| This week's sponsor is Cisco. |  | Whitepaper: Cisco Small Cell Solution: Reduce Costs, Improve Coverage Address the challenge of mobile service coverage and expand network capacity with the Cisco Licensed Small Cell Solution. Using small cells, service providers extend voice and data services to mobile subscribers while offloading traffic. Read this whitepaper today.
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Today's Top Stories
1. AT&T's summertime LTE rollout targets 77 new markets
2. Thanks to Wi-Fi, only 40% of mobile data will go over cellular by 2017
3. CommScope, Ooredoo unveil unique tower top cell site design
4. Report: Japanese carriers closer to shuttering 3G
5. Boeing, Honeywell collaborate, while Gogo increases credit facility Editor's Corner: Infrastructure vendors bank on a future in software and services Also Noted: Coveo
Spotlight On... Stroll memory lane with the top 10 wireless carrier spokespeople of all time
DragonWave slashes 1/3 of senior management jobs, amends NSN deal; Cablevision expands Optimum WiFi to more than 75,000 hotspots and much more... Industry Voices: Schoolar: 4 vendors to watch in optimization  The 10 highest paid executives in wireless in 2012
During the past several weeks, publicly traded companies in the wireless industry revealed how much they pay their CEOs. These numbers, from 2012, include several changes from last year's list. For example, in 2012 operators dominate the list, not vendors. The following lists the highest-paid CEOs in wireless for 2012. The data comes from filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Special Report
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson
Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs
Verizon Communications CEO Lowell McAdam
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega
Sprint CEO Dan Hesse
Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown
MetroPCS CEO Roger Linquist
Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
Apple CEO Tim Cook
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| | Competitive Carriers Global Expo. April 17-19, New Orleans, LA. Register Today. |
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Infrastructure vendors bank on a future in software and services
Network infrastructure vendors increasingly resemble traditional IT companies, offering a bevy of software and services designed to enable operators to compete in a Web-centric world. The emergence of cloud services, software-defined networking and the like will ensure this trend continues. The complex list of services provided by infrastructure vendors runs the gamut. Managed services, service optimization and assurance, network optimization and assurance, service delivery frameworks, customer experience management, training and education are all part and parcel of the modern network vendors' offerings. However, the need for some services seems less obvious than others. For example, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) Chief Strategy Officer Doug Gilstrap told me when we met at this year's Mobile World Congress that some people wonder why a network vendor such as Ericsson would be involved in application and device testing. Yet this makes perfect sense if you stop to think about it. With all sorts of new players bringing out network appliances, M2M modules, tablets and smartphones, Ericsson wants to ensure those products will work with its network gear. And by involving Ericsson, the operator and end-user device vendor need to conduct less testing, thus making product available to customers more quickly. "That's lead time to the operator," said Gilstrap. For a deeper look into the ongoing transformation of infrastructure vendors from hawkers of big iron into providers of software and services, check out this special FierceBroadbandWireless feature.--Tammy P.S. Network infrastructure vendors and IT companies such as HP and IBM are increasingly stepping on one another's toes when it comes to providing software and services to mobile operators. Which companies do you think will dominate this area in the coming years? Vote in the poll on our home page. Read more about: infrastructure vendors
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Today's Top News 1. AT&T's summertime LTE rollout targets 77 new markets
AT&T (NYSE:T), which is expanding its LTE rollout to include less densely populated areas, released a list of 77 new markets where it will make LTE service available by summer's end. The expansive list includes such far-flung places as Anderson, S.C.; Cape Cod, Mass.; Farmington, N.M.; Laramie, Wyo.; Seneca Falls, N.Y.; Spokane, Wash.; and St. Croix and St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The operator recently launched LTE in six new markets: Jackson, Tenn.