Dream big, take bold steps: Ambani at IMT convocation

"Dismiss prophets of doom and voices of cynicism, always dream big and convert adversity into opportunity and fearlessly take bold steps. These three lessons have worked for me and will work for you too," Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani told the convocation ceremony at Institute of Management Technology (IMT) near here on Saturday.

Ambani was the chief guest at the convocation while Union Minister for Urban Development Kamal Nath, chairman of IMT's board of directors, presided.

Observing that economic power is shifting from West to East, Ambani said, "This is going to be the centre of the world, not America or other countries. We have a chance and we will become an economic superpower, for which we need leadership in all spheres. With this degree, you must graduate to a higher level of aspiration as you are graduating in the times of a resurgent India. Power of youth is central to shaping future of India."

"The impact of your ambition will be exponential on society, humanity and economy. It will be crucial to creating better life for all. Indian business must command respect from all Indians and the passion must be combined with compassion to achieve inclusive growth," he said. Drawing attention to the "important" role of technology in India's future, Ambani said, "Time and distance are collapsing under the impact of technology. What happens in one part affects others in other parts too. Be leaders in technology, management and innovation to make India one of the best in the world... Let's build India that will shine in the world. We need unprecedented and steely determination for it."

'Nagpur will be a 4G hub'

Later, talking to journalists, Ambani said Nagpur will be one of the important hubs for 4G technology and is critical to his 4G plans being in the centre of India. "Nagpur cannot be missed in any plan of that scale and would be one of the main hubs for 4G rollout. Nagpur will soon see some investments from RIL," he said. On being asked if Nagpur will see more Reliance investments besides 4G, he said, "We already have a polyester plant here. Soon, we will make more investments in Nagpur and will explain later at the appropriate time and forum.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dream-big-take-bold-steps-ambani-at-imt-convocation/919710/

Belgacom still dominant on the business market - study

Belgacom remains dominant in the fixed and mobile business market, DataNews wrote, based on its 17th telecom survey. Belgacom holds a 62.5 percent share of the fixed business market, a 55.7 percent share of the mobile communication market and 43.8 percent share of the data network market. Around 60-70 percent of Belgacom said they have no plans to change provider in the coming year. Datanews interviewed 872 people, including CEOs , CIOs and IT managers, programmers and developers. Around half said they take mobile and fixed telephony from the same provider. Over a quarter (28%) said they were not satisfied with their 3G subscription. Belgacom unit Proximus has the least number of dissatisfied mobile customers (12 %) , followed by KPN unit Base (17 %), MVNO Telenet (36%) which uses the network of Mobistar, and finally Orange unit Mobistar (58%). Around 21 percent of respondents expect to switch to a 4G subscription, either partially or completely.

source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/belgacom-still-dominant-on-the-business-market-study--984465

Vodafone Report: How are Kiwis using 4G…?

Vodafone has released the first 4G Network Report, Leading the 4G Revolution, providing a snapshot of how Kiwis are using New Zealand’s 4G network.

Offering an insight into how faster mobile internet speeds are changing our lives, the research combines a survey of Vodafone’s 4G customers and detailed network analysis to offer a glimpse into the way Kiwis are using the world’s best commercially available mobile technology.

Vodafone Consumer Director, Matt Williams says the way Kiwis are using their mobile and tablets has evolved since Vodafone brought 4G to New Zealand more than eight months ago.

“Vodafone’s introduction of 4G gives Kiwis more flexibility and independence – allowing them to stream more, share more and spend more while they’re on the move,” Williams says.

“Access to 4G brings with it the potential to work and play in ways that make our lives even more enjoyable, more productive and more convenient.

“A large proportion of activity on our 3G network is web browsing. But on 4G, customers enjoy traditionally fixed line activities – like shopping and streaming music and video.

“Users are intuitively taking advantage of the increased speeds – and enjoying it.”

According to the report, 24% of Kiwis use their 4G device to check social media apps at least 20 times a day, while New Zealanders on 4G shop online nearly twice as much as those on 3G.

Unsurprisingly Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are the most popular social media apps over 4G, with people keen to share photos at major events – with uploads exceeding downloads.

