Euro Managed Services Sales Slowing?

Managed IP PBX contracts won by European telecom service providers declined by an order of magnitude during the first half of 2007, says Phil Sayer, Forrester Research analyst.

The number of IP PBX managed services deals fell to three percent of deals, where in the first half of 2006 managed IP PBX deals were part of 39 percent of new contracts.

Forrester says there was an equally massive drop in the number of deals involving managed security services as well. The only IT service that recorded any increase was the provision of help desks.

Overall telco IT services sales with an IT services component was down from 31 percent to 22 percent.

It isn't yet clear whether that trend was seen in other regions, whether it continued through the balance of 2007, or what it means, if indeed the trend did continue.

Most likely, the data suggest a shift of buying to other channels, rather than a decline in aggregate purchasing. The survey suggests that most of the service provider sales were of the small sort. It is most likely the case that value added resellers and other providers now are increasingly active in that market with services that compete directly with service provider offerings.

The total number of managed services contracts signed in the first half of 2007 by European telecom service providers also showed a decline in the number of deals, compared to the first half of 2006, with slight less contract value.

Where 188 deals were reported by the participating carriers in the first half of 2006, with a contract value of €1.6 billion, contract value in the first half of 2007 was roughly flat at €1.5 billion.

The majority of deals continued to be small, but the increase in the average deal size was the result of a small number of very large contracts.

T-Mobile Adds $100 Unlimited Plan

T-Mobile USA will offer consumers an unlimited calling plan including unlimited ationwide text messaging for $99.99 per month. This offer will be available beginning Feb. 21.

Note that the T-Mobile offer includes unlimited text messaging (SMS), picture messages (MMS) and instant messages (IM). Full details of the at&t Wireless offer are not yet available, but it wasn't immediately clear whether at&t Wireless would include unlimited text messaging as part of the $100 a month unlimited voice plan.

$100 Unlimited Plans Spread

Wasting no time responding to a major new Verizon Wireless offer, at&t Wireless has unveiled its own $100 ($99.99)a month plan for unlimited mobile calling. The plans will be available to new and existing wireless subscribers Feb. 22. Existing customers can buy the plan without extending their current contracts.

New customers can buy on a month-to-month, 12 month or 24 month contract.

Sprint has been offering unlimited calling plans in four markets at about $119.

More Funding for U.S. WiMAX?

Sprint Nextel and Clearwire are close to announcing the formation of a WiMax joint venture funded in part by a $2 billion injection from Intel Capital, the Street.com reports. As currently rumored, the deal would create a new company that pools Sprint and Clearwire licenses in the 2.5-gigahertz wireless spectrum. Additional financing also is expected from other firms.

An earlier partnership between Sprint and Clearwire died last November, when the two parties could not reach agreement on terms of the partnership.

Through a joint venture with Clearwire and a big investment from Intel, Sprint can move the expenses off its books and yet still continue to build a fourth generation network. Intel's interest in WiMAX is creating a new market for chipsets supporting WiMAX devices, including mobile PCs and handsets.

The unusually large investment by Intel Capital, which hasn't invested so much in any single company before, seems to be a signal that Intel worries about the U.S. WiMAX market. Though at one point it might have been conceivable that large incumbent wireless carriers might move to WiMAX on a wider scale, at&t Wireless and Verizon Communications now say they will back Long Term Evolution as the basis for their fourth-generation networks.

The issue is that WiMAX and LTE are different ways of creating capabilities seen as integral for 4G networks, so if Verizon and at&t aren't going to be creating WiMAX networks, Intel has to look elsewhere. T-Mobile USA, the fourth-largest U.S. mobile provider, is a logical candidate to go with LTE as well, as most of the GSM-based network providers seem to prefer that approach.

Aside from that strategic consideration, Clearwire 's part, the deal would provide cash it needs to continue operating and building its network.
Clearwire had about $1 billion in cash and investments at the end of the September quarter, but burned through about $400 million in cash to fund operations in that quarter, according to the company's most recent quarterly filing.

Verizon Wireless to Launch Unlimited Calling?

Starting Tuesday February 19, Verizon Wireless will roll out new "unlimited calling" plans of the sort Sprint Nextel has been testing in several markets and which Sprint is said to have been considering for national availability. According to Engadget, the new plans include $100 national unlimited voice.

Other plans include a $120 plan with unlimited texting and voice; $140 for plans that add email and VCast content services. For $150 users can get unlimited data, voice and texting.

A $170 plan adds international data capabilities. A $200 family plan reportedly will be limited to additional two lines, priced at $100 per additional line.

It appears there will be no caps on data sent or received.

In one sense the new pricing plans represent an attempt to change the nature of mobile service pricing, making pricing a lot more like VoIP, or wired calling with unlimited, flat rate long distance within the continental United States.

And that might be the thing to watch: not so much a redefinition of mobile pricing as a new rationale for going "wireless only." Assuming a landline costs in the neighborhood of $50 a month, a user might rationally conclude that he or she is no worse off, and marginally better off, ditching a landline and using the mobile for all calling.

U.K. Internet Penetration Tops 60%

According to the most-recent data from emarketer, U.K. Internet penetration now tops 60 percent, and broadband penetration accounts for virtually all of that usage, as broadband penetration is nearly 55 percent.

Slight Skews to Google, Yahoo Search User Demographics

The Yahoo search engine is slightly more often to be used by younger users; Google slightly more often is used by older users. But the overall patterns are pretty similar.

The real difference is that Google accounted for 65.98 percent of all U.S. searches in the four weeks ending January 26, 2008. Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and Ask.com each received 20.94, 6.90 and 4.21 percent respectively. The remaining 48 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.97 percent of U.S. searches.