs claims that its research findings reveal that Council, with sponsorship from Openet, surveyed 212 charging subscribers based on the customer experience staff at operators, representing marketing and technology provided is gaining mindshare, but existing systems are functions. It asked if these professionals thought their own challenged to enable it: companies were equipped to provide consumer-centric Its research, carried out with Heavy Reading, found that services, and respond to the changes in subscriber marketing departments want to introduce more demands and increasing complexity. sophisticated data price plans, with 83% of respondents Liz Miller, VP of Programs and Operations at the CMO say their marketing organizations are asking IT to enable Council, told Mobile Europe that 75% of those surveyed innovative data price plan. Over 90% say their companies believe that lack of integration between data sources was are looking to create packages across lines of business, hampering the introduction of new, more personalised customer types and payment methods, while 86% of and relevant services. 72% also thought that poor providers plan to launch tiered pricing plans; and 82% alignment between sales, marketing and IT was plan to launch single data plans for multiple devices (e.g. hampering efforts. 68% agreed that a traditional tablets, smartphones, etc.). corporate mindset was “out of sync with new forms of To roll out these services, Amdocs says that integrated competition”. charging and policy management capabilities are required Additionally, 83% felt they needed to get a better There is a to enable these more sophisticated data price plans handle on the network resource and support challenges Amdocs says that IT organizations find it difficult to presented by a more diverse and demanding customer sense that operators deliver, as 80 percent of respondents do not think their base and the proliferation of new devices and service are dealing with a existing policy management systems, deployed to support offerings. legacy mindest that network-related use cases (bandwidth management, fair Miller said, “There is a sense that operators are dealing usage, bill shock) can support more advanced use cases, with a legacy mindest that responds to subscriber responds to such as data plans across multiple lines of business, demands by applying traditional infrastructure, subscriber demands payment methods and spend limits, and more. 10 percent operational and pricing solutions. The aftermath of that is by applying have tried to integrate charging and policy management that they do not have enough access to the data they systems and failed. need to drive data-driven customer experiences. traditional “This survey validates the need for better integrated “There is a sense of paralysis to even start to infrastructure, charging and policy management capabilities in order for aggregate that data, that they are faced with this operational and service providers to create, offer and monetize the next overwhemling wave of customer insights that could be generation of data services,” says Rebecca Prudhomme, aggregated. Then they try to aggregate that data and pricing solutions vice president of product and solutions marketing at

Mobile Europe |35 Pricing innovation

analysis of the impacts of certain tariffs within specific customer segments – and benchmark that against other tariffs. “All operators are looking at how they can drive an Application-based increased understanding of the interaction between charging solution flow complex tariff bundles and the profitability of a sub- segment. When we run reports we not only allow our customers to understand how profitable segments are but also how that compares to all other tariffs from their competitors in that market. That means you can say not only if a tariff is likely to be good for Amdocs. “But we must remember you as a business, but that customers also want to get you can use it to their new services in a simple and differentiate, and be sure you intuitive manner. This is exactly have a chance to be successful in where value-based pricing should come into play. For Bandwidth on demand a segment,” Skoczkowski says. turbo boost solution flow. example, a movie package that has data and speed Redknee’s customer Telefonica is also using Sandvine's (Both use cases from Allot prerequisites already embedded into it for a high-quality Policy Traffic Switch to collect network data and present Communications) experience will offer end customers the personalised that to executive management functions to help them to service for which they are willing to pay more.” make business decisions and to enforce new policies in Acision’s Van Zanen echoes the theme. “In order to the network. maintain a sustainable competitive edge, operators need “As a global company, Telefónica’s network insight and to evolve from a purely technology-driven approach to a business intelligence is key to understanding how we can more customer-centric approach and gain control of all better serve our vast subscriber base worldwide,” says aspects of the service. Operators have the opportunity to Vicente San Miguel, CTO, Telefónica Corporate. lead the market on service differentiation, transparency At one subsidiary, Telefónica recently introduced a and accountability, by offering clarity on service quality menu of tiered pricing plans that accommodate and insight into network performance,” he says. subscribers’ personalised network usage patterns and Certainly, there is evidence that some operators are budgets. Under this model, subscribers can choose taking a more scientific approach to analysing the offers from plans that range from a basic email or social that they make to their customers. networking plan, to more comprehensive plans that Explaining a rising interest in detailed customer also cover real-time entertainment usage. analysis, such as that performed by Redknee’s Price Operators have the tools to make this happen. Simulator package, Lucas Skoczkowski, Redknee CEO says, Companies like Allot who offer application, device and “Operators are looking to drive a lot higher efficiency, subscriber awareness enable operators to distinguish and more understanding, of how to best tailor their between applications such video or VoIP or devices such businesses to extract more value from each of their as an Android or iPhone. Subscriber awareness is used in customer segments: so precision becomes much more conjunction with application awareness to implement important. Historically there has been sufficient room in intelligent charging models and policies per subscriber. the market so that precision wasn’t necessarily the The ability to service subscribers according to their data operating word.” usage patterns is especially useful for marketing value- That has changed, however, and operators are under added services like unlimited social network plans. greater pressure to identify new customer segments, and Good practices in the industry don't always have to address those with the most efficient and profitable tariffs focus on premium plans, though. In fact, Telefonica in and bundles. Latin America offers a variation of a reduced Internet plan. “What we are looking for is agility but with more Within the ‘reduced’ plan, subscribers can pay for just precision. Sometimes you can create something speedily what they use, which is often basic email, chat, and Web but lack the precision to ensure you get the result the surfing. A variation may be a Social Networking package CFO of the company with usage-based pricing for social networking apps like expects.” Facebook and Twitter. However, if a subscriber wants a With operators seeing What we are looking for is agility but premium service and is educated about the price points increased competition for with more precision. Sometimes you can associated with the services that matter most to them certain demographic then this is what should be considered best practice. segments, there is more create speedily but lack the precision to Allot Communications told Mobile Europe that it motivation to provide ensure you get the result you expect believes that within the next 12-24 months operators will detailed forecasts and move quickly to value-based pricing, enabled by solutions