Other key findings from Vodafone’s Leading the 4G Revolution report:

· 62% of Kiwis use video streaming websites more since upgrading from 3G

· Kiwis are more than twice as likely to stream music from free services (like Spotify) on 4G

· 44% of 4G users use their mobiles as portable hotspots so they can access the internet on their tablets or laptops

· 4G use peaks at lunchtime, with smaller spikes as kids finish school and commuters make their way home on public transport

Vodafone’s 4G network is now well-established, with national coverage available to over 1.3 million New Zealanders across twelve towns and cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown, Wanaka, Lake Brunner, Taupo, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Hamilton, Arrowtown and the Coromandel.

Vodafone: Leading the 4G Revolution is the first report to examine the impact of the country’s only 4G network on social trends and behaviour.

source: http://techday.com/telco-review/news/vodafone-report-how-are-kiwis-using-4g/173205/

Consumer Survey: Sprint = Biggest Loser

Sprint is scraping the bottom of the barrel among US carriers in terms of overall satisfaction. The results come from Consumer Reports, which polled more than 58,000 subscribers about their opinions. Sprint received poor marks all around, with consumers dinging its value, voice and text quality, and 4G reliability. Sprint ranked second last year.

Sprint has certainly struggled throughout much of 2013. It fought a contentious battle to acquire Clearwire earlier this year. It wrestled with its own shareholders as well as the shareholders of Clearwire over the value of the company. It also had to stave off an aggressive offer from Dish Networks -- all while being acquired by Japan's SoftBank. Sprint also shut down its iDEN network in June and has been re-farming its spectrum to improve its LTE network. The company had a full plate. That didn't stop consumers from rating it poorly.

Verizon Wireless earned consumers' highest ratings as far as the top four are concerned. Its customers were generally pleased with Verizon's LTE 4G network and some aspects of its customer support organization. Consumer Reports said that AT&T ranked second and T-Mobile ranked third, with "ho-hum" marks. AT&T managed to beat Verizon Wireless in at least one category, though: reliability of its 4G service.

[ Sprint is building its LTE coverage, but it still badly lags AT&T and Verizon. See Sprint LTE Network Slowly Expands. ]

Verizon Wireless recently admitted that it is struggling to handle all the traffic on its LTE network in major markets across the country, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Its network has reached capacity in many markets, and it is forcing some data connections back down to its CDMA 3G network. Verizon is preparing to offer LTE on the 1700 MHz spectrum in some markets to supplement its 700 MHz spectrum, but is a long way from making the additional spectrum widely available.

AT&T's LTE network has fared better in large cities, and that is likely why consumers rated it above Verizon's.

Consumer Reports said Consumer Cellular, a prepaid provider, was the overall leader among wireless networks in the US.

"Our latest cell service satisfaction survey revealed a somewhat precipitous decline by Sprint that shuffled the rankings of the major standard service providers," said Glenn Derene, electronics content development team leader for Consumer Reports, in the press release. "And smaller, no-frills, no-contract, and prepaid service providers continue to do a better job of satisfying customers, and provide an increasingly viable alternative to some of the expensive, long-term contracts that many consumers find themselves locked into."

Many of the prepaid networks run on those of their larger rivals. For example, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile USA both use Sprint's network, while Consumer Cellular runs on AT&T's network. Cricket, MetroPCS, and U.S. Cellular run their own networks, but offer no-contract service plans that often dramatically undercut those of the country's biggest wireless providers.

source: http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-business/consumer-survey-sprint---biggest-loser/d/d-id/1112728

80% service providers plan to leverage NFV in 2014: Survey

According to a study by Dialogic, the Network Fuel company, an overwhelming majority of 80% of service providers plan to leverage NFV in 2014.
The survey says that 81 percent of respondents foresee a diminishing role for the Central Office; but more than half expect purpose built hardware to have longevity. The top benefits of NFV were seen as relating to CAPEX and OPEX, with 70 percent of respondents believing they could be more operationally efficient with NFV and 67 percent indicating it is a better way to invest capital.
Dialogic  announced the results of its first Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) Survey, to cut through market speculation and deliver relevant information on NFV and virtualization and how it will alter the way service providers deploy the networks of tomorrow.

