LightSquared Considers AT&T Capacity Deal

LightSquared is considering a deal with AT&T to buy network capacity from the carrier, Bloomberg reports.

LightSquared would pay to use AT&T’s fourth generation network when it needs additional capacity. The move would be a little puzzling to the extent that LightSquared, which owns its own spectrum and is leasing tower and radio capacity from Sprint Nextel, would buy additional capacity wholesale, to sell wholesale, when it presumably has plenty of actual spectrum available.

Falcone Venture Is Said to Be Weighing Deal With AT&T for Network Capacity - Bloomberg

Hard to Measure Mobile Marketing ROI, Users Say

Mobile still doesn’t measure up as “important” to most marketers, according to an April 2011 survey by King Fish Media sponsored by HubSpot, Junta42 and Maxymiser.

But that could change as more marketers get on board with a mobile strategy. More than six in 10 North American marketers plan to have one within the next year, compared with just a third who already do.

When asked specifically about the ROI of their mobile advertising programs, a plurality of North American companies said they were doing about as well as expected.

A quarter of respondents said mobile advertising wasn’t meeting expectations, however, compared to just 13 percent who said results were better than they had hoped.

The State of Mobile ROI - eMarketer

Cellphone Radiation May Cause Cancer, Advisory Panel Says

A World Health Organization panel has concluded that cellphones are “possibly carcinogenic,’’ putting the popular devices in the same category as certain dry cleaning chemicals and pesticides, as a potential threat to human health.

The finding, from the agency’s International Agency for Research on Cancer, adds to concerns among a small but growing group of experts about the health effects of low levels of radiation emitted by cellphones. The panel, which consisted of 31 scientists from 14 countries, was led by Dr. Jonathan M. Samet, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Southern California and a member of President Obama’s National Cancer Advisory Board.

Studies of non-ionizing radiation impact on human tissue have been inconclusive to date, which is why the WHO can only say there is a "possible" danger. To be on the safe side, some of us minimize our mobile usage and use the speaker phone as much as possible.

Cellphone Radiation May Cause Cancer, Advisory Panel Says - NYTimes.com

E-Reader Comparison

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-comparing-the-latest-e-readers-heres-our-chart/

Cisco Projects 26-Fold Growth in Global Mobile Data Traffic From 2010 to 2015

Worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 26-foldbetween 2010 and 2015, says Cisco, reaching 6.3 exabytes per month or an annual run rate of 75 exabytes by 2015.

This traffic increase represents a compound annual growth rate of 92 percent over the same period. Two major global trends are driving these significant mobile data traffic increases: a continued surge in mobile-ready devices such as tablets and smart phones, and widespread mobile video content consumption, Cisco notes.

The Cisco study predicts that by 2015, more than 5.6 billion personal devices will be connected to mobile networks, and there will also be 1.5 billion machine-to-machine nodes -- nearly the equivalent of one mobile connection for every person in the world.

Mobile video is forecast to represent 66 percent of all mobile data traffic by 2015, increasing 35-fold from 2010 to 2015, the highest growth rate of any mobile data application tracked in the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast. Mobile traffic originating from tablet devices is expected to grow 205-fold from 2010 to 2015, the highest growth rate of any device category tracked.

Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast Projects 26-Fold Growth in Global Mobile Data Traffic From 2010 to 2015

How Many Mobile Payments Users in India by 2015?

With the mobile phone penetration expected to reach 100 percent by 2015, mobile devices are likely to emerge as a popular medium of payment in India, a recent survey has predicted.

According to the report conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, India counts nearly 720 million mobile subscribers, which are expected to start using more their devices to carry out mobile payments in the future. In addition, the report indicates that this prediction is based on the fact that although the majority of Indian residents are unbanked they do have a mobile phone.

Moreover, the study has pointed out that the retail market in India has annual transactions worth USD 410 billion (approximately Rs 1,850,000 crore).

Insights in payments

96% of Under-50 Internet Users are on Facebook?

A Bank of America survey of 418 U.S. consumers under age 50 found that 96 percent of them use Facebook.

Furthermore, over half (51 percent) of those users say they have increased their use of the social network over the past 12 months. Since 69 percent report they do not spend less time on other websites as a result of their Facebook use, one has to assume the additional time has been shifted from other activities.

Some 48 percent of respondents say they have intentionally clicked on an ad on Facebook while 48 percent frequently use the “Like” button.

Some 40 percent of respondents say they check Facebook multiple times each day, while 36 percent check Facebook multiple times a day from their mobile device.


But 82 percent of Facebook users have concerns about privacy.

http://www.allfacebook.com/report-do-almost-all-americans-use-facebook-yet-2011-05

96% of Under-50 Internet Users are on Facebook?

A Bank of America survey of 418 U.S. consumers under age 50 found that 96 percent of them use Facebook.

Furthermore, over half (51 percent) of those users say they have increased their use of the social network over the past 12 months. Since 69 percent report they do not spend less time on other websites as a result of their Facebook use, one has to assume the additional time has been shifted from other activities.

48 percent of respondents say they have intentionally clicked on an ad on Facebook while 48 percent frequently use the “Like” button.

Some 40 percent of respondents say they check Facebook multiple times each day, while 36 percent check Facebook multiple times a day from their mobile device.

But 82 percent of Facebook users have concerns about privacy.

http://www.allfacebook.com/report-do-almost-all-americans-use-facebook-yet-2011-05

AT&T Bid for T-Mobile USA in Trouble?

