The Editor's Cut

Moto Milestone headed for T-Mobile UK

2009-12-01T12:28:00.002Z

Motorola's Android 2.0-powered Milestone - known as Droid in the U.S. - will go on sale in the U.K. SIM free and on T-Mobile in four days, in what is shaping up to be a rather bizarre launch.

With absolutely no fanfare it emerged last week that online retailer Expansys will offer an unlocked version of the handset for £449.99, and a contract version tied to an 18-month T-Mobile UK tariff costing £35 per month, plus a £49.99 upfront fee.

Total Telecom spoke to someone at Expansys who said the phone will go on sale in four days. Meanwhile a Motorola UK spokeswoman said the phone maker is still "firming up" the Milestone's launch plans.

While the U.S. market was treated to an aggressive marketing campaign that pitted the smartphone directly against Apple's rival iPhone, Motorola's European effort has been understated to say the least.

At the beginning of November Motorola's German Website confirmed that the Droid was being renamed Milestone ahead of its European debut. Since then announcements have been made regarding the phone's availability in Italy, Canada, Brazil and Argentina to name a few.

Meanwhile Motorola said in the small print on its U.K. Milestone fact sheet that the device will be available in Q4 2009, but that's about as far as it goes for now.

Incidentally, Total Telecom's theory on the name change outside the U.S. stems from the fact that the word 'Droid' is a trademark of Star Wars creator George Lucas' Lucasfilm.

There are probably myriad reasons for the change; however, when negotiating a trademark licensing deal you need to specify in which territories you want to use it - so maybe Moto didn't see the value in shelling out to use the Droid name outside the U.S.?

Twitter mulls shopping spree

2009-11-24T11:54:00.002Z

Twitter is mulling further acquisitions in order to capitalise on its growing popularity.

Co-founder Biz Stone remarked to Reuters at a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday that the micro-blogging Website's acquisition of search engine Summize in 2008 "turned out to be an outstandingly good decision," and that another shopping spree "is something we are definitely interested in."

Stone on Monday once again told reporters, this time in Oxford, U.K., that Twitter is not for sale; although it may pursue an IPO.

He added that Twitter will focus in 2010 on generating revenue from non-traditional Internet advertising.

Caught in the crossfire

2009-11-20T16:59:00.003Z

Egypt's Orascom Telecom found itself on the wrong end of football fever in Algeria this week.

Sadly, the battle between Algeria and Egypt for qualification for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa was not confined to the pitch.

Angry that attacks against their own fans in Cairo had apparently gone uncensured by Egyptian authorities, Algerian fans went on the rampage in Algiers and Orascom was caught in the crossfire; according to numerous press reports, rioters trashed the telco's offices in the Algerian capital, causing several million dollars worth of damage.

As a smart-alec Total Telecom reader and football fan pointed out, it's a good job Orange does not have a presence in the Republic of Ireland...

Talking about our feelings

2009-11-20T16:34:00.002Z

At a telecoms event that was probably more male-dominated than the industry average, and that's saying something, it was unusual to hear a speaker encourage his audience to talk about their feelings.

But that's exactly what Rob Keve, CEO of Fizzback, did at the FT World Telecoms Conference on Thursday.

In a presentation designed to introduce conference attendees to his company - and to be honest once he'd finished I was still a little unsure exactly how Fizzback works - Keve must have used the word "emotions" several dozen times.

Apparently, Fizzback is a way of capturing feedback from consumers "at the point of experience", which can then be packaged up for telecoms operators to use. But more than that, Fizzback "interprets the rich emotions they are expressing", Keve explained, sort of.

Frankly, whenever I've had a bad experience with a service provider - in the telecoms space or otherwise - it would not require a fancy service to interpret my emotions; a loud beep to protect the innocence of any children in the immediate vicinity would suffice.

Once consumer data is captured, via email, SMS, social networks and so on, Fizzback uses a black box, which "is neither black nor a box," Keve said, to interpret those emotions. Well, that clarifies things then.

