Dow Jones Newswires is running an interview with Virgin Mobile USA CEO Dan Schulman on the competitive landscape of the MVNO sector, which reads like a summary of our FierceWireless interview with Schulman from last week. Schulman said, “There’s quite a bit of space in the youth market… it’s a huge market place with penetration yet to happen.” Another good quote: “A lot of the new entrants coming have seen some of the success we’ve had, and have dipped their toes in the water,” Schulman said. “When they dive in, they’ll find it’s much colder, and there are a lot of sharks in the deep end.” In our interview Schulman says “I truly believe a giant shakeout is ahead. I think you may have only two or three MVNOs that are of any significance out the market.”

Source:Fierce Mobile Content

Nice car racing games in 3D, that work with all Windows Mobile devices.

Fasten your seat belt, zoom over the city stages, whiz by splendid landmarks and cheering crowd, push the limits of your vehicle to win the champion. Snow Rally City Stage is a solid city racing game with the best 3D graphics on mobile and handheld devices offering breathtaking gaming experience and gorgeous city scenery.

Game Features

• Game console like 3D graphics
• City racing courses feature with stunning city scene
• World rally cars with lifelike physics simulation
• Advanced game opponent AI generates exciting racing experience
• Life video record and video replay
• Supports all screen size and layout: QVGA vertical / landscape, VGA vertical / landscape, square screen 240×240 / 320×320, smartphone 176×220
• Supports all Windows Mobile OS: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2003 Second Edition, 5, 6.

Source:Msmobiles

Blyk, the pan-European free mobile network for young people, funded by advertising, has chosen Nokia Siemens Networks to supply, build and host its core network. In its first-ever full mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) hosting arrangement, Nokia Siemens Networks will be hosting the entire operation of Blyk’s core network. The contract was initially signed by Nokia.

The Blyk service is based on an advertising-supported model. Blyk provides free calls and text messaging to 16-24 year-old subscribers funded by mobile advertisements delivered directly to their phones. Blyk will initially offer its mobile services in the United Kingdom, before expanding to other European countries. The service is scheduled for commercial launch in mid 2007.

“Blyk is bringing something completely different to the world of mobile communications, something that hasn’t been done before,” says Kai Friman, Head of Member Operations, Blyk. “That’s why getting it right is absolutely crucial. We have full confidence in Nokia Siemens Networks’ ability to provide a fully hosted solution for Blyk and its unique way of doing business.”

“As our first hosting deal with a full core network scope, this is an extremely exciting step for Nokia Siemens Networks,” says Olli Oittinen, Head of Solutions Sales Management, Nokia Siemens Networks. “Not only does it showcase the truly pioneering spirit of companies such as Blyk, but it also reinforces our own focus on the MVNO market and the opportunities of hosting in general. We are fully committed to providing a comprehensive range of hosting solutions and see hosting as a very attractive option for MVNOs and other operators, as demonstrated by this groundbreaking deal with Blyk.”

Under the hosting arrangement with Nokia Siemens Networks, the company provides the entire core network to Blyk, including mobile softswitching.

Source:Cellular-News

Employer confidence within Australia’s telecoms sector is at record high levels, according to the latest Hudson Report Employment Expectations survey. The survey of 7,426 employers nationally by Hudson showed that just over half of telecoms employers expect to increase permanent employment levels in the April - June 2007 quarter, while 5.4% expect to reduce staffing levels, translating to a net effect of +45.8%.
The result represents an increase of 23.8 percentage points (pp) compared to the employment expectation figures recorded for the sector in the corresponding period last year.

Martin Retschko, Director IT and T Sector at Hudson, said the record high employer confidence levels are a good indication of the current strength in the telecommunications sector. “The employer confidence is being driven by continued high adoption rates of technology at the consumer, corporate and government levels, as well as a number of major projects driving demand for both contract and permanent resources,” said Mr Retschko.

The results also showed temporary recruitment levels in the telecommunications industry increased rapidly during the January - March 2007 quarter with a net +33.3% of employers bringing on board more contractors.

