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So we've been listening and on Wednesday launched the most major shakeup of the Total Telecom subscription model since we went fully paid around 5 years ago.
Our aim was to give more to everyone and so we've upgraded our subscription packages and more importantly have reintroduced FREE news. So now everyone can read the last 7 days news stories for free, no more recieving your daily Total Telecom email and cursing that you can't read the stories.
Check out the new subscrption levels here.
World Communication Awards 2008
It's not even March yet, but already the enquiries about the 2008 World Communication Awards are flowing in.
We'll start calling for entries next month, but if you are starting to think about your submission we can now confirm that the list of categories for the 2008 WCA will be as follows:
We'll start calling for entries next month, but if you are starting to think about your submission we can now confirm that the list of categories for the 2008 WCA will be as follows:
- Best Brand
- Best Content Service
- Best Customer Care
- Best Managed Service
- Best Mobile Operator
- Best International Carrier
- Best New Service
- Best Operator in a Developing Country
- Best Project Management
- Best Technology Foresight
- Best Changemaker
- Best Wholesale Carrier
- Best Global Operator
- Person of the Decade
- The Green Award
Unbelievably this will be the tenth year of the WCA and so fittingly the theme will be a Decade of Excellence - things have certainly changed since the first awards presented in Geneva in 1999.
This years gala evening will be the 26 November, and the venue will be the outstanding Hilton on Park Lane, London.
If you are interested in getting involved, contact Rob Chambers
We hope to start unveiling sponsors very soon.....
MWC: Dos and don'ts
Most of you will be back from the show now, perhaps mulling over the week's news, celebrating a contract win, worrying about how much money you spent and if you'll be able to justify it...
You might be minus a wallet, a laptop or other random precious items. One journalist had all his business cards stolen from his back pocket - cue a malicious sense of satisfaction that the mugger gained nothing but a few useless (to him) job titles.
Some lessons I have taken from this year:
Don't wear shoes with any kind of a heel: they get ruined and give you very sore and painful feet (those cobbles);
Don't expect the WiFi to work in the press centre on the first two days due to overwhelming demand, so bring alternative connection options;
Ditto the hotel WiFi;
Don't say to people you "might pop by for a quick coffee and catch up"; it never happens;
Don't expect there to necessarily be any news at press conferences;
Don't stay in a hotel more than 3 miles away from the Fira (not me, luckily, but fellow journalists had a tough time getting in and out);
Don't expect the vendor parties to be much fun;
Don't carry wallets in your trouser pockets in the evenings if you want to keep them;
Don't drink too much until the last evening to have any hope of making all your appointments;
Don't expect the GSMA daily to necessarily contain independent and unbiased coverage (WiMAX who?).
DO stock up with food and drink in your hotel room as the chances of actually eating during the day are small to zero;
Wear trainers;
Keep all laptop bags/handsets tightly attached to your person at all times;
Wear loose and comfortable clothing that can easily be removed as the Fira halls slowly turn into saunas by the end of day.
DO - try to enjoy it. It's all about the networking and meeting people after all...
You might be minus a wallet, a laptop or other random precious items. One journalist had all his business cards stolen from his back pocket - cue a malicious sense of satisfaction that the mugger gained nothing but a few useless (to him) job titles.
Some lessons I have taken from this year:
Don't wear shoes with any kind of a heel: they get ruined and give you very sore and painful feet (those cobbles);
Don't expect the WiFi to work in the press centre on the first two days due to overwhelming demand, so bring alternative connection options;
Ditto the hotel WiFi;
Don't say to people you "might pop by for a quick coffee and catch up"; it never happens;
Don't expect there to necessarily be any news at press conferences;
Don't stay in a hotel more than 3 miles away from the Fira (not me, luckily, but fellow journalists had a tough time getting in and out);
Don't expect the vendor parties to be much fun;
Don't carry wallets in your trouser pockets in the evenings if you want to keep them;
Don't drink too much until the last evening to have any hope of making all your appointments;
Don't expect the GSMA daily to necessarily contain independent and unbiased coverage (WiMAX who?).
