Almost three years after the launch of the iPhone, it was clear at this week’s FT World Telecoms conference that the mobile industry is still catching-up with the new paradigm the device has created.
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The European Parliament and Council of Ministers have reached an agreement on European Union telecoms reform that will bring about a new regulatory system in the EU early next year.
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MVNOs have a small but significant role in mobile markets. The overriding perception remains that they have the potential to disrupt network operators’ businesses, regardless of the actual damage they do to them. As such, the overriding perception among network operators is to be wary of virtual operators, unless they bring clear value to them that doesn’t threaten to diminish their own.
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Vodafone UK’s launch of a Web application for the iPhone has caused much speculation that the operator is about to sell the iPhone in the UK, robbing O2 UK of its exclusivity with the device. If this were true, if would most likely mean that O2 decided not to meet Apple’s terms for retaining exclusive rights to sell the device.
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3 UK’s introduction of free voice calls is the operator’s latest move to disrupt the business models of the incumbent mobile operators. What sets this move apart from 3’s other, equally headline-grabbing moves is that it strikes at what is still the heart of mobile operators’ business case: voice revenues.
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The deal signed between Zain Kenya and Essar Telecom Kenya is a move that indicates operators in developing markets are following the lead of those in Europe by striking agreements to produce opex and capex savings.
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The deal announced by Vodafone and Telefonica O2 to share sites in European markets is just the first step to combining more elements of network infrastructure. The agreement announced today is less far-reaching than some had expected because it doesn’t cover actual equipment, such as base stations – that is, for now . . .
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Vodafone and O2 are discussing a network-sharing deal in the UK that would, if it gets off the ground, have major ramifications not just for the UK but also for the entire industry.
The femtocell is one of those concepts that periodically emerge in the mobile industry that some claim will solve most, if not all, mobile operators’ problems in one fell swoop. As such, it joins a long list of memorable technologies that could save the world if only the world were different. Read the rest of this entry »
An interesting bifurcation is emerging among 3G operators between those looking to upgrade to HSPA+ and those looking to adopt Long Term Evolution (LTE) as soon as they can, possibly as early as 2010.
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Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert is the Editor of Global Mobile.