SMS and Mobile Messages Are Revenue Leaders

According to ABI Research – SMS will continue to maintain its lead as the highest revenue generator across all messaging categories, providing global service revenues of $177 billion in 2013. But in a recent report from ABI Research, regional differences will determine the success of messaging expansion into the Web, advertising, and the incorporation of mobile messaging within social networking media.

“Innovative companies are exploring opportunities for expanding mobile messaging access to Web sites as well as targeting customers with content and ads,” says principal analyst Dan Shey. “To be successful with these enhanced services, companies that supply mobile messaging products and services must understand the regional distributions for customer type, payment preferences, message delivery method, and usage.”

For instance, developed regions of North America and Europe have the highest messaging ARPUs, and send the most messages from the computer to the mobile device using IM; Asia-Pacific subscribers sign up for the most SMS alert services; and Latin Americans are heavy SMS users, but prefer pay-as-you-go for all messaging services.

Additionally, these regional differences will cause established messaging suppliers to reevaluate their business models.

“Device vendors and messaging platform suppliers serving the global market will have to manage across markets where growth is king – and other markets where product differentiation is king,” continues Shey. “This is a great time for smaller companies to develop new products and services individually and in partnerships to serve the niche needs of a region or country.”

Telecommunication Acronyms

Telecommunications is like a lot of other industries in that they tend to have their own language built around acronyms, portmanteaus, and technical terminology.

Here is a small sampling of Telecom Acronyms:

UNE – Unbundled Network Element
AC – Account Consultant
LSO – Local Service Office
LENS – Local Exchange Network System
LERG – Local Exchange Routing Guide
LNP – Line Number Portability
TN – Telephone Number
NPA – Number Plan Area
NXX –Network Exchange
CSR – Customer Service Record
SLC – Subscriber Line Charge
LOR – LEC Order Record
SWBT – Southwestern Bell Telephone
LEC – Local Exchange Carrier
ATN – Account Telephone Number
FOC – Firm Order Commitment
LIDB – Line Identification Database

AT&T Changes the Way it Packages and Sells Broadband

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AT&T this week announced plans to change the way it packages and sells broadband services to consumers. Rather than marketing speeds “up to” a certain point, the Telco will instead propose to customers tiered offerings, with clearly stated minimum and maximum transmission rates. A new report by Strategy Analytics, “AT&T’s Tiered Service: Taking a Bite Out of Fraudband,” applauds this move.

While the new tiers don’t necessarily represent an actual performance improvement, the transparency it provides to the customer will serve to enhance the overall Quality of Experience (QoE), the report says. It is a step in the right direction, and one that customers will welcome.

“The ‘up to’ marketing strategy has drawn the ire of broadband customers for years,” notes Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service. “It is widely perceived as a classic ‘bait-and-switch’ technique, analogous to a supermarket advertising a six pack with ‘up to six cans.’”

There are clearly service issues beyond the Service Provider’s control, including customer equipment and distance from the central office. However, the policy shift ensures that customers get a better understanding of the types of speeds they can reasonably expect. This alone could help AT&T differentiate itself in the market.

David Mercer, Vice-President of the Strategy Analytics Digital Consumer Practice, welcomes AT&T’s move. “We have long urged Service Providers to move toward a tiered pricing model, and are pleased to see AT&T take this step.”

Digital Signals Mean Less Noise

Analog and digital signals are both subject to impairments or “noise”.  In an analog signal this noise is heard as static on the other end of the call.  But on a digital signal this noise is eliminated when the signal is repaired en route.

Both analog and digital signals reduce their strength when traveling long distances (regardless of the transmission media).  They decrease in volume, fade and are more susceptible to interference such as static and other electromagnetic energy.  However, digital signals can be “repaired” better than analog signals.

When a digital signal loses strength and fades over distance, there is equipment on the line to regenerate the signal.  This equipment knows that each bit is either a one or a zero and it recreates it.  Any noise (or static) is discarded during the repair process.

In an analog signal, the process of strengthening the signal is to amplify all of the waves in the transmission.  This includes the noise or static that was picked up along the way.

People who first used digital wireless telephones rather than their analog wireless counterparts commented on the improvement in voice clarity.

Telepacific Expands Footprint

Telepacific is a competitive carrier that services small to medium sized businesses in California and Nevada.

Today they announced that it has expanded its Nevada service area to include the state capital, Carson City. TelePacific now serves all major cities in Nevada.

From MarketWatch:

“Our experience working in northern Nevada showed us that expanding our coverage area to Carson City was essential in order to successfully serve Nevada customers,” said Dick Jalkut, TelePacific’s CEO and president. “Part of TelePacific’s success is due to the focused geographic areas we serve. The expansion allows us to better serve our customers and reinforces TelePacific’s commitment to provide excellent local service.”

Binary Digital Transmissions Mean Better Clarity

While analog signals use waves that oscillate back and forth, digital signals are transmitted in the form of binary bits.  The word binary means “made up of two parts”.  In telecommunications, the term binary refers to the fact that there are only two values for transmitted voice and data bits: on and off (1 and 0).

“On” bits are depicted as 1’s and indicates the presence of a signal or voltage.  “Off” bits are depicted as 0’s and indicates no signal or voltage.

The fact that digital transmissions are only on or off is one reason why digital services are a better choice for voice.  Because when the digital signal starts to break down on long transmissions, rather than amplify the whole transmission (including the static or noise), only the “on” bits can be amplified.

This allows for a much more accurate voice and data signal over a long distance.