AT&T officials deny that there is any growing opposition to the proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA beyond the expected cast of characters. But some observers are not so sure. At the very least, a tougher than expected fight is expected. Others think the odds the deal might actually fail to gain regulatory approval are growing.

That would cost AT&T a significant amount of money and spectrum. It also would put T-Mobile USA into a difficult position, as it would have spent a year doing very little to maintain its business as a going concern.

If the deal fails, T-Mobile USA will emerge a weaker company for the distractions, still with the same scale problems and then a likely subject of a Sprint takeover bid.

Chances For A Sprint Deal For T-Mobile Resurrected

2015: Key Trends

In 2015, mobile devices will have bigger screens, more capabilities, and many more users will have more than 100 apps, says Robert Scoble.

Home entertainment systems will increasingly go completely Internet connected and many people will unplug their cable systems.

All media will be streamed and very few users will have downloadable files anymore.

There will be “apps of apps.” In other words, there will be apps that join many apps together.

Social networking will be far more nuanced than it is today.

2015: What Will It Look Like?

Study: 60% of Generation Y Leaning Toward Cutting the Cord

Fully 60 percent of survey respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 are either leaning towards or seriously considering giving up multichannel video services, a survey by Ideas and Solutions has found.

"Cost was the major factor in cord-cutters decisions, with 69 percent of "at-risk" respondents and 61 percent of "leaners" citing it as the primary reason for cutting the cord. See http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/reports-see-generation-y-poverty-193432.

While Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and the like don't offer video services comparable with pay TV, "when faced with a choice of pay TV or a third meal, will some customers choose to make do with a back catalog or off-the-run TV shows and movies?," asked Craig Moffett, Sanford C.
Bernstein analyst. "Of course they will."

"Other ways I can watch entertainment content" was the reason given by 36 percent of "at-risk" respondents and 35 percent for the "leaners."

Nearly 50 percent of those at risk of cutting the cord are Netflix and Hulu users as opposed to 29 percent of "loyalists" and 42 percent of "leaners."

The study of 500 respondents ed 18 to 29 who were current multichannel TV subscribers.

Study: 60% of Generation Y Leaning Toward Cutting the Cord

68% of Marketers Did a Website Redesign in the Last 12 Months

Fully 68 percent of marketers said they redesigned their website in the last 12 months, including 34 percent in the last three months plus another 34 percent from 4 to 12 months ago, according to HubSpot. And, the marketing teams are the ones driving the majority of the website redesign projects. About 55 percent of the website redesigns were initiated by the marketing team.

That might be a bit more than you'd expect, but I have yet to encounter many websites that wasn't essentially "always in beta."

68% of Marketers Did a Website Redesign in the Last 12 Months

YouTube’s "Studio" Strategy

Some liken YouTube to the distributor role multichannel TV networks now hold. Others might liken the role to that of HBO. Either way, YouTube wants to encourage new "native to the Web" content developers that essentially act as studios, fostering creation of video that has more of the appeal of professionally-created video.

For YouTube, it is all about scale, and networks of loosely aligned online video producers scale better than individual shows and viral-video phenoms. In fact, there is a brand new department inside YouTube called Networks that reports to global head of content Dean Gilbert. The purpose of the department is encourage the formation of these outside networks which then use YouTube as their distribution channel.

YouTube’s New Strategy: Create a Network Of Networks

Nortel Patent Portfolio is of Interest Because of 4G

At its peak, in 2000, Nortel had a market value of $350 billion and 86,000 employees. At one time, the stock represented 36 percent of the entire value of the Toronto Stock Exchange. See http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0012362. On June 20, 2010, Nortel will no longer exist and the intellectual property it owns will be sold off to the highest bidder.

Of course, Lucent doesn't exist anymore, either. Nor does Scientific-Atlanta or General Instrument, once the two dominant technology companies serving the U.S. cable industry. That tells you something about the fundamental changes in the cable and telecom industries, aside from the value of assets serving those industries.

Google has made a formal bid for the patent portfolio, but many believe Ericsson, Research in Motion and Apple also might bid.

Some say the move is simply a defensive one for Google and Apple because a treasure chest of patents is increasingly seen as a strong defense against intellectual property litigation. According to research firm Fairfield Resources, there are 105 patent families essential to 4G technologies. Nokia holds 57 of these, Ericsson 14. Nortel holds about seven of the families.

It's The End Of The Road For Nortel

Consumer Satisfaction with Subscription TV Falls

Video cord cutting has new drivers, a new study by Edelman suggests. As consumers are accessing content from multiple devices, 68 percent of US and UK consumers think the value they are getting from the entertainment industry has fallen, and only 17 percent of all respondents feel that entertainment sources today provide 'very good' or 'excellent' value.

One might infer there is very high latent dissatisfaction with current offerings, and presumably high receptiveness to alternatives.

At the same time, social media is arguably emerging as a potential contributor to changing end user perceptions of the value of linear video entertainment subscriptions, just as video games and other Web applications earlier established their own places within end user discretionary time pursuits.

According to the 2011 Edelman “Value, Engagement and Trust in the Era of Social Entertainment” survey, 63 percent of UK respondents and 56 percent of US respondents report they are spending more “entertainment” time than a year ago with the Internet, and 40 percent in the UK and 49 percent in the US report spending more time with social media.

Consumer Satisfaction with Subscription TV Falls