36 | Mobile Europe

Mobile money MOBILE MONEY

Operator-led mobile money and payments services are still thin on the ground, but momentum is growing across Europe, as operators move to commercialisation of NFC technology. So where can we look to for operator-led market momentum?

the first NFC Android mobile sold in Europe, according to the operator. The phone will be the fourth mobile available from Orange for customers of Cityzi, Orange's brand for mobile NFC services in France. Orange said this device version has been developed by the teams from Orange and Samsung in line with the specifications mapped out by the French mobile contactless association (AFSCM) and “relevant international standards”. The launch will, the operator claimed, make Orange is the first operator in Europe to offer a SIM-based NFC Android mobile using the SIM card to guarantee the security of contactless mobile services. Orange has already committed to rolling out NFC-enabled secure SIM cards nationally, and has also previously stated that the Group is working with equipment manufacturers to ensure that more than half of the new smartphone models are compatible with the contactless services. ome 20 countries are expected to launch NFC Orange has been marketing Cityzi mobiles throughout services in the next 18 months, resulting in France since February 2011, making it one of the world's first S transactions approaching $50 billion worldwide mobile NFC offers on this scale. by 2014, according to a report from Juniper Research. It claims to have attracted more than 150,000 Orange Following on from the Orange Mobile Payments service customers for services that include passes for local transport, launch in the UK, 2012 is expected to be a banner year for payment in over 1000 partner shops, loyalty, couponing and NFC service rollouts, Juniper said, with prospects for NFC tag reading. having improved markedly in the last half year. Orange said that the Galaxy launch confirms its ambition According to Senior Analyst David Snow, “Our view is to offer an “extensive” range of Cityzi mobiles, to enable as that the next 18 months will see launches in up to 20 many of its customers as possible to benefit from contactless countries. As a result Juniper is forecasting that North services across France. The existing device range includes the America and Western Europe together will exceed the Far Samsung Player City and Wave 578. East region in under three years based on transaction value.” Orange has said it will extend the CityZi mobile contactless It’s tempting to see this as all good news for mobile service, currently being piloted in Nice, across the country in operators, as if NFC services and payments will necessarily 2011. The operator has been marketing the "Player One gravitate to a model that sees mobile operators as the chief Cityzi” handset across France from January. It has a target of distributors of the devices and SIMs that make the service "at least" 500,000 French customers with compatible devices possible. by the end of the calendar year. Certainly Nav Bains, who leads the NFC service The operator is also pushing for NFC-enabled SIMs to be programme at the GSMA is positive. “The days for pilots are made available in all its markets across Europe by the second now over,” he said. “NFC is now going to market properly, half of 2011. The Group is also working with manufacturers and we will see increasing numbers of commercial launches to ensure that “over half” of the new smartphone models it of NFC, with a lot more operators making commercial SIM- buys will be compatible with contactless services when based NFC moves.” Bains can’t share where he thinks these combined with the new, secure SIM card. launches will come from, as it is commercially sensitive, but The Nice pilot involved Orange as well as France's other he is clear that there will be significant progress over the two major operators, SFR and Bouyges, as well as NRJ mobile next year. So where can we look to for operator-led NFC and other service providers. mobile payments initiatives? UNITED KINGDOM FRANCE Staying with Orange, in the UK it has announced Orange has said that it will sell a contactless-enabled that it is launching an NFC-based retail payment version of the Samsung Galaxy S II from October, making it service called Quick Tap - intially launched with

