Mobile World Congress 2013: BT, WBA and seamless mobile data roaming within our grasp

chris bruce
March 13, 2013
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By Chris Bruce
Director of international sales and consulting services
BT Global Telecom Markets
Co-chair, Wireless Broadband Alliance

Mobile World Congress 2013 (MWC) in Barcelona showed that 4G is a reality in many markets.  In fact, the UK licence auction concluded during the event this year.

Chris Bruce speaking at Mobile World Congress about the future of international data roaming between 3G / LTE and Wi-Fi – seamless and secure – as easy as roaming with a cellular phone.

Chris Bruce speaking at Mobile World Congress about the future of international data roaming between 3G / LTE and Wi-Fi – seamless and secure – as easy as roaming with a cellular phone.

Another reality is the difficulty of making the investment needed to acquire licensed spectrum and build 4G networks at a time when user data consumption grows exponentially while revenues grow modestly or even decline.  This is encouraging operators to think again about the use of licensed and unlicensed spectrum and various technologies. For more on this subject, see my article “Wi-Fi offload’ is so last year – now it’s all about ‘onload’!”

You may also be interested in a video interview at MWC by Brian Dolby, managing director of BCS Public Relations, for the GTB Wipro TV Special. Brian interviewed Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO of Telus, one of the three largest mobile operators in Canada, and me. Our discussion about the importance of wireless standards and interworking between new technologies turned into a friendly debate.

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[Read more...]

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Innovation and the future of wholesale

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March 12, 2013
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Mike BygateBy Mike Bygate
Head of business development
EMEA, Latin America & the Caribbean, North America & Southern Europe
BT Global Telecom Markets (GTM)

Times are already challenging for network operators, retail and wholesale, doing their best to serve their customers.  Even more challenges lie ahead. One example is Cloud, or Big Data, putting converged networks at the heart of communications and putting huge traffic volumes on them.

Already a reality, these volumes will continue their massive growth. The obvious solution would be to build big new networks, deploying new technology that offers scalability, flexibility and lower operational costs. But that would mean big investment in a time of limited capital.

So what’s an operator to do to prosper, or indeed survive? [Read more...]

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Let’s talk Voice

Lets talk Voice
February 11, 2013
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Our guest contributor is Andrew Dodsworth, chief operating officer of BT Global Telecom Markets (GTM), who talks about his 11-day trip to Asia in November and December.

Recently I returned from an exciting trip to Asia to follow up on the October launch of our Singapore hub for the BT Global IP Exchange. Why “exciting”? Well, in just 11 days I met carrier customers in 22 meetings, starting at the Capacity Asia conference in Bangkok. I went on to Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, seeing mostly mobile carriers.

I wanted to promote the Global IP Exchange story, including transit, and I was happy to find that our customers wanted to talk about it, too: Most carriers in the region are looking to engage in GIPX in the near future.  Several major ones are serious about the opportunity to hub their internal traffic through our Singapore node, the first Global IP Exchange node that we’ve launched outside the UK. [Read more...]

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Wi-Fi expert Chris Bruce at Mobile World Congress 2013

chris bruce
January 21, 2013
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Meet BT Wi-Fi expert and WBA co-chair Chris Bruce at Mobile World Congress 2013 Hall 8.1, Stand F3.

In Barcelona on 25-28 February, the GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) will again see more than 1,500 exhibitors marketing their service innovations to the 60,000+ visitors expected. One of the key drivers of their innovations is the need for mobile bandwidth, fuelled by the proliferation of smart mobile devices.

While mobile operators look forward to 3G extensions and LTE deployment to address the growing user demand, they struggle to backhaul the huge data demand and provide a seamless, high-quality user experience. [Read more...]

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Talking telcos with BT Advise: Chris Bruce

chris bruce
January 21, 2013
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By Chris Bruce
Director of international sales and consulting services
BT Global Telecom Markets and co-chair, Wireless Broadband Alliance

“Wi-Fi offload” is so last year – now it’s all about “onload”!

How operators can deliver great customer experience profitably in the face of the mobile data wave

Mobile and fixed operators around the world are now well aware of the impact of changes in behaviour once consumers have the latest smartphones and tablets in their hands – and get easy access to a wide range of apps, games, video, social networking, as well as more traditional email and messaging.

GSM mobile networks designed for voice are no longer the right architecture for data, yet mobile traffic has flipped from 90% voice to 90% data.  Unfortunately, whilst usage is exploding, traffic growth is not typically matched by revenues.  For many mobile operators it’s modest if not flat for the first time in their history.   Traditional competition as market penetration reaches optimum, plus OTT technology alternatives lead to retail price pressure. [Read more...]

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