I may still be somewhat in the dark about what Fizzback actually does, but the message was pretty clear: operators need to get touchy-feely and listen to their customers in order to prevent churn. Simples.

BT CEO hints at mobile return

2009-11-12T16:18:00.002Z

BT CEO Ian Livingston on Thursday once again suggested that the telco is eyeing a possible return to the U.K. mobile market.

When fielding the obligatory 'what is your mobile strategy?' question during BT's fiscal second quarter results, his answer was far more open to interpretation than the usually evasive, 'it's something we look at' type of response.

"What is a mobile service? It's a chunk of spectrum that connects to a base station which connects back to a fixed network," he said.

When asked if BT would participate in any upcoming U.K. spectrum auctions, he said:

"We will be looking ahead to the upcoming spectrum auctions... We will also look at the MVNO option. We're in the wholesale business but we don't mind being wholesaled to."

This is a far cry from the first quarter, when in response to a similar question, Livingston replied:

"I don't feel that our business is compromised by not being able to offer mobility solutions."

Livingston also sparked rumours at the beginning of 2009 when the Observer reported that BT had held informal talks with T-Mobile and 3 UK over a possible return to the mobile sector as part of a three-way joint venture.

Vodafone CEO relaxed on capacity contraints

2009-11-12T15:50:00.003Z

The mobile industry has been abuzz with talk of network expansion and upgrade as operators plan for the projected explosion in traffic that will come as smartphone take-up and data usage increase.

But Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao is adamant that there is nothing to fear.

"Our total traffic... is up 300% versus two years ago," he told attendees at the mobile operator's third-quarter results presentation on Tuesday.

However, capital spending on the network is determined by peak saturation, that is, cell sites that operate at over 90% of their capacity during peak times, Colao explained.

He added that 5% of Vodafone's sites operate at above 90%, which is slighter lower than it was a few months ago, largely thanks to spectral efficiency and "better versions" of HSPA.

Voda plans to upgrade 20,000-25,000 more sites to become more efficient in the next six months, as well as investing in backhaul.

"The vision is supportable for the foreseeable future," Colao said.

Femtocell trial: update

2009-11-05T12:18:00.003Z

Well, I have placed the femtocell at a greater distance from the router - but given the limitations of where to put routers and the length of cables this is still not an ideal scenario, I would say.

I was talking to an executive from Nokia Siemens about this yesterday, and he said the spectrum filters in current femtocells are still quite poor and really need to be further refined - although this would make them more expensive initially.

I'm no engineer, but as a consumer my view is that it's not good enough to just ask consumers to locate a femtocell six feet away from their router. Sometimes that's just not always that feasible, and it's hardly user friendly. It might be OK for the early adopters to do this - but what about the mass market? I can't help but think that if femtos are to take off as a mass-market solution for indoor coverage or even data offloading then these interference issues need to be eliminated. I'm just trialling a femtocell; not sure I would buy one just yet.

TT Makes the Shortlist

2009-11-03T10:14:00.006Z

Total Telecom is delighted to have made the shortlist for this years PPA Independent Publisher Awards in the category of ONLINE BRAND OF THE YEAR.

The Independent Publisher Awards are described by the PPA (Periodical Publishers Association - one of the leading publishing trade bodies worldwide) as the ultimate accolade for the achievements of independent publishers and so Total Telecom is delighted to make the shortlist alongside two other extremely strong brands, The Moodie Report and Clash Magazine.

The winner will be revealed during the glamorous awards ceremony on Tuesday 1 December 2009 where Total Telecom will be crossing fingers that we are named ONLINE BRAND OF THE YEAR.

Watch this space!

Femtocell trial: first impressions

2009-10-30T14:51:00.003Z

Well, it works, I can make calls in my home and both mobile phones have been registered - although it took a couple of calls to get that sorted out. And I never received my confirmation SMS...

But there is one very worrying development. When my femtocell is on, my WiFi network does not work properly. The signal becomes very weak and I can't always get on the Internet. This is resolved by unplugging the femtocell...

