EU to Clear Some 800 MHz Spectrum for LTE in 2012?

Every country in Europe will be required to clear TV transmissions out of the higher frequencies of 800MHz band by the end of 2012, the European Parliament has ruled.

That might not mean it actually happens that soon, but at least that's the goal. The expectation is that spectrum auctions then could follow, with networks being built after the completed auctions. All that means much of Europe will not see LTE in the next few years.

The 800MHz band is being cleared as part of the switch to digital television, freeing up some spectrum at the top and bottom of the band. The EU proposal concerns the higher frequencies in the 800-MHz band. By some estimates even that new spectrum will not be enough to meet mobile data demand by 2015. EU to clear 800 MHz band

Why LTE Kills Batteries

Devices running on Long Term Evolution and other 4G networks consume battery life, most users have discovered. Nokia Siemens Networks did some preliminary studies on LTE phone’s power drain versus their equivalent 3G models and found that LTE devices consume from five percent to 20 percent more than previous-generation phones, depending on the application used.

Some of you will instinctively guess that battery drain is worse than that.

In its review of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Engadget found that the Google Navigation running over the LTE network ate battery power faster than the Nexus’ car charger could restore it, for example. Why LTE drains batteries

Some us have started carrying extra batteries. Recently, some of us have been turning off both the 4G and 3G radios most of the time when out and about, using the devices only for voice and text.

And more of the time, the devices simply get turned off. That originally struck me as a complete waste of device capabilities. But we all learn to make trade offs. Increasingly, the only way to stretch battery life is simply not to use the data network at all, much of the time, so your batteries are available when you really need the power.

1% of Mobile Users Consume 1/2 of Bandwidth

A new study sponsored byArieso finds that extremely-heavy users of mobile bandwidth are becoming even heavier users.

About one percent of subscribers now consumes 50 percent of all downloaded data. Arieso reveals latest trends in smartphone data use:

1/2 of U.S. Adults Will Use Mobile Banking by 2016

By 2016, about half of U.S. adults will be using mobile banking, predicts. About 92 percent of the top-25 largest banks offer mobile banking, says Javelin. 

A study by Javelin Strategy and Research suggests that larger banks, armed with greater resources, have jumped into the mobile banking applications area at a level that small banks and credit unions have not generally been able to match, says Mary Monahan, Javelin Strategy and Research EVP and Research Director, Mobile.

Also, the complexity of mobile banking, with the many devices to support, as well as text messaging, mobile apps and web channels, smart phones, tablets and PCs, make it harder for smaller institutions to respond, says Monahan.

And there are key challenges to be faced. For one thing, younger consumers “are migrating to the larger banks” that do offer the mobile banking features, says Monahan. “As a result, the small bank clientele is older.” If younger customers are the bulk of future customers, you seen the danger.

About 11 percent of users have switched from smaller institutions to larger institutions, the study found. To be sure, about 20 percent of switchers say they moved because of “fees.”

But mobile banking users also tend to be younger, disproportionately in the 18 to 34 age bracket, and also tend to be wealthier, says Monahan. “They are more likely to have incomes over $100,000 a year, for example. And about half of tablet owners already are using mobile banking, suggesting that tablets will become an important new platform.

Of the top 25 banks, 30 percent already have developed tablet apps, the survey suggests. And Monahan notes that tablet apps have to be custom built for tablets, not ported over from existing PC apps.

As you might expect, users check balances, search for ATM locations and shift money between accounts. The coming new app, though, is peer-to-peer money transfer, and about 26 percent of banks already support that function in some way.

In many cases, users take advantage of that feature to do things such as splitting restaurant bills, for example. About 27 percent of survey respondents say they are interested in mobile P2P payments.

About 22 percent of institutions already support remote check deposit as well. But half the survey respondents say they will be adding remote check deposit within a year.

After a pause in 2010, mobile banking adoption surged by 63 percent  in 2011, rising to 57 million from 35 million U.S. adults, representing 22 million consumers in one year, according to a new study by Javelin Strategy and Research.

Over the next five years, mobile banking is projected to increase at a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 percent as financial institutions roll out new offerings and the pent-up backlog of demand is eased, says Monahan.

Smart phones are the immediate platform to be accommodated. Over the next five years, it is estimated that 68 million consumers will become new smart phone users, rising to 72 percent of the mobile phone user base. Smart phone adoption from 2011 to 2016 is projected to rise at a CAGR of 11.9 percent .

Smart phones currently drive mobile banking: Half of smart phone owners use mobile

banking versus 14 percent of non-smart phone owners, Javelin notes.