DO stock up with food and drink in your hotel room as the chances of actually eating during the day are small to zero;
Wear trainers;
Keep all laptop bags/handsets tightly attached to your person at all times;
Wear loose and comfortable clothing that can easily be removed as the Fira halls slowly turn into saunas by the end of day.
DO - try to enjoy it. It's all about the networking and meeting people after all...
Is C&W finally gearing up for international ops sale?
From Total Telecom magazine deputy editor Joanne Taaffe:
Cable & Wireless has already set up a clear structural divide between its UK and international division, but now the company is in the process of changing email handles for international staff.
This made one Cable & Wireless manager, who spoke to Total Telecom, wonder whether the company is getting ready to spin off its international division, as speculated, or whether it will keep on milking cash cow mobile operations in places like the Caribbean.
Given that the company’s international assets are compiled of small, if lucrative, operations scattered across the globe, C&W may have trouble finding a buyer for everything. But if it isn’t selling it may be time to start reassuring staff and investing in operations.
Cable & Wireless has already set up a clear structural divide between its UK and international division, but now the company is in the process of changing email handles for international staff.
This made one Cable & Wireless manager, who spoke to Total Telecom, wonder whether the company is getting ready to spin off its international division, as speculated, or whether it will keep on milking cash cow mobile operations in places like the Caribbean.
Given that the company’s international assets are compiled of small, if lucrative, operations scattered across the globe, C&W may have trouble finding a buyer for everything. But if it isn’t selling it may be time to start reassuring staff and investing in operations.
Yahoo oneConnect knows where you live
Tucked up in Yahoo's new mobile widget for putting all your online networking contacts in one place is a feature that will give customers the ability to track the physical location of any other oneConnect user - regardless of whether they are on their contact list.
"We even have a user in the audience this morning," said Marco Boerries, senior VP of connected life at Yahoo, during a live demonstration of the application as part of a keynote presentation at MWC in Barcelona.
Appearing on the big screen behind Boerries was a list of oneConnect Beta users, some that were on his contact list and others that weren't, along with their proximity in feet or miles depending on distance.
Boerries then sent a text message to the audience member that said, "I didn't know u were here," which was followed by a prompt response that read: "Haha! You found me! Now get back to your presentation!"
Whether or not it was staged is another matter, but using his handset he was also able to bring up a satellite image of the Fira from Yahoo Maps , which showed the approximate location of other oneConnect users dotted all over the conference centre.
Consumers will have the chance to play big brother to total strangers from Spring 2008, but before you panic, bury your mobile phone and become a hermit, Boerries said the location-tracking element of oneConnect is entirely opt-in.
"We even have a user in the audience this morning," said Marco Boerries, senior VP of connected life at Yahoo, during a live demonstration of the application as part of a keynote presentation at MWC in Barcelona.
Appearing on the big screen behind Boerries was a list of oneConnect Beta users, some that were on his contact list and others that weren't, along with their proximity in feet or miles depending on distance.
Boerries then sent a text message to the audience member that said, "I didn't know u were here," which was followed by a prompt response that read: "Haha! You found me! Now get back to your presentation!"
Whether or not it was staged is another matter, but using his handset he was also able to bring up a satellite image of the Fira from Yahoo Maps , which showed the approximate location of other oneConnect users dotted all over the conference centre.
Consumers will have the chance to play big brother to total strangers from Spring 2008, but before you panic, bury your mobile phone and become a hermit, Boerries said the location-tracking element of oneConnect is entirely opt-in.
LTE: Definitely not 4G
ETSI's Adrian Scrase gave the official definition of why LTE is definitely NOT 4G, although some still insist on saying it is. As he explained, LTE was submitted as part of the IMT-2000 family of 3G standards.
"The 4G process has not even started yet," he said during a conference session at MWC, adding that a more mature form of LTE is likely to be submitted as 4G technology under the IMT-Advanced process at the ITU.
"But I don't think we should get too hung up on whether things are called 3G or 4G," he said.
"The 4G process has not even started yet," he said during a conference session at MWC, adding that a more mature form of LTE is likely to be submitted as 4G technology under the IMT-Advanced process at the ITU.