3G System Capabilities

3G System Capabilities

Capability to support circuit and packet data at high bit rates: 144 kilobits/second or higher in high mobility (vehicular) traffic 384 kilobits/second for pedestrian traffic 2 Megabits/second or higher for indoor traffic

Interoperability and roaming

Common billing/user profiles: Sharing of usage/rate information between service providers Standardized call detail recording Standardized user profiles

Capability to determine geographic position of mobiles and report it to both the network and the mobile terminal

Support of multimedia services/capabilities: Fixed and variable rate bit traffic Bandwidth on demand Asymmetric data rates in the forward and reverse links Multimedia mail store and forward Broadband access up to 2 Megabits/second

Verizon Wireless Invested $75M in Florida Cell Phone Sites

Verizon Wireless announced an investment of nearly $75 million on new cell sites, network facilities and other technologies to enhance services and coverage throughout Florida in the first six months of 2008.

Since 2000, the company has spent more than $1.8 billion on network enhancements in Florida, and more than $45 billion throughout the nation. Last year, Verizon Wireless invested more than $178 million in its Florida network.

The new technology (EVDO) provides access to services such as V CAST – which allows customers to stream video clips, play cutting-edge 3D games and download full song tracks over the air, and VZ Navigator – a location-based service offering maps, audible driving directions, traffic updates, gas station locations and pricing, and more.

EVDO technology also allows the highest speed wireless connection to BroadbandAccess, the company’s business data service, which offers average download speeds of 600 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.4 megabits per second and upload speeds of 500-800 kbps. BroadbandAccess customers can wirelessly access their e-mail and calendars, the Internet and other information anytime, anywhere via a high-speed secure connection.

“We take pride in providing our tech-savvy customers with the latest and most advanced wireless products and services,” said Pam Tope, Florida region president for Verizon Wireless. “The continuous investments we make across the state ensure that Floridians can enjoy the most reliable wireless service every day.”

The installation of new transmission sites also is a key part of the ongoing network enhancement to ensure the most reliable wireless coverage for residents. Nearly 50 new wireless transmission sites have been activated in Florida so far this year. About 85 percent have their own on-site generators and new expanded fuel tanks to extend power-generating capacity.

Additional highlights of the Verizon Wireless network enhancement include:

• Verizon Wireless began construction of a high-tech $50 million switching facility in South Florida that will expand and reinforce wireless network capacity and help enhance services for customers throughout the region. The 45,000-square-foot Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO), to be located on five acres in west Broward County, will serve as the main call-processing hub for South Florida, serving an area from Key West to Broward County. It will also serve as the company’s emergency operations center for South Florida during and after significant events like hurricanes.
• Verizon Wireless completed a $20 million enhancement to the company’s Tampa Bay switching facility, which doubled its traffic capacity and back-up power redundancies. The MTSO handles all wireless traffic within the core Tampa Bay area, as well as surrounding areas such as Sarasota, Lakeland and Citrus County. The upgraded facility was built to withstand a Category 5 storm and equipped with large-scale back-up power generation for hurricanes and other special circumstances.
• Verizon Wireless deployed two high-tech COWs (Cells On Wheels) outside of the Daytona International Speedway to boost wireless coverage for the hundreds of thousands of visiting race fans, news media, local residents and businesses during this year’s Daytona 500. The COWs, each with a 75-foot telescoping antenna, 10 dedicated voice channels and two high-speed data channels, strengthened the network during the spike in wireless calls, text messages, picture and video messages, internet connections and other wireless traffic related to the race and other speedway events in February.
• Verizon Wireless network technicians (who serve as the inspiration for the famous TV Test Man) traveled more than 500,000 miles across the state so far this year in special vehicles equipped with phones, wireless data devices and computers to measure the quality of voice and data calls on Verizon Wireless and other carriers.

Analog Signals and Noise

An analog telephone signal is similar to water moving through a pipe.  The further the water has to move, the less strength the signal.

Simarlarly, the signal being analog, weakens as it travels over great distances no matter the medium (copper, coax cable, air, etc.).  This causes the analog signal to fade or weaken.  In voice converstaion this is presented as the voice getting softer and less distinct.

In addition to becoming weaker, the signal picks up little bits of electrical interference or “noise”.  Power lines, lights and electrical equipments all inject noise into the signal in the form of electrical energy.

In analog signals this noise is heard as static.

To overcome resistance and boost the signal strength, an analog signal is periodically strengthened with a device called an amplifier.

Amplifying a weakened analog signal is not without problems.  In analog services, the amplifier that boosts the signal can not tell the difference between the signal and the noise.  So both end up getting amplified.

In a voice telephone call that is carried by analog signals people will hear static on the line whenever this happens – but they can still (hopefully) hear what is being said.

When noise on data transmissions is amplified however, the noise may cause errors in the transmission.

Analog Services Frequency (Hz)

Analog transmissions move down the phone lines as electromagnetic waves.  The way analog signals travel is expressed in frequency.

Frequency refers to the number of times per second that a wave oscillates or swings back and forth in a complete cycle from its starting point to its end point.

A complete cycle happens when a wave starts at a zero point of voltage, goes to the highest point of voltage on the wave and then down to a negative voltage and back to zero.

The higher the speed of frequency, the more complete cycles of a wave are completed in a period of time.  This speed or frequency is stated in hertz (Hz).

For example, a wave that oscillates back and forth 20 times per second is said to have a speed of 20 hertz or 20 cycles per second.