Consumer study shows changing TV behavior

Internet-based TV is growing rapidly, with 50 percent of the consumers using it every week, says Ericsson.

The study shows that people are spending up to 35 percent of their leisure time watching TV and video content, and that consumers are becoming more aware of new technologies, which in turn are creating new patterns of media consumption.

At least once a week, 93 percent are still watching scheduled 'linear' broadcast TV, but the role of broadcast TV is changing owing to the introduction of new distribution channels.

More than 70 percent of consumers surveyed are streaming, downloading or watching recorded broadcast TV on a weekly basis, and 50 percent are using internet-based on-demand TV/video every week.

Data was collected in China, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the UK and US.

Consumer study shows changing TV behavior - Ericsson

Many Enterprises Balking at Social Media?

A large majority of attendees polled as part of a recent webinar aren't integrating social media with their call center operations at the moment, and almost half say they have no intention of integrating social media and communications.

No Jitter | blog | Many Enterprises Balking at Social Media Integration?

94% of U.S. Workers Stay Connected to Work While on Vacation

All but six percent of users polled by iPass say they stay connected, at least some of the time, to work, even when on vacation, a new survey by iPass has found.

Only 5.9 per cent of workers disconnect from the office while on leave, the study found. About 58 percent report they connect at least some days when on vacation. About 36 percent report they connect at least part of every day when they are on vacation.

For better or worse, most U.S. workers appear to be working at least some of the time when on vacation.

The majority of respondents (53.6 percent) never truly disconnect from technology when on vacation.  For the 46.4 percent of mobile employees that do on occasion disconnect, their reasons were mostly situational, such as being in a location with poor connectivity.

Even while on vacation, 94 percent of mobile employees connect to the Internet, and the majority connect for work, pointing out the crucial role mobile devices now play in work life, the added productivity firms and organizations are gaining, and also the importance business applications have played so far in driving smartphone and mobile broadband adoption using dongles or cards to connect PCs.

Is there such a thing as too much mobile spectrum?

UK-based Colaego Consulting warns that a spectrum race might be dangerous for European mobile operators, though good for consumers. The reason?

New bidding for Long Term Evolution spectrum in the 2.6GHz and 700/800MHz bands will essentially be an "arms race" dictated more by competitive concerns than by actual end user demand for new services based on use of those airwaves.

European mobile operators are smart enough to remember an earlier, expensive race to acquire 3G spectrum, moves which nearly bankrupted a couple of carriers, and which proved difficult to convert into new revenues from new services.

Basically, Colaego Consulting warns that the same thing could happen again, leading to a situation where spectrum supply can outstrip capacity demands and lead to lower retail prices.

It seems unlikely any executives are unaware of that potential pitfall. As with fiber-to-customer investments, bandwidth demand looks to keep growing, so operators essentially do need to keep investing to stay in the game. New services ultimately will be created, but there seems no getting around the need for additional spectrum.

The warning is apt, but one might suspect mobile executives are well aware of the problem.

Is there such a thing as too much mobile spectrum?

Blair Levin on Network Neutrality

Blair Levin talks about network neutrality.

Verizon on Network Neutrality Issues

Verizon executive Tom Tauke talks about the firm's views on network neutrality

Blair Levin on U.S. Broadband

Blair Levin wrote the Federal Communication Commission's "National Broadband Plan," so you can argue he knows a thing or two about both broadband and the policy and financial issues involved.

95% of Workers Remain Connected When Not at Work, iPass Finds

Only 5.9 per cent of workers disconnect from the office while on leave, and 40 per cent have tried in-flight Wi-Fi to keep them connected, a new survey by iPass has found.

The mobile device continues to be a tether creating an on-demand workforce. The majority of respondents (53.6 percent) never truly disconnect from technology. For the 46.4 percent of mobile employees that do on occasion disconnect, their reasons were mostly situational, such as being in a location with poor connectivity. 

Even while on vacation, 94 percent of mobile employees connect to the Internet, and the majority connect for work.

Mobile workers are used to carrying multiple mobile devices. Nearly 97 percent of mobile employees carry two or more mobile devices, and almost 50 percent carried three or more.

