By John Mark V. Tuazon
Computerworld Philippines
November 10, 2009

Telecommunications firms need to break out of the mold of merely providing access to consumers, and expand to avenues providing relevant content to their end-users, executives from a 3G technology innovator urged in a meeting with reporters Thursday.

Instead of competing for cost of 3G services, visiting Qualcomm officials said mobile networks should instead compete for value to sustain their business. “Because of its added capabilities, 3G is not just an addition to providing wireless Internet access,” said John Stefanac, president, Qualcomm Southeast Asia/Pacific. “It should be a medium for operators to offer a wide variety of services.”

Stefanac said that before, when operators were merely servicing voice and SMS to users, it was difficult to compete on value, “so they ended up competing on price. But 3G is more than that,” he stressed, adding that competing on value means delivering certain applications that are relevant to the end-users.

Stefanac illustrated the example of Amazon’s Kindle, which is the first e-Book reader device of its kind to have provided content to consumers without having to go through mobile operators. “They have their own relationship to customers,” he pointed out, “and because of that, they are able to offer customers end-to-end solutions that meet their needs.”

Because of the immense popularity of Kindle, Stefanac said mobile operators should be more involved in the device selection by its subscribers. “They have to make sure that subscribers are using those devices specifically due to the applications designed for them,” he stressed.

Stefanac said the development of applications utilizing the 3G network will ensure the migration of users to preferred networks, enabling operators to be a part of the value chain. “But as we see it, in the Philippines, the software development area of the 3G ecosystem needs to do more,” he commented. “Since the Philippines is an English-speaking nation, there can even be a potential for homegrown applications to be exported abroad.”

One type of application telcos can utilize, according to Stefanac, is the massive popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Friendster in the Philippines. “Social networking is an important factor in 3G growth,” Stefanac said.

Possibly Related Posts:

• ICT plan crafted for RP’s next president
• Security industry faces attacks it cannot stop
• Cisco tries to expand video calling with IME
• Design firm accuses Mozilla of UI plagiarism
• The Internet is nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

By Mikael Ricknäs
IDG News Service (Stockholm Bureau)
August 25, 2009

STOCKHOLM - Nokia has unveiled the Booklet 3G, a netbook with high-speed mobile broadband and Wi-Fi connectivity, and a GPS receiver, the company said on Monday.

The Booklet 3G should run for up to 12 hours on one battery charge, Nokia said. It weighs 1.25 kilograms, has an aluminum chassis and is slightly more than 2 centimeters thin.

The mobile broadband connection will be based on HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), but Nokia doesn’t want to elaborate on what speeds it will support.

The device also has a 10-inch screen, and can connect to bigger displays using an HDMI port, according to Nokia. Like most other netbooks on the market, it contains an Intel Atom processor and will run Windows — although Nokia isn’t yet ready to say which version of the OS.

Lately Nokia has shown an increasing amount of interest in Linux, a competitor to the Windows OS. Nokia announced in June that it will work with Intel on mobile devices running the Linux-based Maemo platform. But choosing Windows makes sense given consumer resistance to Linux netbooks, according to market research company CCS Insight.

Detailed specifications, market availability and pricing, will be announced at Nokia World on Sep. 2, Nokia said in a statement.

How competitive the specification will be when it ships remains to been seen, as a slew of netbooks based on Windows 7 are expected to be announced in the near future, according to Geoff Blaber, analyst at CCS Insight.

The price will be very important in determining the netbook’s success, and here Nokia is in a bit of a quandary, said Blaber. It can’t be too cheap, because that will make smartphones such as the N97 look expensive. But it can’t be too expensive, because that could alienate consumers who are used to low-priced netbooks, Blaber said.

But looking at the specification, it seems like the Booklet 3G will be an expensive product, according to Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. But she doesn’t want to guess what it will cost.

A high price tag means Nokia will hope to get operators to subsidize the device. But getting operators to do that might turn out to be difficult, according to Blaber. Nokia’s services push will be an integral part of the Booklet 3G, and that might not sit well with all carriers, he said.

Nokia said the move into the portable computing market is a natural evolution for the company. The launch of the device has been rumored for several months.

The company is clearly hoping to take advantage of its brand and its mobile phone distribution channels to compete in the cutthroat netbook segment, Blaber said.

Possibly Related Posts:

• ICT plan crafted for RP’s next president
• Security industry faces attacks it cannot stop
• Cisco tries to expand video calling with IME
• Design firm accuses Mozilla of UI plagiarism
• The Internet is nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
July 4, 2006

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) chief Roland Solis said the commission is ready to defend before Congress the amount of license fees it charged to four telecommunications companies to operate third-generation or 3G services.