“It all comes down to the fact that virtualization of Network Functions is just a matter of when, not if,” according to Thomas Schroer, director of service provider marketing for Dialogic. “Because the timing is right now for virtualizing UC and VoIP applications and 70 percent of survey respondents expect to see gains in operational efficiency right away.”

The survey results reveal that an overwhelming majority of respondents see service providers benefitting the most from NFV with Unified Communications the likely starting place for NFV deployments followed by 4G and 3G a distant consideration.

It was no surprise that security and scalability are leading challenges for those implementing a virtualization strategy, so the take away here is for companies to look for solutions and partners who can be trusted to address those concerns.

source: http://www.telecomtiger.com/Technology_fullstory.aspxpassfrom=topstory&storyid=19267&section=S210

China Mobile To Release 4G Service With Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhones; Sprint Customers Declining

Mizuho Securities Analyst Marvin Lo in Hong Kong said that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s deal with China Mobile Ltd. (ADR) (NYSE:CHL) would give it a big increase in the China market as the largest local carrier has the largest number of users. He added that at least 10% or 70 million wealthier ones would be potential customers for iPhones among China Mobile’s more than 700 million mobile subscribers.

By using the nation’s home grown flavor of LTE called TD-LTE, China Mobile will unveil its 4G network. With existing 4G LTE, the carrier technology is unsuited, an attempt by China to avoid paying patent royalities to Qualcomm, much as it former did with its version of 3G service “TD-SCDMA”.

For TD-LTE, Apple (AAPL)’s iPhone 5s and 5c specifically include support and in early September, China’s Telecom Equipment Certification Center approved the two models. Addition of the two new iPhones is a small minority of devices competent of working on China Mobile’s 4G network and licensed by the state.

According to Consumer Reports’ survey released on Thursday, Sprint Corporation (NYSE:S) attained “dreary marks” in voice, text messaging, 4G reliability and value. However, last year, Sprint ranked No. 2 behind Verizon Wireless. The company is in the middle of upgrading its network to offer improved and faster service to customers, but the transformation has been bumpy for users. That’s why in the last few years, many have left the carrier.

A Sprint representative commented on the Consumer Reports’ survey by saying that they’re not necessarily surprising but disappointing. The company is hopeful that declining rate of customers will get better with improvement in the network. Last month, the company demonstrated Sprint Spark, its enhanced LTE network, to stimulate interest for its next-generation network.

Once again, Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is on top of the list, although Verizon recently admitted that it was facing pressures in big cities like San Francisco and New York. Consumer Reports said that T-Mobile US Inc (NYSE:TMUS) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) attained “ho-hum” results but for 4G reliability, AT&T was the lone carrier to get a top rating. About offering both the fastest and most reliable network in the nation, AT&T has been advertising a lot while to pair with HSPA+ network, T-Mobile has built out its 4G LTE network.

According to survey, many customers are overpaying for their data, with 38 percent of users surveyed using half or less than half of their monthly data plans.

source: http://www.consensuspress.com/china-mobile-to-release-4g-service-with-apple-inc-nasdaqaapls-iphones-sprint-customers-declining/252602/

4G network still limited in Sao Paulo - survey

Tests conducted by Brazilian daily Folha de Sao Paulo of the 4G connection in 21 districts of the city of Sao Paulo have rated the network "frustrating" due to gaps in coverage and varying speeds. The upload and download rates in some places of the city were almost equal to those of 3G. However, when the signal worked properly, the connection proved to be very fast. All the operators admit that there is room for improvement in coverage. Vivo blames the restrictive legislation of the municipality and says it hinders the installation of new antennas. TIM said it is offering complementary solutions, such as 3G and Wi-Fi, while Claro claims it covers 80 percent of Sao Paulo, but there are still spaces to be filled. Oi still does not provide a 4G signal in the city.

source: http://www.telecompaper.com/news/4g-network-still-limited-in-sao-paulo-survey--979168