So what's at fault here? My WiFi network, or the femtocell? I did assume the two would not interfere with one another but this is too much of a coincidence to ignore. What can I do? I have no control over where they are located as the broadband router has to be connected to both...

Trialling femtocells

2009-10-23T16:07:00.003+01:00

I've just started trialling a femtocell in my home. It's the Access Gateway from Vodafone UK. So far, it's great. Although I live in central London the mobile reception in my home is appalling. Now, after having registered my mobile number with the gateway, I get a strong signal indoors and all being well will never miss a mobile call or text again!

Trialling the femtocell, and thinking about how it can be used, certainly brings into perspective the conundrum faced by mobile operators with the femtocell business model. It is great for coverage indoors if like me you suffer from poor access to the macro network. But other than that, if you already have WiFi, why would you need a femtocell for anything else? Even my mobile broadband service would be no use to me if my fixed connection went down as I need the fixed broadband for the femtocell backhaul...

Home networking perhaps? Offloading traffic? Hard to see it at the moment. But an all-singing, all-dancing router with WiFi, cellular, and home networking support- now you're talking.

While installing my femtocell I also tested my broadband speed: 11 Mbps on the downlink! Way to go, Virgin Media! Shame the uplink is still below 1 Mbps though.

Joost UK enters liquidation

2009-10-14T17:24:00.002+01:00

The U.K. arm of online video service Joost announced on Wednesday it has gone into liquidation.

"The company had failed to sustain a significant share of the Internet video industry and was unable to address this effectively through a re-positioning of its services," said Joost UK in a brief statement emailed to Total Telecom.

In what could be other signs of its protracted demise, the struggling P2P video firm announced in July it was retreating from the consumer market and would instead focus on providing white label solutions to enable media companies to publish their own Internet video content.

The reorganisation also saw the replacement of CEO Mike Volpi with Matt Zelesko, Joost's senior vice president of engineering.

Although Wednesday's announcement concerns one Joost subsidiary, the company launched by Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis has recently become embroiled in a wider dispute with its ex-CEO.

In September Volpi was removed as chairman and became the subject to an internal investigation.

A week later it emerged that Joost, along with another Zennstrom and Friis company, Joltid, was suing him for breach of fiduciary duty by allegedly using confidential information to strike a deal with eBay to sell its 65% stake in Skype to a group of private investors.

Viennese whirl

2009-10-13T11:48:00.002+01:00

I'm in Vienna at the moment, hearing about Telekom Austria's strategy for both its fixed and mobile units. It's interesting how much more subdued the company has become since Boris Nemsic left - but that's not just because Nemsic left of course. The company has been forced to sooth ruffled shareholder feathers over its expansion strategy - investors accused the operator of empire building, according to CFO Hans Tschuden. Now the focus is on cash flow, dividends and shareholder value. The mini mobile empire is to be retained, but there are no plans to expand it further. No wonder Nemsic left really - it must have become a very dull place for him. Instead he has gone to stir things up at Russian mobile operator Vimpelcom!

World Vendor Awards Launched

2009-10-10T22:55:00.002+01:00

Total Telecom have launched the World Vendor Awards - recognising excellence and innovation amongst telecom hardware and software vendors.

Initial response suggests this could very quickly become as significant as the World CommunicationAwards - which are now in their 11th year - so don't miss out, check out the categories today at www.worldvendorawards.com

It's quiet on the Geneva front...

2009-10-05T16:28:00.002+01:00

Unaccustomed as I am to finding a spare seat in the press room on day 1 of Telecom World in Geneva...

Well, yes, as predicted it's quiet here. But that's not to say it's not been worth coming. I think a lot of the exhibitors will be pretty fed up if traffic doesn't increase in the next few days, but the Forum is well attended and there are plenty of people to meet from a media point of view. But as one media rep just said, the ITU should probably now forget about the exhibition part and just have it as a Forum, because it's a good platform for debate at a pretty high level.