Representatives Simeon Kintanar (Cebu, 2nd district, NPC) and Danilo Suarez (Quezon, 3rd district, LP), chairpersons of the House of Representatives’ committees on ICT and Oversight, respectively, earlier expressed doubts on whether the NTC followed the law in granting 3G licenses last December.

NTC chairman Roland Solis said in an interview that the commission is ready to defend the amount of 3G user spectrum fees it charged to service providers Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications (Digitel), and newcomer CURE (Connectivity Unlimited Resources, Enterprises, Inc.).

The commission reportedly earned P2.3 billion but according to lawmakers, the amount is significantly less than what is charged in other countries that have rolled out 3G and that the government could have earned at least P15 billion if bidding was conducted.

Solis added the NTC is likewise ready to defend its decision to reject the applications of five other service providers namely, Bayan Telecommunications Inc., AZ Network Communications Inc., Pacific Wireless, Media Telephony and Next Mobile.

In its decision, the NTC ruled that the above-mentioned operators are “unqualified” to deliver 3G services. Since the number of qualified applicants is less than the five spectrum allotments, NTC argues there is no need to conduct bidding.

Reps. Kintanar and Suarez, along with other members of their respective committees, asked the NTC to consider reviewing the license fees paid by four players to determine if these were “fair and reasonable.”

“We are ready to deliberate on it but we just don’t want to be discourteous to the congressmen because we are still being investigated. But we are ready,” Solis said in reference to the license fees.

According to him, the commission is currently reviewing the rates it is charging for the entire frequency spectrum, not just 3G.

“We are thinking if there is a need for us to increase the fees at this time, not just on 3G but on all spectrum usages like UMTS, WiMax, and Wi-Fi,” he said.

Regarding the request for review of qualifications of 3G applicants, Solis said NTC has already done the “groundwork” but is yet to deliberate on it.

Asked about Suarez’s earlier warning that NTC officials could face graft charges if it does not abolish the 3G licenses, Solis refused to comment and added, “I can’t comment on that. I would rather wait for the (committee) report.”

Email the author at tsnoda@computerworld.com.ph.

Possibly Related Posts:

• ICT plan crafted for RP’s next president
• iPhone to Add Multitasking, says Report
• Pinoy technoprenuer honored by World Economic Forum
• Cyberattacks raise e-banking security fears
• US expert: Chinese gov’t likely behind massive cyberattacks

By Tom S. Noda
Computerworld Philippines
June 28, 2006

The House of Representatives’ committees on Oversight and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) are currently studying new and “reasonable” fees for telecommunication companies who acquired licenses to operate third generation or 3G mobile services.

Rep. Simeon Kintanar (Cebu, 2nd district, NPC), chairman of the Lower House committee on ICT, said both committees are studying ways to come up with “upfront and yearly broad spectrum fees” for service providers Smart Communications, Globe Telecom, Digital Telecommunications (Digitel) and CURE (Connectivity Unlimited Resources Enterprise, Inc.).

“The rates of (3G) spectrum users’ fees are being reviewed because we want to make sure that the provision of the law, which asks for a reasonable rate, would be applied,” Kintanar said in an interview with Computerworld Philippines.

Kintanar said Congress is once again calling the attention of the National Telecommunications Communications (NTC) to consider reviewing the license fees paid by four players whether it was indeed “fair and reasonable.”

Although he admits that this matter needs further study, Kintanar hinted the license fees set by the NTC might not be reasonable compared to spectrum fees in other countries that rolled out 3G.

Kintanar, who once served as NTC commissioner, also expressed doubt whether the current commission has properly evaluated the qualifications of all 3G license applicants.

According to him, the main reason on why NTC did not bid out the frequencies for 3G is that there were five sets of spectrums available. Under the law, if there are enough spectrums to give away to qualified applicants, then there is no need for a bidding.

“We have to apply the law. But I don’t know if they were able to properly process the evaluation of the interested applicants,” he said. “They were nine of them originally, and only four qualified.”

The other applicants were Bayan Telecommunications Inc., AZ Network Communications Inc., Pacific Wireless, Media Telephony and Next Mobile.

Rep. Danilo Suarez, (Quezon, 3rd district, LP) chairman of the Oversight committee, earlier said that the system NTC applied in distributing frequencies was patterned to suit at least four or five licensees.

Solis reported the NTC earned P2.3 billion in the awarding of four licenses. But lawmakers are arguing that the commission could have earned P15 billion to P26 billion more.

Email the author at tsnoda@computerworld.com.ph.

Possibly Related Posts:

• ICT plan crafted for RP’s next president
• iPhone to Add Multitasking, says Report
• Pinoy technoprenuer honored by World Economic Forum
• Cyberattacks raise e-banking security fears
• US expert: Chinese gov’t likely behind massive cyberattacks