"But I don't think we should get too hung up on whether things are called 3G or 4G," he said.
Nokia's "new" phone
"I've got a thing here in my pocket," that you've not seen before, said Nokia president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo in the preamble to his keynote speech at MWC in Barca this morning.
I don't think anyone in the packed auditorium was expecting him to say that... and some delegates were left looking slightly uncomfortable!
As it turned out, the Finnish handset giant's top man was talking about a phone. He later unveiled a prototype version of "Remade", the vendor's first recycled handset. I think we were all relieved.
No info yet on when the handset is likely to make it to market.
I don't think anyone in the packed auditorium was expecting him to say that... and some delegates were left looking slightly uncomfortable!
As it turned out, the Finnish handset giant's top man was talking about a phone. He later unveiled a prototype version of "Remade", the vendor's first recycled handset. I think we were all relieved.
No info yet on when the handset is likely to make it to market.
No WiFi connection. Again.
Well, WiFi may be a major success story in many ways: I have WiFi at home and it's great. But whenever I am travelling, at no point in my life have I ever been able to rely on WiFi connectivity in hotels or convention centres. As I write I am using a laptop connected to an Ethernet cable as the WiFi connection in the MWC press room is, quite frankly, pants. And I could not even see the WiFi network in my hotel, so I am using an Ethernet cable there too. It's clearly just poor deployment: not enough routers in place? I'm pinning my future connectivity needs on WAN technologies though. As far as I'm concerned public WiFi has really had long enough to prove itself and it still just does not do the job for me.
Qualcomm playing it safe
Qualcomm has little notices all over its stand at MWC in Barcelona making it clear that any devices or platforms on display MAY contain products that are subject to patent disputes BUT if they are the company is not seeking to promote their sale etc etc.
Qualcomm still has a number of issues to resolve in relation to the Broadcom claims, not to mention the ongoing Nokia dispute. The company is practising "an abundance of caution", says Andrew Gilbert, the company's president of European operations who has now just taken on MediaFLO and QIS technology developments. Busy guy!
Qualcomm still has a number of issues to resolve in relation to the Broadcom claims, not to mention the ongoing Nokia dispute. The company is practising "an abundance of caution", says Andrew Gilbert, the company's president of European operations who has now just taken on MediaFLO and QIS technology developments. Busy guy!
Arun Sarin reverses stance on WiMAX versus LTE
Vodafone chief exec Arun Sarin today called for WiMAX to be included into the LTE standard in order to avoid dilution of resources.
Speaking at the opening keynote session of this year´s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sarin effectively reversed his earlier position on LTE; this time last year urged mobile operators to forge ahead with LTE plans or risk losing market share to WiMAX operators. Now it seems he sees the two technologies as complementary, rather than competing.
Sarin also told delegates that the mobile operator will declare its own hand on LTE rollout in the course of time.
More information from the opening conference session on Total Telecom´s dedicated news service later today.
Speaking at the opening keynote session of this year´s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Sarin effectively reversed his earlier position on LTE; this time last year urged mobile operators to forge ahead with LTE plans or risk losing market share to WiMAX operators. Now it seems he sees the two technologies as complementary, rather than competing.
Sarin also told delegates that the mobile operator will declare its own hand on LTE rollout in the course of time.
More information from the opening conference session on Total Telecom´s dedicated news service later today.
Sony Ericsson plays Apple at its own game
From Total Telecom magazine deputy editor Joanne Taaffe, in Barcelona:
Sony Ericsson yesterday unveiled its answer to the iPhone with the launch of several touch screen phones, at what must have been the first press party of the show. The company’s ExperiaTM X1 may not have a name as catchy as that of the Apple original, but the ease with which consumers can scroll around the device certainly echoes Apple's user interface technology.
The Experia TMX1 come with a 3 inch touch screen, WLAN, bluetooth and 3G access. And in addition to four way key navigation, the Experia TMX1 comes with a qwerty keyboard, which Sony Ericsson believes will remain an important function of smartphones, despite the arrival of touch screen capabilities. And in the interest of covering every possible base for interacting with the device, consumers can even separately purchase a remote optical joystick for game playing on the Experia.
