Retail

Dec 15, 2016

Jio Whizz: India’s Newest Cellco Hits the Ground Running

It is unlikely that any operator has made a bigger splash following its launch than Reliance Jio Infocomm in India.

The cellco issued a press release earlier this month claiming to have signed up 52 million customers in 83 days. That’s an average of over 626,000 net additions every 24 hours – or more than seven new users a second.

Nov 21, 2016

Rise of the Machines: Narrowband Internet of Things Takes Off

The last few weeks have seen a flurry of announcements regarding trials and proposed commercial rollouts of Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology.

So what can we expect to see from NB-IoT and which operators are looking to deploy it?

Nov 14, 2016

To Buy or Not to Buy: That is the 700MHz Question

A planned auction of spectrum in the 694MHz-790MHz (700MHz) band in Sweden has been postponed, while the recent sale of frequencies in the same band in India attracted no bidders.

Oct 17, 2016

Mobile Services No Longer a Cash Cow

Over the past few years, mobile operators across several markets have seen declining service revenues and falling levels of average revenue per user (ARPU).

It’s possible that mobile services are no longer the big moneymaker they were in the early 2000s. Here’s why.

Oct 12, 2016

Sultanate of Swing: Oman’s Mobile Users Shifting to MVNOs

Oman’s wireless market is shifting thanks to the growing popularity of MVNO services.

The Sultanate is home to two established network operators – Omantel and Ooredoo – as well as a pair of low-cost, pre-paid resellers in the shape of FRiENDi Mobile and Majan Telecommunication, which trades under the name Renna Mobile.

Sep 19, 2016

Iliad's Odyssey: Major Changes Coming to Italy's Wireless Sector

The market dynamic of Italy’s wireless sector is set for a major shake-up with the European Commission's (EC) recently-approved merger of the number three and four wireless players, Wind and 3 Italia.

Sep 13, 2016

The Politics of Broadband in Australia

Broadband users had real skin in the game during Australia’s last parliamentary election. This is big, considering Australia is in the middle of the world’s craziest broadband project.

Aug 31, 2016

Big in Japan: UQ Continues to Spur WiMAX Growth

Once the hot new technology in telecoms, you could be forgiven for thinking that WiMAX is yesterday’s news. Many operators have already abandoned their WiMAX rollout plans in favour of LTE mobile systems or fixed line alternatives.

There is one country, however, where WiMAX is not only surviving, but thriving.

Aug 24, 2016

4G Breaks Through That Great Chinese Wall

The popularity of 4G mobile services in China continues to take off and subscriber growth shows no signs of slowing.

With almost 576 million 4G customers at the end of June 2016, China is home to twice as many 4G users as the next largest market (the U.S.). But why?

Jul 20, 2016

Say Hello to the Newer, More Consolidated U.S. Cable and Broadband Sector

The US cable TV and broadband sector has undergone a major period of consolidation in the last six months, signaling big changes in the market’s DNA.

Case in point: Charter Communications completed takeovers of Time Warner Cable (TWC) and Bright House Networks in May this year, while the Amsterdam-based telecoms investment firm Altice finalized buyouts of Suddenlink and Cablevision in December 2015 and June 2016, respectively.