Tablets are the next frontier. The number of tablet users in the U.S. is expected to more than double over the coming year from its current base of 16 million (for an increase of 113 percent).

The number of adults using tablets is estimated to increase at a CAGR of 40.3 percent over the next five years.

By 2016, it is projected that 40 percent  of mobile consumers, or 87 million people, will have adopted a tablet.

And it is new applications both smart phones and tablets enable that could emerge as important new mobile banking capabilities, Javelin argues.

Video messaging provided by Microsoft Skype, video chat services such as Apple FaceTime and Google Talk allow for easy face-to-face messaging between devices that could provide much of the personal feeling of face-to-face communication.

Fears related to security and uncertainty about value are the main

roadblocks to initial consumer adoption of mobile banking. Also, perception of the value of mobile banking is a factor of age: Younger consumers are more likely to understand its worth, Javelin says.

Mobile P2P, mobile offers, mobile remote deposit, and all features that use the inherent nature of the phone will build the value proposition. And faster mobile networks will help. Lack of speed was the most common reason for dissatisfaction among customers who adopted the technology.

What is Tablet Impact on Mobile Networks?

Mobile network planning is never easy, these days. Unlike fixed networks, that generally exhibit clear and stable usage patterns, mobile network demand can fluctuate unpredictability. 


Tablets are the new factor, as most mobile network bandwidth demand has been driven by PC dongles and increasingly by smart phones.


But tablets add a new unknown element. The simple answer is that, over time, "more" bandwidth will be consumed by tablet devices.


The issue is how much new demand will be created, and just as importantly, where and when that demand occurs.


And there arguably are significant differences in the way people use bandwidth, when out and about and when at home or in the office.

On one hand, possibly nine percent of mobile usage occurs when people are out and about. 


About nine percent of usage occurs when users are moving, the balance occurring either at stationary locations such as home or work.

As early as 2007, about 40 percent of total mobile traffic was generated in the home environment Informa Telecoms & Media has said. By 2013 in-home usage is expected to reach 58 percent, with about eight percent of total mobile traffic offloaded to fixed broadband, Informa predicted at that time.

In 2008, the home environment represented more than 43 percent of total mobile data traffic and Informa revised its forecast, estimating that in-home mobile usage would climb to 60 percent by 2013.

Mobile voice minutes of use in the home environment represented about 42 percent of total mobile voice traffic by the end of 2008. Mobile voice usage at home would gradually increase to reach 49 percent by 2013, Informa estimated.

Mobile use at work was estimated to represent 30 percent of usage, with nine percent of calls initiated while users were moving. About 21 percent of calls would be generated from other public environments. All of that makes planning difficult.

The good news is that users often simply do not have time to engage with applications that consume lots of  when on the move. On the other hand, at-home usage probably will look more like PC behavior. 

The new question is what impact tablets will have. Since most tablets now in the user base rely on Wi-Fi connections, the impact on mobile networks might be very slight. But it would be reasonable enough to assume that, over time, tablet consumption might start to resemble smart phone patterns. 

The good news there, for mobile network capacity planners, is that Wi-Fi usage will be offloaded traffic, and will have minimal mobile network impact. 

At-home tablet mobile network usage, though more substantial than "on the go" usage, at least will be more predictable. 

iZettle, "Square of Europe," Adds New Features

Most of the time, we seem to focus on mobile payments as a value for end users. 


But iZettle seems to have approached it as a payments system with built-in value for the retailers who have to support the systems.


Some call iZettle the "Square of Europe," and that's a reasonable enough way to describe it. 


The company has released a brand new app with new features that help sellers manage inventory. 


The latest version, iZettle 1.7,  comes with product folders. Some retailers have libraries with tens or even hundreds of products. 


Now you can drag and drop products on one another to gather them all in a single product folder. Users also can also move your products around simply by pressing and holding. 


The latest version also adds a feature called "Product variants" that allows retailers to better support sale of clothing, food items or other products that come in different sizes, colors or price ranges, for example. 

Mobile Now "Is Communications"

About 85 percent of U.S. consumers use mobile devices for communications. For many, mobile is the way they generally use voice, even when they have access to a landline service.

In 2011, 202 million adults own mobile phones. 

Mobile usage has surpassed landline usage as well. Today, approximately 28 percent of American consumers do not have a landline phone whereas just 15 percent do not have a mobile phone. In addition, mobile usage has surpassed online usage (85 percent of people, compared to 78 percent of people who use landline services.