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Napa and Santa Rose-Petaluma, Calif.; Rocky Mount-Wilson, N.C.; and Orangeburg, SC. AT&T said its LTE service is now live in 182 markets. The operator has said it intends to hit at least 250 million POPs with LTE by the end of 2013 and 300 million POPs by year-end 2014. AT&T has been ramping up efforts to to catch up to Verizon Wireless' (NYSE:VZ) expansive LTE footprint, which includes 486 U.S. markets. Verizon launched LTE on Dec. 5, 2010, becoming the world's first Tier 1 wireless carrier to roll out the the technology. The operator's network is still the largest commercial LTE network in the world, covering more than 273 million POPs, or close to 89 percent of the U.S. population. Verizon continues filling in its LTE coverage gaps but has said it expects to finish its initial LTE deployment by mid-year. AT&T touts the fact that in areas where it does not have LTE coverage, its customers fall back onto its HSPA+ network. In contrast, Verizon's customers throttle back to a much slower CDMA EV-DO network, which is one reason Verizon has been so aggressive in rolling out LTE. Sprint Nextel's (NYSE:S) LTE and WiMAX customers also fall back to CDMA EV-DO. However, T-Mobile's LTE customers will also be able fall back to HSPA+. T-Mobile's newly launched LTE network is live in seven markets on its 1700 MHz AWS spectrum. T-Mobile covers 225 million POPs with its HSPA+42 network, and 140 million POPs are now covered by HSPA on the carrier's refarmed 1900 MHz PCS spectrum. The carrier plans to expand HSPA coverage on 1900 MHz to 200 million POPs by the end of the year. Sprint's LTE network now covers around 100 million POPs, a target T-Mobile expects to hit by mid-year. Both carriers expect to have 200 million POPs covered with LTE by the end of 2013. For more:
- see this AT&T release For more:
T-Mobile launches iPhone trade-in program to encourage switchers
Sprint's Virgin targets T-Mobile with $100 credit to switch
AT&T: Multi-standard small cells at least a year off
AT&T to buy spectrum, 21,000 customers from C Spire's Corr subsidiary
Verizon, AT&T, Sprint shrug at T-Mobile's new no-contract plans Read more about: Sprint. T-Mobile
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2. Thanks to Wi-Fi, only 40% of mobile data will go over cellular by 2017
Juniper Research is predicting almost unfathomable amounts of mobile data traffic will be generated by mobile handsets and tablets by 2017, but only a mere 40 percent of the data will go over cellular networks. Data traffic generated by the aforementioned devices will reach 90,000 petabytes by 2017, equivalent to almost 42 quadrillion tweets or approximately 7 billion Blu-ray movies, said Juniper in a new report. But Wi-Fi networks are expected to handle the majority of that traffic. "Operators will make use of more integrated units of Wi-Fi and small cells. In the case of indoor cells, where most usage happens, you effectively have Wi-Fi as the pioneer," said report author Nitin Bhas. Specifications such as Next-Generation Hotspot (NGH) and Hotspot 2.0 along with 5 GHz enabled devices will help accelerate carrier-Wi-Fi adoption, said Juniper. The firm's report also finds that mobile network operators are beginning to build out networks based on public access small cells and that has had a big effect on the offload ecosystem. North America and Western Europe will have the highest offload factor throughout the forecast period, said the firm. There also will be some onloading, as opposed to offloading, going on. According to Juniper, notebooks and e-readers will onload more than 20 percent of their data traffic to the mobile networks in 2013. For more:
- see this Juniper Research release Related articles:
AT&T, Boingo ink international Wi-Fi roaming deal
AT&T: Multi-standard small cells at least a year off
Madden: Small cells will carry more capacity than macros
Wi-Fi offloading picks up speed worldwide
AT&T's customers generate 80% of smartphone, tablet connections on its Wi-Fi hotspots
Boingo exec: Enhanced cellular/Wi-Fi roaming to launch commercially in 2014 Read more about: Wi-Fi, small cells
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3. CommScope, Ooredoo unveil unique tower top cell site design
CommScope and Ooredoo, a carrier serving the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, have developed what they believe is the world's first factory-assembled tower tops for base station remote radios. The tower tops are pre-assembled according to a single global design standard.  | | Ooredoo and CommScope (left), discuss the new factory-assembled network tower tops using a tower demonstration model. | The pre-assembled tower tops are designed to deliver greater network capacity with improved signal transmission. Pre-assembly of the tower tops reduces the installation time by approximately 50 percent and by installing radio equipment on tower tops instead of in typical large air-conditioned shelters, Ooredoo expects to halve electricity costs. The new tower top design also frees free valuable space at the top of the tower, said the companies. According to CommScope and Ooredoo, the tower tops are vendor agnostic and support virtually all current frequency bands and technologies. "The aim of the tower top development is to create and maintain a future-ready network that is radio vendor agnostic, and does not require significant on-site remote radio modifications for future upgrades," said the companies. They noted this type of infrastructure has traditionally been assembled on-site at the top of each tower with no single tower top design standard available to guide the process when updates were needed.