“The increase in demand for temporary and contract employees shows employers are under pressure to get immediate results and fill positions not easily sourced through the permanent recruitment market,” said Retschko.

“With the current talent shortage we are seeing many employers filling short-term employment gaps with a temporary or contract employees while they spend time sourcing and attracting the most suitable person for the role.”

Overall, the Hudson Report Employment Expectations survey revealed employer confidence in Australia across all sectors has reached its highest level in five years with a net +34.3% of all employers indicating they expect to increase their permanent workforce over the next three months.

All Australian states and territories except Western Australia returned increased positive net effects compared to the employment expectations recorded for last quarter. The Australian Capital Territory recorded the largest increase in employer sentiment, rising 3.7pp - the highest net effect recorded in the ACT in five years (+48.5%).

Source:Cellular-news

EDGE Evolution is set to triple data speeds in existing GSM networks, helping to deliver mobile broadband to the low-income market segment.

Ericsson is set to launch EDGE Evolution as a software upgrade to existing infrastructure by 2009, a move that is expected to dramatically change how consumers, particularly in the developing world, access and use the internet.

John Gagnerud, product marketing manager at Ericsson, says: “What we’re talking about is providing broadband internet access to the masses in both rural and urban areas. Lots of people don’t have computers at home - because they can’t afford them. But a GSM/EDGE mobile (device) might give them access to e-mail, which will be revolutionary for many.”

EDGE Evolution will boost current EDGE data speeds by up to 300 percent and will significantly improve latency, coverage and spectrum efficiency. This improved data performance for GSM will serve as an important complement to high-speed WCDMA/HSPA networks, meeting the growing demand for data bandwidth and mobility.

The market potential is amazing, Gagnerud says: some cities in the developing world are already consuming twice as much mobile data as Sweden.

“In China, the city of Guangzhou has a population of 10 million-13 million people and the mobile telephony market penetration is hovering around 90 percent,” he says. “This city, with a population a bit larger than the country of Sweden, consumes about twice as much data as we do.”

A general desire for internet content is fueling much of the boom in this sector, as are tailored e-services. Many governments have ambitious ICT plans and mobile networks can deliver advanced access to everyone.

“Successful e-services are usually developed locally - as they should be - and they play a big role in the lives of some people,” Gagnerud says.

Electronic banking over mobile telephones is one example of applications with huge potential. “If people are able to do their banking over the telephone, this will revolutionize the entire banking industry, especially in countries that lack this type of infrastructure today,” he says.

The GSM Association reports that only a billion of the world’s people have bank accounts - but three times as many have mobile phones.

“These are basic needs - not quite as basic as food and shelter, but access to the internet is growing in importance. If a government wants to lift its people out of misery, access to the internet is one of the ways to do that,” Gagnerud says.

Source:Ericsson

Mobility, mobile devices and system reliability will become increasingly important within e-government in the years to come, and telecom vendors and operators will play an important role in facilitating easy-to-use services and applications for citizens. These were the conclusions reached at this year’s e-Government National Awards.
Christopher Histed, CEO of PublicTechnoloy.net, the prime e-government news service for public ICT in the UK, says: “Mobile devices and mobile technology will become desperately important. Additionally, system reliability will be crucial. With past IT failures in mind - when failures in a small number of high-profile government IT systems caused significant problems - central and local government is extremely cautious when it comes to investing in ICT.”

In a nationwide survey of local government employees published in January 2007, 61 percent of CEOs and heads of service said they would be spending more of their ICT budget on mobile devices for remote working in 2007-8 versus the current year. Local government in the UK will spend GBP 2.7 billion on ICT in 2007-8.

The e-Government National Awards were founded in 2003 by PublicTechnology.net, in cooperation with central government organizations, and they represent the UK’s highest commendation for the best e-Government services. These are services which, through innovative online delivery or IT implementation, have positively transformed the lives of citizens, local communities, business, and stakeholder groups. The winners and finalists highlight the massive benefits to UK citizens of services such as online school admissions, online transport aid, help lines, and numerous council e-services that improve citizens’ lives across the UK.

