Ooredoo Qatar Demonstrates Khalifa Stadium Network

Ooredoo Qatar stated that at the final match of the Emir Cup football tournament on 19 May, it demonstrated its new mobile network at Khalifa Stadium to 45,000 spectators. The 4G/LTE advanced centralized RAN mobile technologies that were used in this match are up to 40 percent faster than the best current technologies, according to the operator. They are the basis of the technologies to be deployed by every arena during the FIFA World Cup 2022, which will be held in Qatar.

The specialized narrow-beam antennae delivered a higher capacity, enabling fans to stay connected and share their experiences. Ooredoo is actively working on its Smart Stadium offering, which controls security, connectivity, identity management, and access control, enabling teams to manage large-scale events with enhanced predictive models, business intelligence and live monitoring. With smart devices, spectators can order food for delivery, check the length of toilet queues at half-time breaks, access in-stadium broadcasts, and watch replays of game action.

We like not only the idea of a Smart Stadium system but also the fact that a mobile operator is creating and offering it. Sporting events are massive opportunities for revenue generation, given the large crowd sizes and the demand for data as fans share their experiences with friends directly and via social media. The sheer density of data demand within a limited space makes a sports stadium not only very attractive to an operator, but also very much in need of having a special, purpose-built connectivity solution.

For Ooredoo rather than a non-MNO technology developer to create such a solution is a good move and should be an inspiration to other operators. This way, not only does the operator stand to take a far higher proportion of data-traffic revenue than it would if users were on various networks, but the actual data volume will be higher due to more efficient network use. Of course, there also is the presumably sizable revenue to be earned from selling the Smart Stadium technology itself to venues.

Finally, we like this offering because it is so well-tailored to the particular needs of a sports stadium, including security, access control, and features that enhance customers’ experience in relevant ways while they are attending the game.  

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 Enhances Wireless Network for Electric Daisy Carnival

U.S. operator AT&T boosted its network capacity on a temporary basis for the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC), an annual music festival that took place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada this past weekend. The operator enhanced its cell towers that are in close proximity to the event and deployed two Cell on Wheels (COWs) to help meet the demand from the high concentration of smartphone users at the EDC for reliable service for sending text messages, adding photos and providing status updates on social networks and making calls from mobile devices.

According to Stephanie Tyler, president of AT&T Nevada, the EDC, which this year was attended by more than 140,000 people, is an event that generates memorable experiences that attendees want to share online with family and friends. Reliable coverage at high speeds helped to provide AT&T customers among the festival-goers the mobile internet experience that they desired at such an event. AT&T’s temporary network enhancements for short-term events are a good move for dealing with the mobile needs of a large, densely concentrated group of people gathered in a particular place. The increased coverage, connectivity and faster data speeds from temporarily boosting the network not only pleases the operator’s current subscribers but can also be effective in AT&T’s pursuit of new customers. Additionally better coverage will result in more data use and more revenue, which will probably surpass the amount of investment the operator needed to make for the short-term coverage boost. We think this strategy can be used with profit by mobile operates worldwide during heavily attended entertainment or sporting events, particularly those that last for several days.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

iPass Launches Cloud-Based Wi-Fi Roaming Service

U.S.-based roaming Wi-Fi service provider iPass has launched a cloud-based international Wi-Fi roaming service calling Business Traveler Service 2.0. The service is aimed at enterprises and uses a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model with the use of automation techniques and an app-based approach. Enterprises can provide iPass with a list of users who can download the app and access the service on their iOS, Android or Microsoft devices. The service requires a single login and covers 2.7 million hotspots in over 120 countries, including 3,000 airports, 22 airlines and more than 72,000 hotels and convention centers.

While Wi-Fi is the preferred mode of internet access for most travelers, using it can be a frustrating experience. Free services can be lacking in quality, while premium services can be expensive. Additional issues such as lack of security and difficult login processes are also widespread. Therefore, a solution such as that of iPass can deliver value to enterprises in terms of increased productivity and cost savings, provided it is designed well. In fact, such a service can deliver value to consumers in general, a fact that many mobile operators have come to recognize. AT&T, Zain, NTT Docomo and KDDI are some of the operators that have reached agreements with global Wi-Fi aggregators such as iPass, Boingo and Fon.