The ITU is already advertising Telecom World 2011 - apparently it will be the 40th anniversary of Telecom World. I hope the ITU learns from this year's event and cuts its cloth accordingly, though.

The great thing is that all the events and exhibitors have been squeezed into halls 1-4, and as anyone familiar with the Palexpo will know, that means much less walking than normal!

Who mentioned tumbleweed...?

India to hit half a billion mobile subs this year

2009-10-01T14:59:00.002+01:00

India's telecoms minister Andimuthu Raja predicts that the country will hit 500 million mobile subscribers during 2009.

Raja made the comments on Thursday at an industry conference, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The country's previous target saw it reaching the half-billion mark in 2010.

According to the latest figures from the TRAI, India's total mobile customer base stood at 456.74 million at the end of August, with over 15 million new subscribers having been added during that month.

If it maintains that level of customer addition, India should break the 500 million barrier in November.

Double Hat-Trick!

2009-09-29T13:22:00.005+01:00

Total Telecom are delighted to welcome not one, not two, but three new partners for three of our events....

Juniper Networks join the list of sponsors of this years World Communication Awards, which will be presented at the London Hilton on the 25 November. Juniper will present the trophy to the recipient of this years Green Award.

Tellabs have joined us as the founding Event Partner for our telecom strategy club, the World Telecoms Council. The next meeting will be held in central London on the 24 & 25 November and will offer the opportunity to discuss Green & Sustainable Telecoms, Wholesale Telecoms, and Business Models with leading telecom professionals and experts including Robin Mersh, COO of the Broadband Forum.

Finally we are delighted to confirm PricewaterhouseCoopers as the Founding Partner of the NEW World Vendor Awards. Launching officially next month, the WVA will recognise excellence and innovation amongst hardware and software vendors serving the global telecom community.

For more information on any of these events, contact rob.chambers@totaltele.com.

Orange to offer iPhone in UK

2009-09-28T10:49:00.003+01:00

Having had exclusive rights to offer Apple's iPhone in the U.K. for the past two years, O2 will soon face competition when it comes to providing the much-hyped handset.

Orange announced Monday that it too will offer the phone later this year, although it has yet to announce an official launch date or reveal pricing details.

So, getting an Orange in your stocking this Christmas could actually be a bonus!

Any more votes? Going, going, gone...

2009-09-10T16:18:00.000+01:00

CEO of the Year:
Voting for the World Communication Awards 2009
CEO of the Year closes tomorrow, 11 September.

So far the category, sponsored by Rogers Communications has generated over 10,000 votes - and it's close!

Any more votes, get them in quick - view the shortlist here

To view the finalists of other WCA categories, or to find out more about the remaining sponsorship opportunities visit www.worldcommsawards.com

Samsung is not Apple

2009-09-09T14:45:00.002+01:00

The dreaded 'A'-word is starting to be used as an expletive by any telco player that has watched the iPhone's meteoric rise in hardware sales and app downloads from the sidelines.

Last week Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann had to think twice before mentioning Apple's handset during a presentation at Nokia World, and now Samsung is getting in on the act.

"We're not Apple, we actually want to coexist with other players," said Yoon Lee, of Samsung's global marketing operations, during a panel session at Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris.

Lee made the comment in reference to Samsung's ongoing strategy of adopting open standards that will eventually enable devices from other hardware makers to connect to all of Samsung's products.

That's not just the company's mobile phones, either. Lee said Samsung intends to include connectivity on all of its devices including TVs, printers, Blu-ray players and cameras.

"We're helping consumers to share content through multiple devices," he said.

Just don't use the 'A'-word.

Click here to catch up with all the breaking news from Broadband World Forum Europe.

UK mobile merger imminent

2009-09-07T16:32:00.002+01:00

Deustche Telekom and France Telecom are close to agreeing a deal to merge their U.K. operations, according to unnamed sources cited by Dow Jones Newswires this afternoon.

To further fuel the fire of speculation, France Telecom CEO failed to appear at the opening keynote of Broadband World Forum Europe in Paris on Monday, and replacement speaker Jean-Philippe Vanot, innovation and marketing head, was unable to provide a reason for his boss' absense.

