The OECD has published its analysis of international roaming services and the possible policies to reduce the “unreasonably high” prices. These include international alliances, global MVNOs, action by the WTO and wholesale price regulation.
International mobile roaming – OECD analysis
March 30th, 2010Mobile broadband standards
March 29th, 2010Tim Masson of Agilent Technologies presented an amusing take on the wireless standards process at a Joint DCKTN and Future Wide Area Wireless SIG event last week. Under the misleading title “How do other Industries do it?” he reviews the increasing complexity of wireless standards from 1G onwards, and the increasing difficulty of conformance testing.
International mobile roaming in Africa
March 26th, 2010The LINK Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand have published an interesting paper in roaming in Africa. It highlights an initiative by Zain, which has networks in 16 African countries, to eliminate roaming charges for pre-paid and post-paid customers on most of these networks. The initiative, “One Network”, was initially offered between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but now covers most of Zain’s networks, including some in the Arabian Gulf. The key to this is the liberalisation of international telecommunications, enabling Zain to operate its own gateways and avoid high call charges from incumbents.
Point Topic: World Broadband Statistics Q4 2009
March 26th, 2010Point Topic’s quarterly summary of broadband statistics reveals that the last quarter saw the lowest growth in users since 2006, in contrast to the record growth in the first quarter. China was responsible for over 30% of the growth in the last quarter, and still has the most broadband subscribers globally, followed by USA and Japan. The report includes detailed data by country as well as some analysis by access technology.
OECD – Developments in Cable Broadband Networks
March 26th, 2010This 39 page report from the OECD examines developments in cable markets including the growth of cable voice services, recent consolidation trends and the transitions toward all-IP infrastructure models. Amongst the many data tables it includes a ranking of highest speeds – topped by Zon Multimedia of Portugal which offers over 200 Mbit/s.
New media in the Middle East and North Africa
March 19th, 2010Booz & Co’s new perspective “Winning in MENA’s New Media Scene” analyses how the global new media trends – digital TV and smartphones replacing print media and analogue broadcasting – are taking hold in the region. It notes global and regional trends and forecasts growth in usage, revenues, user segments and revenue split. It identifies the need for strategic partnerships to exploit the new media value chain.
25 years of the Internet economy
March 16th, 2010The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation has reviewed the past quarter century of the Internet economy in its latest report: “The Internet Economy 25 Years After .com”. From the first “.com” registration in March 1985 through the Dotcom bubble to the diverse Internet economy of today the report reviews developments worldwide, discusses dotcom business models, estimates the economic benefits and projects future trends.