Mobile workers use their mobile devices to blend work and personal business. More than 90 percent of employees use their smartphone for both work and personal business. Even among users of consumer devices like the iPad and tablet PC, 91 percent currently use it or plan to use it for work. The line between consumer and business applications has also blurred. Most respondents use email, calendar, text messaging and browsing for both work and personal on their smartphones. The only exception is social media, which is rarely accessed for work.

There is a resurgence of Wi-Fi access among smartphone users. While the majority of smartphone users are choosing Wi-Fi to connect, the primary reason stated (31.8 percent) is because it is faster than 3G.

Call Landlines or Mobiles From Inside Gmail

The service initially is available in the United States. For at least the balance of the year, calls to U.S. and Canadian telephone numbers are free. International calls are billed at rates comparable to what Google Voice already offers.

Google Launches “Call phones in Gmail”

Google has launched a "Skype-like" calling capability from within Gmail. If you have a a Google Voice number and account, that number is what people will see as the "calling number." Others will use a generic number. Calls within the United States and Canada are free, and the service initially is available only in the United States. International calls are billed at rates identical to, or similar to, what Google Voice already offers.

Clearwire Says it Will Serve a "New Customer Segment"

Clearwire Corporation says it has plans to serve a new customer segment, and will tell us all what the new segment is on Aug. 30, 2010.  

Some Tablets Are Blurring Line with Smartphones

Tablet manufacturers are experimenting with demand for devices with different form factors, especially size.

European Broadband Speeds Up 20%, Prices Down 8% between December 2009 and June 2010

Following 18 months of relative stability during the recession, competition is once again driving a reduction in prices in the European fixed broadband market, Analysys Mason says. The average price paid for a fixed broadband service bundle (that is, a single-, double- or triple-play package) has declined by about five Euros between the fourth quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2010 to 40.7 EUR per month.

At the same time, access speeds continue to increase. Almost 20 percent of the tariffs tracked during the second quarter of 2010 offered downstream bandwidths of 30 Mbps or greater (although the proportion of subscribers that actually take these ultra-fast services is likely to be much lower than 20 percent).

There are several obvious implications. As we have come to expect, speeds keep increasing, while prices per megabit per second continue to fall. Given discussions about increasing U.S. broadband speeds, it is worth noting that where 30 Mbps service is available, at prices lower than we see in the United States, fewer than 20 percent of consumers choose to buy such services.

Also, mobile substitution is starting to become a bigger issue. That likely will have a "depressing" impact on typical or average speeds, even if consumers have their own rational reasons for choosing lower-speed services.

As a result, the average price per megabit per second has declined from 7.5 EUR in the fourth quarter of 2009 to just 5.8 EUR in the second quarter of 2010 (see Figure 1). Some service providers, such as Romtelecom in Romania, offer services at a rate as low as 0.1 EUR per megabit per second.

Service providers continue to charge a 24 percent premium for bundles that include a broadband service with a downstream speed of 30Mbit/s or greater. This ultra-fast broadband premium has remained steady over the first half of 2010, despite an overall decline in the price of fixed broadband bundles in Europe.

Competition from mobile broadband services also contributed to the downward pressure on fixed broadband tariffs during the first half of 2010.

However, the premium that providers charge for mobile broadband services is also eroding. Prepaid mobile broadband services with usage caps of 3 GBytes or more now undercut entry-level fixed broadband service propositions in most Western European countries.

Some broadband markets in Central and Eastern Europe, such as those of Poland and Estonia, are also approaching pricing parity for fixed and mobile broadband services.

The median speed of a DSL service in Europe has reached 8 Mbps for the first time, compared with 15 Mbps for cable modem and 50 Mbps for residential fiber-to-the-basement services.

link

Google to improve YouTube mobile site for mobile marketing

Google is improving its YouTube service on mobile devices, which could provide a boost to brands planning a viral video campaign.

The site will be built on HTML5 standard and can be accessed via the phone's web browser, which will provide viewers with better quality videos to watch.

Mobile users of YouTube will also be given enhanced social networking features which will make it easier to share video links on Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz.

DMA: Google to improve YouTube mobile site for mobile marketing

Apple in talks on 99-cent TV show rentals

Apple Inc. is reportedly renewing efforts to get TV networks to offer their shows on iTunes for as little as 99 cents per show.

The report from Bloomberg, based on unnamed sources, comes as Apple is widely expected to be ready to announce a new product called iTV next month.

Apple in talks on 99-cent TV show rentals