… 3 UK was in the news twice in late November. First of all it announced that coo Gareth Cooper would be leaving at the end of the year, after just short of three years’ service. Jones pointed out that he had come out of retirement to help Bob Fuller shape the business. With 3 publicly committed to a new direction it has been viewed as a natural time for Cooper to look for his next challenge. 3 was also informed that it had been successful in its appeal to be delisted from Ofcom’s list of operators holding significant market power …
… Nortel and Qualcomm say they have completed HSDPA calls with a category 6 handset using 16 QAM modulation and reaching 3.6Mbps data rate over the air interface. The companies completed an initial series of mobile data calls using test terminals based on Qualcomm’s Mobile Station Modem MSM6280TM solution and commercial HSDPA network equipment from Nortel. The tests achieved FTP downloads at speeds which are faster than the majority of fixed broadband connections, the companies said…
… Opera Telecom has appointed Mark Sawyer as sales manager for Network Operators and Platforms to develop existing relationships with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and support the company through its international growth. Opera Telecom already has relationships with all of the UK’s operators Sawyer’s role involves developing and managing these relationships and he will also be looking to build relationships with other MNOs as part of Opera Telecom’s drive to secure further business within international markets. Sawyer will also be responsible for sales of Dragon, Opera Telecom’s self-service platform…
… Italian mobile operator WIND has selected network quality of service monitoring company CommProve to maximise the performance of its 3G network. WIND will integrate CommProve’s GSP (General Statistical Package) into its network to deliver continuous performance measurements.
The statistical reporting delivered by the CommProve GSP provides direct access to network performance measurements. This enables WIND to continuously monitor and adapt its Key Quality Indicators (KQIs), the rules by which quality levels are determined. The level of reporting enabled by the GSP is crucial in 3G networks where the quality of service depends on the operators’ ability to continuously monitor and adapt the KQIs…
… Alcatel will extend Russian regional operator SMARTS’ GSM/GPRS network in the Povolzhie region. Alcatel will deliver its Evolium GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio access solutions, including all elements of the Base Station Sub-system (BSS). Alcatel will also deliver capacity extension of its Mobile Switching Center …
… France’s first MVNO entering the market with its own platform for adaptation and distribution of multimedia content, NRJ Mobile, is exclusively relying on AtomiZ to provide an end-to-end solution for radio and TV mobile. AtomiZ has supplied and operated the technology to support encoding and distribution of NRJ’s radio and TV offer to its subscribers. NRJ Mobile is connected to the Media K Factory service solution of AtomiZ, managing the encoding of Radio and TV content with the full service end-to-end technical platform.The Media K Factory(TM) is an adaptation and delivery platform for mobile devices, digital television and the Internet. Both, France Telecom’s Orange brand and SFR already rely on dedicated platforms …
… Czech mobile operator Eurotel Praha has launched the first WCDMA 3G network in the Czech Republic. The launch follows live demonstration of 3G services, such as video call and Internet browsing and file transfer with Nokia High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) at the Brno trade show in October 2005. In the first phase, the 3G services are available in Prague and Brno, but are expanding rapidly to other parts of the country. “We are pleased to announce another notable first — being Czech Republic’s first mobile operator to launch services such as mobile TV, live video, full-track music downloads and video call, powered by WCDMA 3G, to our customers,” said Stanislav Kura, Chief Strategy and Product Development Officer, Eurotel Praha…
… Ericsson and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation have conducted the world’s first live trial of interactive mobile TV. The allows mobile phone users to vote, chat and communicate with a television presenter while watching their favorite show at the same time and all on their mobile. Together, Ericsson and NRK launched a downloadable client for the existing interactive TV format, Svisj. For example, viewers can vote for which music video is to be played next by the touch of a button and may also chat with each other or the host of the program. Gunnar Garfors, Director of Mobile Services, NRK Development Division, says: “This is interactivity with a vengeance. We are making it easier for our audiences to view mobile TV and participate in shows, no matter where they are”…
… Nokia and 3 Scandinavia are trialling a Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) service in the Swedish market. The trial is initially targeted to business users. Nokia will provide selected push to talk handsets, including Nokia 6280, for potential use in the trial. “ Push to talk is a fascinating new service for business users in particular,” said Jörgen Askeroth, Chief Technology Officer, 3 Scandinavia. “We chose to trial push to talk with Nokia because their end-to-end solution will be compliant with the OMA standard”…
… Customers of Swisscom Mobile, Switzerland’s leading telecoms company, can access their MSN Messenger and MSN Hotmail services using IXI Mobile’s Ogo — a messaging device with a QWERTY keyboard and a large screen, available worldwide. The device connects users to their MSN Messenger service and to their MSN Hotmail as well as POP3 and IMAP4 email accounts, allowing them to easily utilise the full power of mobile IM and email. Followap is providing the Mobile Messaging Gateway (MMG) in IXI’s device…
… LogicaCMG has won a contract to provide its uOne Next Generation voicemail and videomail solution to Optimus. Optimus will replace its existing voicemail service with LogicaCMG’s uOne voicemail solution. The service will run from Porto and Lisbon, to provide resiliency. LogicaCMG will also allow Optimus to support its legacy voicemail solution, enabling an easier migration towards 3G based services. José Pinto Correia, chief technology officer of Optimus Telecomunication in Portugal, said: “The solution is a future-proof solution that will allow Optimus to benefit from unified messaging and the convergence the telecommunications market is experiencing”…