Simplicity, vision, target group orientation and strong usage were the common key factors for this year’s award winners. All nominations delivered services designed for the target audience - UK citizens.

TransportDirect won the citizen-focused online services category. Its service offers users the ability to plan their journeys via all modes of transport, including car and public transport, across the whole of Britain via the internet, mobile phones or iDTV. The Department for Education and Skills won with its Connexions Direct national website and helpline, a service that offers engaging and accessible online information, advice and support for 13-19 year olds in England.

The winners of the 11 categories were chosen from 345 nominations from across the public sector. Judges included central government organizations, vendors and operators.

Commenting on the event, awards judge Nigel Dutton, of mobile network operator O2, said: “It’s inspiring to see the public sector seizing the golden opportunity presented by e-government and by mobile e-government in particular. Being mobile can enable public servants to deliver better outcomes and better fulfill local needs, increasing job satisfaction.”

Source:Ericsson

With most of the world’s telecommunications networks based on GSM technologies, HSPA and LTE will be the preferred building blocks in many operators’ mobile broadband strategies.
“Our greatest success as a company doesn’t come from technology but from placing the user at the center of everything we do,” AT and T CEO Randall Stephenson said in a keynote speech at CTIA Wireless 2007. However, since most of the world’s telecommunications networks are based on GSM, the evolution of these networks will continue to play a major role in meeting consumers’ needs.

“Moving to GSM was without a doubt the biggest technology decision we as a company have ever made,” Stephenson said. His company, AT and T (formerly Cingular), recently decided that High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) would be its technology of choice for providing mobile broadband.

The evolution to HSPA comes about through a software upgrade to WCDMA. This is important because operators can leverage their existing assets.

Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is the next step for delivering an even more powerful mobile experience. At CTIA, Ericsson showed its LTE solution which included the advanced MIMO radio technology, capable of achieving speeds of more than 140Mbps.

Robert Jansen, portfolio market manager at Ericsson, was demonstrating LTE at CTIA. He says operators’ decisions to move towards HSPA and LTE are simplified by the favorable economies of scale.

By 2011, the overwhelming majority of mobile subscribers will be connected to GSM-based networks. This means that HSPA and LTE will be the most efficient means for delivering mobile broadband to a mass market.

As part of the LTE demonstration, visitors could see high-speed downloads of large, 70Mb files, streaming high-definition TV, and high-definition video-conferencing.

HSPA is being used today by operators such as AT and T and T-Mobile in the US while CDMA operators such as Vivo (Brazil), Pelephone (Israel) and Telstra (Australia) have also chosen to migrate to this technology because of the economies of scale. The next phase of development, known as HSPA+, will be available in the next couple of years followed soon after by LTE.

While HSPA and LTE each have a compelling technology proposition, the real value is the freedom they give to consumers to get the content they want, whenever and wherever they want it.

Source:Ericsson

STARHUB is handing out $20 worth of international calls to users who sign up for a free three-month trial of its mobile Internet service, which starts on Monday.

Unveiled last week, the service enables people to use their cellphones to make Internet calls, receive e-mail and chat online with friends.

Pfingo, which is open to any user worldwide and not just StarHub subscribers, is likely to be launched commercially for a flat monthly fee within the next three months.

StarHub’s head of advanced multimedia services, Mr Chan Kin Hung, said yesterday that the company hopes to sign up between 2,000 and 3,000 trial users, but declined to reveal how much the service will cost.

The company is hoping to offer an easy-to-use package of services to attract mobile users who want to stay connected on the move. These services are already available elsewhere, but not in one package.

Subscribers can sign up at the Pfingo website (www.pfingo.com) and download the necessary software for free.

They will then be given a phone number with which they can make and receive Internet calls on both their computers and cellphones.

The service supports more than 100 phone models now.

Pfingo will place StarHub squarely in competition with Internet giants like Google and Yahoo, which are expanding their market from computer users to mobile users.

StarHub is one of the first telecom operators to launch new mobile Internet services as shrinking revenues from airtime charges start putting a squeeze on telcos worldwide.

Source:Asia One