38 | Mobile Europe Mobile money

PAYPAL, PAYTHRU AND OPERATORS

The “threat” to mobile operators in mobile payments comes from what are termed Over The Top players. If rival services take off, the operator vision of a renting out “space” to service providers on a SIM containing the Secure Element becomes redundant. And the world is not short of rival payment technologies - some of which are aimed at tieing in-store purchasing to mobile. PayPal recently unveiled a clutch of mobile payment initiatives for shoppers - but one that Google Wallet launched to Manager, which includes the supply of NFC-enabled SIMs, doesn't require near-field communication (NFC) fanfare in the USA - with containing the secure element, to Orange. technology inside smartphones. Spring, Citi, Visa and The system relies instead on the scanning o Orange said the NFC phones can be used at 50,000 stores, Mastercard as partners. bar codes, and the use of PINs and phone mainly at branches of Pret a Manger, EAT, Little Chef, Google said it would numbers to authorise payments through PayPal Subway, Wilkinson and McDonalds that already have welcome more operator mobile accounts. contactless payments terminals. The company said 12.9 involvement in its wallet PayPal President Scott Thompson said, million contactless credit and debit cards are already in service as it rolls out the pointedly, in a blog post: "Let's be clear about circulation, of which over 11.4m have been issued by service across different something, we're not just shoving a credit card markets. Barclaycard. on a phone," O2 confirmed that it too will launch a mobile money and Another company that eschews waiting for payments service - under the O2 Money brand - after it NFC terminals, handsets and business models to discontinued current operations in its O2 Money service. work themselves into the market is Paythru, a Due to relaunch in the second half of 2011, but not visible company that takes Paypal-like approach in avoiding NFC, and the operator element in as Mobile EUrope went to press, O2's service seems to go authenticating and clearing payment. further than Orange's payments solution. Capabilities planned Keith Brown, CEO of Paythru, told Mobile for the wallet include m-commerce, airtime top ups, Europe that he wasn’t sure what value operators contactless/NFC payments and peer-to-peer payments. The add to the NFC value chain. operator will also add NFC capabilities to its existing O2 “I don’t know, that’s my big problem with it. Money Visa pre-paid card service. There’s a battle for ownership of the customer, O2 said that its commercial and technical partners for its for carriers to stop being dumb pipes. To try to service would be Wave Crest, FIS, Intelligent Environments get a wallet for their customers is an attempt to and Visa Europe. Wave Crest will provide and operate the get a part of the value chain. Yet in financial core banking platform upon which the new prepaid card and services, who does the customer think they have mobile wallet services will run. Wave Crest will also manage a relationship with?” the security and online customer experience. FIS will provide another Samsung handset, the Toco. transaction processing and UK-based customer service for O2 is not so far behind. It has announced the technical both the prepaid cards and mobile wallet. Intelligent and service partners it would be working with to deliver a Environments has been appointed to develop the wallet mobile money service later this year, with O2's parent application and Visa Europe will be the payment network for Telefonica probably the most aggressive group operator in the wallet and new prepaid products. the NFC space, outside of Orange. Everything Everywhere, Telefonica UK and Vodafone UK Orange UK customers in the service are able to pay for are also working on the creation of a joint venture before the items up to £15 without entering a PIN, using a Samsung end of the year that will act as a single point of contact for Tocco Quick Tap handset available on Pay As You Go for marketers, banks, retailers and anyone else that wants to £59.99, and from free on Pay Monthly contracts from £10 create a mobile commerce service. per month on 24 month contracts. The operator has since The JV, controversial because it excludes 3 UK, would added the Samsung Wave 578, which will work in bring together the operators' development efforts in NFC, accordance with a for payments and other services, as well as provide a single Barclaycard, Barclays contact point for advertisers, media agencies and retailers debit or Orange credit The JV, controversial because it excludes 3 looking to reach consumers on their mobile phones. The JV card. Customers can load will enable brands and service providers to book advertising up to £100 on the wallet. UK, would bring together the operators' space and create campaigns as well as provide offers, Gemalto is acting as development efforts in NFC coupons and loyalty cards which can be stored on the the Trusted Service phone and redeemed in shops.