The reasoning is simple. Use of smartphones and tablets is ubiquitous among international travelers; however, most prefer Wi-Fi to mobile data due to the high costs of data roaming and the small allowances provided by many operators. For mobile operators, the profitability of roaming data use per customer declines as usage increases. This is because the operator’s roaming agreement with the local network operator entails having to pay wholesale rates to the local operator for every byte of data consumed, which reduces the operator’s margin on the data pack with more data usage. By providing global Wi-Fi data access as part of their roaming strategy, operators provide a service that the customer is likely to perceive as valuable. Also, by integrating Wi-Fi data into their data travel packs, operators can increase profitability per customer, since customers should prefer to use their Wi-Fi data allowances before consuming their mobile data allowances while still paying an amount similar to what they paid before for the pack. For example AT&T has been partnering with Boingo and Fon since 2013 and offers international Wi-Fi data under its Global Add-Ons (Users get 300 MB of mobile data in 150 countries and 1 GB of Wi-Fi data in select countries for US $60.00 per month and 800 MB of mobile data and 1 GB of Wi-Fi data for US $120.00 per month. The excess usage charge for mobile data is US $30.00 for 120 MB). However, operators will have to ensure that their offerings are structured to meet usage requirements that vary among consumers and provide adequate coverage.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

Airtel Equips Youth with Knowledge in Mobile Phone Repairs.

Airtel Nigeria has introduced an empowerment initiative directed at equipping young people with practical knowledge in mobile phone repairs. The Basic Mobile Phone Repair Module (BMPRM) is a two-week certificate course that supplies participants with the fundamentals at no cost. The BMPRM will be conducted by experts to enable participants to start small businesses of their own. Once the training is complete, the participants will be set up in positions such as APRP (Adaptive Pattern Recognition Processing) operators, workers at SIM selling outlets.

Airtel Nigeria holds the second-largest market share, 21 percent, behind MTN, with 45 percent, and leading Globacom by just 1 percent. Currently, no operators offer phone repair services. However, in December 2013 Globacom introduced a limited-time opportunity for customers of any operator to bring their mobile phones to a Globacom shop and have their phones repaired free of charge. Even though this mobile repair service was effective only for a short period, Globacom got the attention of Nigerian consumers.

Airtel Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Segun Ogunsanya said, “This training is part of our plans to start building a crop of SME [Small and Medium Enterprises] businesses that will spin off our core business and also bring Airtel closer to our customers.” That could mean that Airtel hopes to partner with phone repair shops that graduates of the course may establish in the future. Such partnerships could help the operator gain competitive advantage through better customer service. Still, this approach is not likely to come to fruition quickly, since Airtel began with only 40 participants and is now preparing for another 100. Furthermore, it is not clear whether the BMPRM instruction covers smartphones or only feature phones.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

Sing Tel Launches Interactive Education Service

Singaporean mobile operator Sing Tel has launched Genio, an interactive education service to be used with the local primary school curriculum. Genio is available for iOS tablets and smartphones, as well as through any online browser for computers and on Sing Tel mio TV. The service will be available for Android devices by the end of August. Through the service students can access and view educational videos, which have been jointly developed by the operators educational partners Learning Point and On Sponge, anywhere and at any time. After viewing each video lesson, students complete an in-app assessment. Although users are not charged for the Genio app, customers must purchase each school subject for SGD 118.96 (US $95.16). Subscribers are being offered a discounted cost—SGD 108.98 (US $87.16) per subject—for purchases made by 30 June. Users can access the subjects that they bought for 12 months from the purchase date. Genio is rolling out this service for Primary grades 3 through 6, with the periodic addition of Math, Science and English classes.

Mobile learning projects such as Sing Tel’s Genio service are available sporadically around the world; however, according to a combined report from UNESCO and GSMA, large-scale programs are rare, particularly those that receive government support. In this category are a number of initiatives that leverage mobile technology to speed up progress, such as the Education for All programs that have been launched by the governments of Thailand, Uruguay and Rwanda. Nonetheless, the report’s findings indicate that m-Education could be a US $70 billion opportunity by 2020 due to the fact that mobile technology can widen access to education and improve its quality.

The digital behaviors of today’s students foster the need to educate them with more flexibility, mobility and immediacy than what was provided by older educating systems. The move toward virtual and interactive learning is beginning to change the education landscape; however, institutions have been slow to step out of their comfort zones and traditional methods of teaching. The GSMA/UNESCO report indicates that despite handset availability and improved connectivity, mobile learning implementations are still very much in the early stages, and that educators and policy makers need training and guidance, with support from the mobile industry.