The tower top solution will become Ooredoo's standard cell site design across its markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. The operator intends to upgrade or replace 15,000 of its base stations over the coming years to improve its mobile broadband offerings. "The clever, standardized cell site design will be especially helpful for Ooredoo customers living in remote areas and rural communities, since upgrades and repairs will be executed faster and more efficiently," said Commscope and Ooredoo. CommScope, through its Andrew portfolio of wireless solutions, is providing support--including technical services, enhanced training, a supply chain and installation logistics and manufacturing and design expertise--for the elements of the cell site. Based in Doha, Qatar, Ooredoo, formerly known as Qtel Group, offers mobile, fixed, broadband internet and corporate managed services in its markets. The desire to extend mobile broadband into rural and remote areas is driving research into low-cost, low-power base station designs. For example, Range Networks has begun touting its open source cellular network for rural use in developed as well as developing markets. For more:
- see this CommScope and Ooredoo release Related articles:
Range Networks: Burning Man's open source cellular network touted for commercial rural use
Catching a WISP of rural broadband strategy
Alvarion powers pay-per-use Wi-Fi in Alaskan oil camps
CommScope's wide-band antenna supports multiple bands, air interfaces
Ubidyne, CommScope tout successful active antenna trial Read more about: antenna, Ooredoo
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4. Report: Japanese carriers closer to shuttering 3G
Japan's total mobile infrastructure market skyrocketed 78 percent during 2012, thanks largely to a dedicated push by NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank to rollout LTE nationwide, according to a report from Infonetics. Although 100 percent of Japan's mobile subscribers are on 3G networks, the nation's operators are eyeing closure of those networks in favor of LTE. "As we predicted, 2012 was the LTE year in Japan following a year marked by 3G reconstruction efforts after the great earthquake and tsunami. LTE revenue in Japan soared 188 percent and will keep its momentum this year, driven by accelerated rollouts and the increasing willingness of service providers to shut down 3G," wrote Stephane Teral, Infonetics' principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics. The firm said Japan's mobile infrastructure market will plateau in 2014 and eventually decline by 2017 as LTE deployments wind down. That slowdown could impact Nokia Siemens Networks, which the Infoentics ranks as the top vendor in LTE infrastructure revenue market share in Japan, followed by NEC and Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC). Meanwhile, China--which has not yet officially allowed commercial LTE deployments--is in quite a different situation. Its mobile infrastructure market is expected to heat up as the Chinese government gears up to award LTE licenses, and China Mobile prepares for a massive TD-LTE rollout with potential commercial service by year's end, said Teral. In a separate report, Infonetics named China Mobile the top independent wireless provider by revenue, with sales of almost $89 billion in 2012. China Mobile's rollout of 20,000 TD-LTE eNodeBs during the fourth quarter of 2012 helped keep China's mobile infrastructure market afloat during 2012. The entire Chinese market for mobile infrastructure, including 2G, 3G and LTE, slid 4 percent year-over-year in 2012, dragged down by slower sales of equipment for GSM, WCDMA and CDMA2000. China Mobile last month disclosed that it will commit $6.7 billion to rolling out TD-LTE this year. The operator expects to end 2013 with more than 200,000 TD-LTE base stations in 13 cities, up from the 20,000 base stations it had deployed by the end of last year. Infonetics forecasts LTE in China, which has 1.1 billion mobile subscribers, to grow at a 38 percent CAGR from 2012 to 2017. For more:
- see this Infonetics release Related articles:
Ericsson upbeat about network gear market in 2013
Small cell market ramping up, will reach $2.7B by 2017
China Telecom eyes FDD-LTE
China Mobile commits $6.7B to TD-LTE capex in 2013
Ericsson rules the LTE roost, but TD-LTE will boost rivals
DoCoMo tops 1M LTE subs, plans 700 MHz rollout Read more about: LTE, China Mobile
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5. Boeing, Honeywell collaborate, while Gogo increases credit facility
Boeing and Honeywell announced a new agreement targeting development of new in-flight wireless connectivity platforms for Boeing aircraft. In addition, Gogo and Row 44 released news regarding their separate in-flight connectivity initiatives. Aircraft maker Boeing joined with Honeywell signed a technical services agreement under which they will research and develop technologies for in-flight wireless connectivity on Boeing platforms including the 787, 777, 737NG and 747-8. The companies expect to research, test and develop the hardware, software and potential services that will utilize GX Ka-band satellites, powered by Inmarsat's Global Xpress constellation. The first Inmarsat GX Ka-band satellite, being built by Boeing, is expected to launch in late 2013. Boeing and Honeywell said they will initiate necessary activities to support GX Ka-band equipment installation aboard new aircraft in 2015. The Honeywell-developed hardware and system for Inmarsat's GX Aviation network will also introduce new services to aircraft operators, airlines and air traffic control such as predictive maintenance and improved aircraft communications. Honeywell and Inmarsat signed an agreement in 2012 to provide global in-flight connectivity services to business, commercial and government aviation customers around the world. In other news, Gogo said it closed on a $113 million