SMS may face new challengers in Apple and Google (CP: Apple isn’t going to kill SMS, but Google can), but according to Portio Research any predictions of SMS’s near-term demise are not just premature but even a bit silly. Though SMS and MMS have faced off against multiple mobile messaging technologies—from e-mail to IM—in recent years, SMS continues to grow in both volumes of messages and revenue. In fact, Portio expects global operators to make more money off of SMS in the next five years ($726 billion) than they have in the previous 15 years or so ($585 billion) since SMS’s birth. Read the rest of this entry »
Unfiltered
Frank discussion with telecom's most experienced editors
Skype comes to the connected TV, courtesy of Comcast
Skype and Comcast this morning announced a partnership to bring an HD version of the over-the-top IP service provider’s video calling service (plus voice and texting calling as well) to customer TVs. The capability will be delivered via a Comcast-provided adapter box that will work in conjunction with an HD video camera, the companies said. Trials will begin later this summer with a wider launch by year’s end. Read the rest of this entry »
Revenue assurance, fraud management and the gray area in between
I found a list of the top fraud management companies and it got me thinking. As I read through it some old familiar names appeared and I realised that I knew them as “revenue assurance” companies. During the tough times for telecom operators in the early 2000s, many billing companies re-invented themselves as revenue Assurance companies. The reason was simply that customer data, the lifeblood of any telco, goes through the billing engine – case closed.
The extension of that thought is, therefore, if revenue assurance software looks for patterns and identifies inefficiencies and losses, then a fraud management system does the same but looks for deliberate leaks and losses.
Logically that works. Read the rest of this entry »
Verizon to tap $160 billion online shopping market with Payfone
Verizon Wireless said this week it will leverage Payfone’s mobile payments technology to enable customers to pay for online purchases using mobile phones and tablets, a market that ComScore values at more than $38 billion per quarter. This announcement should surprise no one as Payfone is a Verizon Ventures portfolio company. Verizon Wireless claims that the move will complement Its investment in ISIS, its NFC-based mobile payments joint venture with AT&T and T-Mobile that will enable brick-and-mortar purchases via NFC-enabled mobile device.
The big picture in mobile payments is all about giving consumers options. Payfone, for example, enables payments to pay directly to the wireless bill or through more traditional payment channels, like credit cards. The rapidly expanding payments world, however, lacks simplicity as a result of the rapid emergence of many new choices.
RIM investor calls for more “ethical” leadership arrangement
RIM is facing a new problem, which comes heaped atop rumors of slow BlackBerry PlayBook sales and forecasts of global BlackBerry OS market shares falling over the next few years. Northwest and Ethical Investments, which owns more than half a million RIM shares, is calling on the company to separate the positions of chairman and chief executive, which are currently shared by Jim Balsillie and RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis. Read the rest of this entry »
Could cellular signal boosters play a role in Universal Service reforms?
Wilson Electronics, manufacturer of cellular signal boosters, is touting a success story involving the use of its product in rural upstate New York to support 3G data service. Read the rest of this entry »
LightSquared interference data piles up, but the bombshell drops next week
Just a few days before a final report on the subject is due to the FCC, more data is emerging showing LightSquared’s proposed long-term evolution (LTE) network will interfere with GPS signals (WSJ: More tests show GPS interference with LightSquared network). This latest batch comes from government testers, not the GPS industry, which may lend more credence to the results. But the report we should really be waiting for is due June 15 from the GPS technical working group formed by LightSquared and GPS industry representatives. Read the rest of this entry »
Will HP Touchpad be one of AT&T’s first LTE devices?
HP will launch its iPad competitor, the HP Touchpad, July 1 in a Wi-Fi-only version, with a 4G option coming later this year with mobile partner AT&T. In addition to being the first tablet built on HP’s WebOS, the timing of the 4G version could potentially – though this is pure speculation – make it one of the first devices on AT&T’s soon-to-come LTE network. Read the rest of this entry »
World IPv6 Day by the numbers
A key goal of this week’s World IPv6 Day was to gather data about the new Internet protocol. Participants assuredly succeeded in achieving that goal—although some participants’ findings seem out of whack with others’.
Here are a few highlights: Read the rest of this entry »
Sprint’s shared data plans: What the shared services concept means for OSS/BSS
Sprint plans to launch family-style shared data plans as early as next week, making it the first such offering from a major U.S. mobile operator, according to a report from Intomobile.com based on a leaked internal memo. Shared services models are a mainstay for mobile voice plans, as family share and corporate pooling plans have been on the market for years. But shifting the idea to data plans may herald a new concept for all types of shared services across mobile devices. Read the rest of this entry »