EE Creates 4G/LTE Technology With Balloons and Air Masts

U.K. operator EE says it has developed a technology that can supply voice and data connection in the most remote parts of the country, as well anywhere in the country during and after disasters such as floods. The operator demonstrated the system, which uses a network of small cells, balloons and so-called air masts based on drones.
 
The operator explained that the technology uses mini-mobile sites attached to helium balloons, or Helikites, to supply wide-area 4G/LTE mobile coverage where permanent sites have been damaged, or in areas where there is no high-speed coverage. EE also showcased drones equipped with mini-sites, each including a base station and antenna, which can be used to provide targeted coverage, including in search-and-rescue operations. For calling and internet access, the technology uses small cells that connect back to the EE network via satellite or the operator’s 4G spectrum.
 
Patents are currently pending on the tethered and powered mobile air mast systems, and EE expects to deliver a deployed balloon solution in a rural environment at some point during 2017.
 
 
Even in highly developed countries such as the U.K., lack of sufficient network coverage due to geographic factors can be a significant problem for operators and their customers. While one might imagine that ingenious methods to spread coverage to rural areas is something more characteristic of developing countries with highly isolated communities and forbidding climates, they are sometimes necessary in mature mobile markets, as well.
 
EE’s plan to use drones and balloons that connect to small-cell networks is a useful example of how operators can take matters into their own hands and build infrastructure in non-traditional ways when traditional solutions will not work.
 
The U.K. in particular has suffered from the so-called “not-spot” syndrome for quite a while, and we believe that by addressing it this way—provided the technology lives up to expectations—EE will deliver higher satisfaction levels to existing customers and also garner some new ones.
 
The air-mast solution would not only bring in revenue and boost retention and acquisition, it would also distinguish the operator in its market. In addition, the disaster contingency and relief applications of the new technology should bring additional kudos to EE, in terms of recognition for public service, and thereby burnish its brand.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

GSMA: Almost Half of Mobile Users Talk and Text Only

Nearly half the world’s mobile phone users still only use their devices to make voice calls and send SMS messages, according to a report from GSMA Intelligence. The Global Mobile Engagement Index classifies users into four categories, from “Aficionados” (most engaged), down through “Pragmatists” and “Networkers” down to “Talkers” (least engaged.)
 
In 2016 the Talkers—those who only use their mobile phones to make voice calls and send SMS—accounted for 47 percent of adult mobile phone owners worldwide. However, the GSMA predicts that this segment will shrink to 29 percent of the total by 2030, as users in the developing world become more engaged with data use and advances in mobile technology make it more available and affordable.
 
The GSMA’s survey, which took in 56 global markets representing 80 percent of the world’s population, shows that the three highest-scoring countries in terms of mobile engagement in 2016 were South Korea, Qatar and the United States.

 
This report from the GSMA is very interesting and valuable as a reminder of where we are in the mobile market, and it suggests some strategies for operators. For all the talk of the mobile data revolution sweeping the globe—including in these pages—the report makes it strikingly clear that uptake of data services has barely broken the 50 percent mark.
 
Of course, that figure is an average that masks a great imbalance between developed and developing markets. However, the report indicates that the dichotomy may not be as stark as some might suppose: For example, it found that even in France and the United States, SMS is still more frequently used than IP messaging such as Apple’s iMessage or OTT solutions such as Skype and WhatsApp.
 
In our view, the GSMA statistic points to two paths ahead for mobile operators: Of course MNOs (and device manufacturers, too) will and should continue to innovate in order to make data services more affordable and available, continue to increase 4G/LTE network coverage, and keep on incentivizing customers to take up data use and then increase their usage. On the other hand, operators should not neglect the “Talkers.” Even though the report predicts that their ranks will shrink to a 29 percent global share by 2030, that is still a large number, and 2030 is still a long way off. Therefore, catering to the needs of the talk-and-text-only user should remain an important priority for MNOs now and in the future.
 
Not only are traditional mobile services far from dead, they are the only services for a large enough cohort of users that operators must tailor plans to them and maintain services for them—including methods for accessing popular content such as Facebook without a data connection—even as they encourage them to upgrade to data.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

Vodafone India Launches Offer for Rural Women

Vodafone India has introduced a service called Vodafone Sakhi, targeted at women in rural areas in the states of UP-West and Uttarakhand. Users of the postpaid service will be able to recharge it privately through an OTP (one-time password) code, without sharing their mobile number. This code can also be used for all recharges done over a 24 hour period. In addition, an emergency calling feature provides women with 10 minutes of voice calls even with a zero balance on their account. A bonus pack giving health and beauty tips is offered free of charge for the first 90 days. Vodafone Sakhi is available for a starting price of INR 52.00 (US $0.78).

As we have reported frequently in these pages, mobile operators have found a winning strategy in getting to know their customers’ needs intimately and catering to them appropriately, and the more thinly the demographic is sliced, the better this approach works.

Vodafone India has identified a socioeconomic trend among women in rural areas and directly moved to meet it. The Vodafone Connected Women Report for 2014 found that there is a worldwide gender gap in which 300 million fewer women than men owned mobile phones and that this gap is most pronounced in developing nations.

As for India in particular, Dilip Kumar Ganta, Vodafone India’s business head for UP-West and Uttarakhand, recently said, “Our studies show that women in rural areas face socio-economic challenges in accessing mobile services. They tend to follow a shared phone concept, as they are hesitant to share mobile number due to security concerns. They rely almost entirely on incoming calls and depend on their families for recharges. ‘Vodafone Sakhi’ has been designed especially to bridge the telecom needs of women in rural areas and address their barriers to access mobile services at will.”