Mobile technology’s impact on transforming education cannot be overemphasized. It will remove education from the classroom to a certain extent, and it will also be a bridge between in-class and out-of-class learning. Mobile operators can embrace this flourishing opportunity in several ways. There is the obvious need for devices and connectivity, but to go further, MNOs can partner with educators to provide technical support and advice in addition to hosting services. An additional step would be to take on the role of complete m-Education provider as Sing Tel has done with its Genio service, and we expect to see other operators doing the same by offering m-Learning solutions to academic institutions.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

Etisalat to Sell West African Assets to Maroc Telecom

UAE-based MNO Etisalat has reported that it will sell its operations in West Africa to Moroccan MNO Maroc Telecom for a sum of US $650 million. The deal will include the sale of Atlantique Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etisalat with operations under the Moov brand in Benin, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Niger and Togo. It also includes Ivory Coast-based Prestige Telecom, which provides IT services to Etisalat’s operations in all of these countries. The operator’s subsidiary in Nigeria will not be part of the transaction, which requires competition and regulatory approvals in the six West African countries. The deal has been contingent on Etisalat’s planned acquisition of Vivendi’s 53 percent stake in Maroc Telecom for €4.2 billion (US $5.7 billion), which was completed on 14 May 2014.

Vivendi, which is the parent company of French MNO SFR, has been in exclusive talks with Etisalat since July 2013 about the sale of its stake in Maroc Telecom after other bidders, including Qatar’s Ooredoo, dropped out. This sale is part of a larger move by Vivendi to focus on its more profitable media assets and has been viewed as a means to raise enough cash to write down its debts and sell SFR.

The deal has several positives for Etisalat. While the operator has a presence in 15 markets across the Middle East, Asia and Africa, its main source of revenue (at 66 percent of group revenues in Q1 2014) continues to be its home market. The UAE is a highly saturated market, which ranks highest in the world in terms of smartphone penetration (over 72 percent as of 2013). Competition is intensifying in the wake of the regulator’s elimination of the tariff approval requirement and introduction of mobile number portability in 2013. Saudi Arabia, the other Middle Eastern market in which Etisalat operates, has nearly as high a rate of mobile penetration and also will see the entry of three MVNOs. Therefore, diversification away from the Middle East makes sense.

However, some of Etisalat’s biggest international markets in terms of revenue generation, Egypt and Pakistan, have been affected by issues such as political instability and currency devaluation. Through the acquisition of Maroc Telecom, Etisalat not only gets an entry into Morocco with the leading market share of 47 percent (totaling 18.3 million subscribers), it also adds four other African countries (Burkina Faso, Gabon, Mali and Mauritania) to its portfolio and can leverage synergies that exist between operations in that region. Furthermore, placing its West African operations under the management of a successful regional operator may prove beneficial to Etisalat. 

However, it is worth noting that Maroc Telecom’s profitability in its home market has been hit by soft consumer spending and increasing competition. Bringing innovative offers to the market by leveraging the strengths of the two operators will be key to Etisalat’s future success with this acquisition.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of The Tarifica Alert, a weekly resource that analyzes noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. To access all of the latest articles and issues:  http://www.tarifica.com/TarificaAlert.aspx

New York City Seeks to Replace Payphones with Free WiFi

New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) has issued a request for proposals to build a citywide network of free WiFi hotspots. The public communication points will provide free calls to the emergency number 911 and the city information number 311. The winner will install, operate and maintain up to 10,000 public communication points distributed across the city’s five boroughs. These structures will replace and supplement the roughly 7,300 current public payphone installations. The hotspots must be set up within the next four years and will be funded mainly through digital advertising. The plan is projected to bring in US $17.5 million in guaranteed annual revenue for the City of New York through June 2026.

In terms of usage patterns and functionality, WiFi hotspots are the natural successor to the old-fashioned public phone, so this plan makes sense on that level. What is interesting here, though, is that they will be funded through advertising, unlike payphones, which are funded by direct payment from the user. The City of New York is taking a page from the public WiFi solutions being offered to commercial establishments such as malls and restaurants, which are ad-funded. Of course free access to 911 is a public good. Beyond that, though, it remains to be seen whether the city will allow data sharing to benefit businesses that want to target potential customers based on their usage patterns.

The above item appeared in a recent issue of Tarifica's "The Story of The Week", a weekly report that analyzes two noteworthy developments in the telecoms industry from around the world. For past issues or to learn more about The Story of The Week :  http://www.tarifica.com/storyoftheweek.aspx