Mobile Europe |39 Mobile money

The operators said that they would continue to compete, taking part in the test, which but base their services on "the open platform infrastructure is a cooperation between provided by the JV". Telenor, DnB NOR, MasterCard, Teller, Nets and SPAIN Giesecke and Devrient. The Trials continue. One thousand employees on a Telefonica test project is part of a NFC campus in Madrid will use mobile NFC services during their City, a user driven research working lives, as Telefonica continues to promote NFC project which is partly usage. Telefonica said that employees at its District C site (to financed by the research be renamed District NFC) campus would be given Samsung council of Norway. NFC phones and would be able to use them to gain access The customer will be able to the site and pay for food on campus. in time the number to pay by holding their of participants in the project will be increased to include all mobile up to the payment 14,000 employees on site. terminal at the till. Payment Partners in the project include Autogrill,Bankinter, BBVA, will be faster than and just as G&D, La Caixa, Oberthur, Samsung, Sermepa and Visa. secure as paying by card. The A bigger trial in Spain, an NFC trial in Sitges, has now money will be debited from ended. Telefonica said that its “Mobile Shopping Sitges the customer's MasterCard. 2010” trial had resulted in customers carrying out 30% Everybody taking part in more e-transactions, with a 23% increase in average the test will be using a purchase per user with their card. Samsung mobile with built-in NFC technology and an POLAND adapted SIM card. Most Gemalto, specialist in digital security, has announced producers of smart phones that PTK Centertel, an Orange group affiliate, is deploying will include this technology in the largest NFC program in Poland, with a commercial the time to come. offer targeting several thousand users. Gemalto’s already “The Oslo test is one of the plays an active role in Orange Group’s NFC expansion first in Scandinavia and will be strategy with deployments already in the UK, France (see an important milestone above) and now Poland. towards our use of mobile Gemalto provided an end-to-end solution that includes phones as wallets. We are NFC software and user interface applications securely certain that contactless embedded on an NFC SIM, and the Trusted Service payment via mobile will Management (TSM) services. PTK Centertel and its become extremely partnering bank have entrusted Gemalto with the The level of confusion widespread, because we all take our mobiles everywhere operation of the TSM platform, to securely personalise and about who does what in we go, and because it's a secure and easy way to pay,” manage the payment application in the device over the air. this market was reflected says Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO in Telenor. Krzysztof Sieczkowski, Product and Content by the warm response to this infographic from Development Director, PTK Centertel, said, “We need a TURKEY mobilepaymentstoday. complete solution to speed up our time-to-market, and Turkcell has announced the official launch of the T20 You can see the full leverage the strong contactless payment network already smartphone, one of the world's first commercially available infographic at existing in Poland to make mobilepaymentstoday.com UICC ("Universal Integrated Circuit Card"), NFC - SWP our consumer the first to ("Single Wire Protocol") Android-based device. benefit from the NFC Turkcell T20 allows consumers to use their phone as a experience.” mobile wallet, using MasterCard's contactless technology, Samsung’s Galaxy S II, now the PayPass scheme. available for NFC service The aim of Turkcell Cep-T Cüzdan, a mobile wallet NORWAY use in France through Around 250 of Telenor's Orange. service from Turkcell, which is already loaded on the and DnB NOR's customers Turkcell T20 and communicates with an NFC enabled sim will be testing the option card, is also to provide a comprehensive end-to-end NFC of paying via mobile over platform open to all service providers and banks. the coming months. A As part of this platform, Turkcell TSM (Trusted Service dozen locations in Oslo Manager) was developed and Turkcell became the first are taking part in the test. telecom operator in Europe to launch an approved TSM Shops from the solution by MasterCard. Turkcell, working with MasterCard, Kaffebrenneriet, Vita and is the first mobile operator in the world that presents more Deli de Luca chains are than one bank application in Cep-T Cüzdan.

40 | Mobile Europe

Diary & Notes conference highlights ”HP’S BUSINESS SCHOOL WIKI” LTE DEPLOYMENT STRATEGIES BROADBAND TRAFFIC 08 - 11 November, London MANAGEMENT 2011 Justify the business case for LTE and learn how to overcome the 15-17 November, London challenges of deploying an LTE network that optimises the customer 100 speakers, including 60 operator speakers, address how experience. Now is the time to look to LTE to unlock new carriers can profit from the data explosion. Topics include opportunities and maximise customer satisfaction.To find out how, turning traffic related insights into actionable service join fellow LTE experts from across Europe and The Middle East. propositions, the current regulatory position on traffic www.ltedeploymentstrategies.com management and net neutralit, the signalling challenge, the actions required to integrate traffic management into OSS/BSS DIGITAL ECONOMICS EXECUTIVE BRAINSTORM & architectures. DEVELOPER FORUM EMEA www.broadbandtrafficevent.com 9-10 November, London New Digital Economics brings together five events in one venue, co- MVNO NETWORKING CONGRESS locating the Telco 2.0, M-Commerce, 2.0 Cloud 2.0, M2M 2.0 and 22 - 24 November, Paris and Digital Entertainment 2.0. It focuses on new growth MVNOs, MNOs, MVNAs, and MVNEs meet to explore the greatest opportunities at the intersection of Telecoms, Media and obstacles to increasing MVNO market share and maximising Technology. wealth generating opportunities for both the MVNO and MNO. www.newdigitaleconomics.com www.dataoffloading.com

SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT FORUM DATA OFFLOADING STRATEGIES 2011 14 - 16 November 2011, Paris 05 - 08 December, 2011, Barcelona Regulators strive to meet the Commission’s 2013 deadline for the Finding the best offloading strategies and techniques that provide Digital Agenda, while operators are vying for ‘must have’ spectrum both optimal customer experience and the best ROI is the key licences.With both operator and regulator perspectives, the Forum challenge for operators. Explore the key areas of focus for will cover the latest developments in the sale and acquisition of operators as they look to cost-effectively expand network spectrum, from evaluation of options through to bidding strategies. coverage and capacity. www.iir-telecoms.com/event/spectrum www.dataoffloading.com

Around the mobile world in 300 words That Oracle then rubbed salt in When they write the text books, or cloud-based resource the wounds by suggesting that Wikis, for the business schools of the future, HP’s past few Autonomy had made itself months and weeks will surely feature. available to Oracle, at a lower price than HP paid, but still a What is the role of a board? Is it to investigate allegations price Oracle found too much, will against a CEO, find him innocent, but send him packing for a surely be added to the HP Business separate offence? Is it to then allow the new CEO to negotiate School Wiki. Autonomy’s CEO and approve the second largest acquisition price ever for a denied this, then was reminded of software company, and to close down your biggest operating the time and date he met Oracle. unit by revenue, exposing the company to an extended period Then he said that meeting wasn’t of market uncertainty? Then, once you have achieved this, is about a sale, whereupon Oracle said your role then to dismiss the same CEO, moments after he has they had his powerpoint slides of the begun executing on a strategy of which you must have meeting, very financial in nature. The approved only a few weeks prior? case, as court reporters say, continues.

All of these allegations could be made against HP’s board, who Speaking of courts...perhaps HP’s investigated Mark Hurd last year over charges of sexual decision to shut WebOS will save it from being caught up in harrassment, and fired him for expenses irregularities; who the damaging and high stakes spate of litigation in the mobile presided over CEO Leo Apotheker’s plan to dispose of the device market. Chief agitants, lining up in courtrooms across personal computing division, including the WebOS software the world, are Samsung and Apple. But they are by no means the company had just bought under the previoud CEO; who the only companies going down the legal route. The trend for then got rid of Apotheker when it appeared that his idea to suing for breach of IP reached such heights that as Amazon become purely a software company, bouyed by a very released its Kindle Fire, one of the first questions being asked expensive acquisition of Autonomy, wasn’t a popular one. on Twitter was, who’s going to sue them first?

42 | Mobile Europe h VoLTE Why

November 2nd • 2011 2pm-3pm GMT

Host: LTE promises greatly accelerated data rates — even when mobile users are travelling at hundreds of kilometers per hour. However, as LTE moves from the labs into actual deployments, debates over the glaring gap in delivering voice over an LTE network are growing. Voice is the major revenue Keith Dyer, Editor, Mobile Europe generator for operators, and voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) is now EXFO Presenters: being touted as the technology of choice for delivering voice to LTE networks. n h Now? Why and In this webinar EXFO’s LTE experts will examine the benefits of VoLTE, and the challenges (both pre-deployment and post-

Murat Bilgic, deployment) faced by manufacturers and operators Director of Wireless Technology, CTO Office developing and deploying VoLTE networks.

Join us on 2 November to learn more about: Why VoLTE and why now? I How operators can guarantee call quality that meets and exceeds expectations of end-users Uvaiz Ahmed, I Wireless Product The challenges of interoperating with legacy networks Line Manager (UMTS, GSM, CDMA, etc.) I The co-existence of data and voice over a shared network I Monitoring, troubleshooting and analyzing a deployed VoLTE network

Wayne Davis, Service Assurance Please join EXFO’s team of experts on 2 November, 2011 Product Manager to learn everything you need to know about VoLTE.

Visit this URL to REGISTER: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/321108553 Email: [email protected] Tel: +44207 933 8980