This extremely affordable offer is sensitively designed and should help women to join the community of mobile users without fear. Such an initiative makes the operator look good and also ultimately boosts the customer base.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

New FCC Chief Targets Net Neutrality

The U.S.’s new chief telecom regulator, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, last week moved quickly to close down an ongoing investigation into zero-rating practices among U.S. operators AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, indicating that he would indeed pursue the deregulating agenda that observers predicted he would. Pai said that zero-rating of services such as video streaming was popular with consumers, in particular low-income consumers. He also stated that he disagrees with the policy, championed by former FCC chief Tom Wheeler, of deeming broadband a utility—which would provide a strong legal basis for net neutrality. While specific new regulations have not yet been announced, and while any changes to net neutrality will involve significant legal challenges, Pai has made it clear that he will be a strong advocate against the present conception of net neutrality in the U.S.

Ajit Pai, a former attorney for Verizon, seems to be fulfilling expectations (including our own in these pages recently) that he would apply the deregulating agenda espoused by his boss, President Donald Trump, to the U.S. telecom landscape. While consumer advocates are decrying his approach as favoring corporate interests over the interests of the people, Pai’s intentions will likely generate policies that will benefit mobile operators and others internet service providers. Zero-rating and other forms of special treatment that operators can give to content providers are sources of revenue—in terms of fees paid by content providers and in terms of subscriber retention and acquisition—and sources of brand strength for operators. If Pai is able to enact his intentions, the only thing operators will need to be keenly aware of is whether in fact they are in fact giving customers what they want, or whether the preferential treatment given to certain entities ends up alienating customers, current and potential.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

AT&T, NTT Docomo Partner on VoLTE Roaming

U.S. operator AT&T and Japanese operator NTT Docomo have begun offering VoLTE roaming services in Japan. AT&T customers traveling in Japan are now able to roam on Docomo’s LTE network and enjoy high-definition voice-calling services in VoLTE coverage areas when calling other AT&T customers who have compatible devices. Docomo serves over 73 million customers throughout Japan, and AT&T’s VoLTE network covers more than 300 million Americans.

Voice-over-LTE, though it debuted in 2014, has been slow to gel. While it is viable within operators’ networks, interoperability is a work in progress. AT&T and Verizon have announced that their users would be able to make VoLTE calls to each other, but the service is still not fully rolled out, and access to VoLTE outside one’s own network is still quite spotty in the U.S. Furthermore, there are yet other hiccups with VoLTE: The service is reported to suffer from three to four times as many dropped calls as traditional cellular voice systems. On the other hand, service outages are far less common with VoLTE than with traditional cellular calling, giving the service an extra advantage beyond the primary benefit of higher voice quality. In short, VoLTE is a promising technology with definite boons to users and thus to operators, but it still needs all the help it can get in order to fully take hold in the marketplace.

With that in mind, we can see that offering international interoperability—even before domestic interoperability is completed—can help give the service a boost in the estimation of consumers. In making this arrangement with Docomo, AT&T is playing catch-up; rival Verizon Wireless began operating in Japan over KDDI’s network back in June 2016, at first just for Japanese customers in the U.S., and soon thereafter for U.S. customers in Japan. Depending on the network technology, AT&T and Verizon users’ VoLTE experience in Japan may actually be better than at home.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com 

3 UK Launches Wi-Fi Calling for Android and iOS

Mobile operator 3 UK announced that embedded Wi-Fi is now available on its network for both Android and iOS users. With it, customers can make voice calls and send texts over a Wi-Fi network when in the U.K. Users of Apple’s iOS phones need to have the latest software version, iOS 10.2, and then activate Wi-Fi calling in their settings. For Android users who have a compatible device and the necessary software, the Wi-Fi calling settings install automatically. Compatible devices currently are the LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge will be compatible beginning in mid-February. The new service removes the need for the operator’s former Wi-Fi calling solution, Three InTouch app. InTouch users will receive a pop-up message informing them that they can delete the app.

The rise of non-cellular voice calling technology was originally a threat to mobile operators’ revenue streams because it allowed users to bypass calling plans and get access to unlimited messaging and voice calls, both domestically and internationally. Operators responded in various ways, including tolerating, co-opting or co-branding various VoIP services. Another non-cellular voice calling system, Wi-Fi calling, now becoming prevalent, is another technology that lies outside the traditional cellular calling networks. Rather than constituting an end-run around the operator, Wi-Fi calling is a billable service that keeps the user within the operator’s ecosystem. Its primary utility is when the cellular signal is too weak or unavailable, so with Wi-Fi calling that is billed within an existing calling plan, the operator can keep its subscribers using voice and text services even when they are in so-called “not-spots”—which are, according to reports, still quite prevalent in the U.K. By making access to Wi-Fi calling seamless instead of through an app, the operator ensures that more subscribers will adopt it, and that those who used it before will now use it more often. Therefore, 3 UK’s decision to make Wi-Fi calling “native” to a wide variety of smartphones in both major operating systems is an excellent one. Easily, intuitively accessible Wi-Fi calling will aid customer retention because rather than becoming frustrated with the operator’s service when the cellular network is unavailable, users will be able to connect by Wi-Fi (given that Wi-Fi networks are sufficiently prevalent) and stay satisfied.

Tarifica is the global leader in monitoring and analyzing telecom pricing. Covering hundreds of operators in every region of the globe, Tarifica’s databases of mobile and fixed line data and voice tariffs are among the largest and most in-depth in the world. Tarifica is also a leading publisher of benchmark and other pricing reports, and its analysts are recognized authorities in the telecom industry, relied upon by operators and businesses worldwide for pricing insight and guidance.

To learn more about Tarifica, please visit www.tarifica.com