In addition to the distinctly consumer Experia model, Sony Ericsson also launched two personal organisers, the G700 and the G900, the latter coming equipped with a camera. Again both phones come equipped with Wifi and a touch screen interface that enables consumers to easily open applications. However, the G700 and G900 have smaller screens that measure in at 2.4 inches. Still, even if Sony Ericsson gets the touch screen and scrolling functions on its new phones right, it may find both the iPhone buzz and Apple’s revenue sharing agreements with operators harder to replicate.
Sony Ericsson yesterday unveiled its answer to the iPhone with the launch of several touch screen phones, at what must have been the first press party of the show. The company’s ExperiaTM X1 may not have a name as catchy as that of the Apple original, but the ease with which consumers can scroll around the device certainly echoes Apple's user interface technology.
The Experia TMX1 come with a 3 inch touch screen, WLAN, bluetooth and 3G access. And in addition to four way key navigation, the Experia TMX1 comes with a qwerty keyboard, which Sony Ericsson believes will remain an important function of smartphones, despite the arrival of touch screen capabilities. And in the interest of covering every possible base for interacting with the device, consumers can even separately purchase a remote optical joystick for game playing on the Experia.
In addition to the distinctly consumer Experia model, Sony Ericsson also launched two personal organisers, the G700 and the G900, the latter coming equipped with a camera. Again both phones come equipped with Wifi and a touch screen interface that enables consumers to easily open applications. However, the G700 and G900 have smaller screens that measure in at 2.4 inches. Still, even if Sony Ericsson gets the touch screen and scrolling functions on its new phones right, it may find both the iPhone buzz and Apple’s revenue sharing agreements with operators harder to replicate.
Reding sets 1 July D-Day for data roaming
Mobile World Congress began with a bang on Monday as EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding on Monday briefed journalists on her plans to bring down the cost of mobile data roaming in Europe. Surrounded by a crowd of reporters on the sidelines of a GSM Association press conference, Reding urged mobile operators to lower wholesale data roaming tariffs.
"I want clear and measurable benchmarks that all European GSM members should reach by July 1st this year," Reding said. "On 1st July I will take stock of what exisits and put the existing prices on a website."
Reding will first tackle the mature SMS market. "We have to come down to the home price plus the very small marginal cost," operators pay for roaming on other networks, she insisted.
The commissioner will also look at the younger data download space, but insisted that "regulations should not interfere too much with its development."
More later on Total Telecom´s dedicated news service from Mobile World Congress.
"I want clear and measurable benchmarks that all European GSM members should reach by July 1st this year," Reding said. "On 1st July I will take stock of what exisits and put the existing prices on a website."
Reding will first tackle the mature SMS market. "We have to come down to the home price plus the very small marginal cost," operators pay for roaming on other networks, she insisted.
The commissioner will also look at the younger data download space, but insisted that "regulations should not interfere too much with its development."
More later on Total Telecom´s dedicated news service from Mobile World Congress.
Microsoft to buy Yahoo for $45 billion
After months of speculation, Microsoft has finally made an offer for rival Internet player Yahoo in a move thatis clearly designed to enable to pair to take on the might of Google.
The $31-per-share bid, a staggering 62% premium on Thursday's closing price of $19.18, according to Dow Jones Newswires, values the cash and stock deal at a massive $44.6 billion.
“We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Friday.
The software giant went on to note that the fast-growing online advertising, predicted to reach $80 billion by 2010, "is increasingly dominated by one player."
Watch out Google!
For more detailed information on the Microsoft/Yahoo megadeal, see Total Telecom.
The $31-per-share bid, a staggering 62% premium on Thursday's closing price of $19.18, according to Dow Jones Newswires, values the cash and stock deal at a massive $44.6 billion.
“We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Friday.
The software giant went on to note that the fast-growing online advertising, predicted to reach $80 billion by 2010, "is increasingly dominated by one player."
Watch out Google!
For more detailed information on the Microsoft/Yahoo megadeal, see Total Telecom.
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