Didier Lombard sends his apologies, he told a packed auditorium, before muttering something about the CEO being "otherwise engaged"...

So far so good

2009-09-07T07:42:00.003+01:00

The online team from Total Telecom has arrived in Paris and we have a working Internet connection. Admittedly, we haven't been anywhere near CNIT, the venue for this year's Broadband World Forum Europe, yet, but nonetheless things are looking good.

There's already news in our dedicated BBWF news channel - I spoke to Ethernet over copper specialist Actelis in advance of the show - and there will be much more as the day goes on, so keep checking back.

Click here for Total Telecom's free BBWF news service.

Next stop, CNIT La Defense, where I'm due to meet LG-Nortel and sit in on the opening keynote from Orange.

Sony Ericsson lifts lid on Xperia X2

2009-09-02T16:17:00.004+01:00

Sony Ericsson on Wednesday unveiled the second in its line of Xperia handsets, the X2, aimed at the growing 'prosumer' market.As with the X1, Sony Ericsson is powering its latest smartphone with a specially designed user interface running on Windows Mobile, which enables users to customise various screens (or panels, if you're Sony Ericsson) with their own shortcuts and applications.

Unlike its predecessor, however, the X2 will be running on the latest version of Microsoft's mobile OS - Windows Mobile 6.5. Microsoft announced on Tuesday that the first phones to feature said software will be available from 6 October, so we'll be keeping an eye out for an operator announcement over the coming weeks.

Sony Ericsson has stuck with a touchscreen interface complemented by a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and is pitching the X2 more towards the business user, rather than the segment that will only use it watch YouTube in the pub.

Unfortunately, there is someone missing from the Xperia X2: Johnny X. When the X1 came out we were treated to a diabolically cheesy, Web-based tale of a man with amnesia who relies on his rather snazzy handset to regain his memory, find his wife, and save a professional baseball player from some gangsters.

Mentioning the unmentionable

2009-09-02T14:35:00.003+01:00

There are some words you just can't use at a Nokia event... and I'm not talking about the four-letter variety.

But after some verbal dancing, in the end Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann just couldn't help himself.

People with high-end mobile devices are now surfing the Internet as much on the mobile as they do on a fixed-line connection, Obermann told attendees at Nokia World today.

"[And I'm not just talking about] the device whose name I am not allowed to mention here!" he said, raising a titter from the audience.

"It's not just the iPhone," he clarified, just in case anyone at the Stuttgart event had been living under a rock for the past couple of years.

Nokia will struggle to avoid comparisons with Apple's world-conquering handset though. The Finnish vendor announced two new phones today, both in its Comes With Music range. And unveiling the devices, Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki deliberately compared the cost of downloading music on iTunes with Nokia's unlimited music download service. More info on those new phones on Total Telecom.

Nokia launches N97 Mini

2009-09-02T08:52:00.002+01:00

It's still early, but Nokia has already launched a new device at this year's Nokia World.

Anssi Vanjoki, EVP markets at Nokia, has just presented the N97 Mini, a new version of the N97 designed to appeal to the social networking segment.

Vanjoki said the new slimmer, N97 Mini will appeal to young explorers and tech stylists, listing maps, games, photos, music, messaging and the Ovi Store among the features users can "mash up" on their device.

Oh, and it costs €450, but Vanjoki expects operators will subsidise it to zero in many markets.

Two new music phones from Nokia

2009-09-02T08:40:00.002+01:00

Nokia chief exec Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has just delivered his opening keynote at this year's Nokia World event.

While the focus of his speech was squarely on the services space and Nokia's ambitions there, the Finnish vendor has not forgotten its roots and plans to unveil two new handsets later today.

"We will launch two new music-focussed devices," Kallasvuo told attendees at the event.

He added that the vendor plans to present a new version of its flagship N97 device, that will have a "broader appeal".

"The N97 is selling at a faster rate than its high-profile predecessor the N95," Kallasvuo added.