increase to its existing $135 million credit facility arranged by Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan in June of 2012. The in-flight connectivity provider expects to use proceeds of the debt financing to fund its global expansion and for general operating purposes. Further, Gogo announced a new partnership with Thales, a supplier of in-flight entertainment and connectivity systems (IFEC), to offer line-fit solutions based on the Thales TopSeries Avant platform and Gogo's connectivity services. Gogo currently offers solutions based on Inmarsat's Global Xpress Ka-band satellite service, Ku-band satellite and air-to-ground (ATG) technologies. "Gogo has both an excellent track record and a technology that harmonizes extremely well with the Thales IFEC platform. It brings two best of breed capabilities together and will give airlines exclusive passenger experiences with an economical and global connection. This gives us the benefit of accessing satellite based connectivity services through Gogo's reseller agreements with its satellite partners as well as Gogo's ATG network where available," said Alan Pellegrini , president and CEO of Thales USA. Satellite-based inflight Wi-Fi provider Row 44 also made news this week, announcing that it completed installation on 60 of Norwegian Air Shuttle's Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Norwegian Air Shuttle was the first airline to offer high-speed Internet connectivity on flights within Europe and is now also the first airline in Europe to perform a broad commercial rollout of video on demand directly to passengers' own Wi-Fi-enabled devices, said Row 44. Future installations of the Row 44 solution aboard Norwegian Air Shuttle are expected to begin later this year. Row 44's in-flight entertainment service, based on Ku-band satellites, is offered on nearly 500 aircraft flying worldwide. For more:
- see this Boeing and Honeywell release
- see this Gogo release and this release
- see this Row 44 release Related articles:
ZTE tests air-to-ground FDD-LTE network
Report: FAA may loosen restrictions on passenger access to iPads, Kindles
Row 44, Gogo mark in-flight Wi-Fi milestones
Gogo installing satellite and ATG service for American Airlines
Emirates to allow in-flight cellphone calls via OnAir
Boeing to enable in-flight Wi-Fi and cell phone connectivity on new 747s and 777s Read more about: Inmarsat, Ku-band
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Coveo. |  | eBook:
How to Get a Return on Knowledge in a Big Data World
Learn how to get put your organization's collective knowledge in the hands of your service reps using advanced enterprise search technology - and watch your service performance improve and customer satisfaction soar. Download Now! |
SPOTLIGHT ON... Stroll memory lane with the top 10 wireless carrier spokespeople of all time  What do Joan Cusack, Dan Hesse and Luke Wilson have in common? They've been consumer-facing spokespeople in U.S. mobile operators' advertising campaigns. However, these marketing stars come and go with changes in corporate identities and brand messaging. Most recently, T-Mobile USA's "Uncarrier" strategy signaled the conclusion of the carrier's long-running advertising campaign spotlighting spokesmodel Carly Foulkes, most recently featured in "No More Mr. Nice Girl" ads spotlighting its "4G" HSPA+ network.
FierceWireless ranks the top 10 mobile carrier spokespeople based on criteria including their longevity, how recognizable they are and what impact their presence and marketing message had on the brand of the carrier they represented. Special Report Quick news from around the Web. > DragonWave slashes one-third of senior management jobs, amends NSN deal. Article > 3 Ireland picks Samsung as it gears up for LTE launch. Article > Vodafone finally joins Australian LTE party. Article > OpenFlow group refines its role in SDN. Article > Cablevision expands Optimum WiFi to more than 75,000 hotspots. Release And finally… Honeywell says its Wi-Fi thermostat's touchscreen can match exact color shades in home decor. Article
Schoolar: 4 vendors to watch in optimization
 | | Daryl Schoolar | In its simplest terms optimization in the mobile network, basically deals with minimizing capex while maximizing the subscriber experience. Now, optimization can take different forms. The two I see the most are optimization solutions targeting improved network performance, like self-optimizing networks (SON), and those looking to improve the delivery of network content, specifically video. Even in these two areas companies have different approaches as to how they achieve optimization. Network optimization can be performed in the mobile core, at the access layer, or can involve software in the device. Network optimization can also be centralized or distributed. As for content optimization this can range from solutions that focus on traditional areas like compression, transcoding, or transrating all the way to managing the actual flow of content across the network. As there are so many different ways that optimization can be implemented, it is no surprise that operators are not limiting... continued Read the full column on the Web Read more about: Newfield Wireless
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| > Competitive Carriers Global Expo - April 17-19 - New Orleans CCA is the premier trade show and conference for the competitive mobile ecosystem and brings together decision-makers for networking, learning and sharing best practices. CCA is the nation's leading association for competitive wireless providers. To register www.ccaevents.org. > Fierce Innovation Awards 2012 Live Announcement of this Year's Winners - Now Available On-Demand Please join Jason Nelson, Publisher of FierceWireless, FierceTelecom, and FierceCable as we announce the winners of the Fierce Innovation Awards 2012. Click here to RSVP today.
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