SingTel and SoftBank Best Exemplify Hybrid Business Strategy

SingTel and SoftBank are perhaps the best examples of business strategies that blend traditional communications businesses with newer digital content and application revenues.

It is sometimes hard to understand the strategy, but even harder to execute. In some cases, telcos might hope to create captive services. That is the strategy for mobile entertainment services, for example, where a mobile service provider directly owns a streaming media service.

In addition to direct revenues, indirect monetization from advertising might be possible.

One other angle is to partner with young Internet companies that eventually can emerge as key drivers of direct and indirect revenue. In such cases, a mix of revenue models could emerge. In some cases, perhaps equity value is created. 

In other cases, it is conceivable that capacity and transport revenues are earned. In yet other cases the value is indirect.

Singtel's regional network of telecom alliances, covering a total of some 570 million subscribers, has already attracted taxi-hailing app GrabTaxi, which recently agreed to give users in Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia the option of paying their fares using the Singtel mobile wallet service, for example.

source: EIN News

Does it Matter Which Ecosystem Participant Provides Zero-Rated Mobile Data Access?

Is zero rating of mobile data usage a violation of network netrality norms or only a marketing tactic? MIcrosoft India thinks it simply is a value of adding value for buyers of Lumina smartphones.

Microsoft India plans to sponsor 4G mobile data access for Bharti Airtel customers who buy Lumia 4G smartphones, though the deal is not finalized. As presently envisioned, buyers of Lumia devices will get use of twice as much data.

Airtel 4G customers purchasing the Lumia 950 or 950 XL will get free data bundled with the devices, as well as the  Lumia 550. 

Some would argue there is no difference between this proposed practice and the well-established practice whereby buyers of Kindle content can have that content delivered over some mobile networks without incurring any usage of a mobile data plan.

Nor, in principle, is this any different from promotions offered rather routinely by mobile service providers, where bonus data is provided for purchase of some plans, or for customers who switch from another provider.

In principle, does it matter whether it is an advertiser, a device supplier, an app provider or a mobile service provider that offers "no incremental charge" mobile data access?

Netflix Programming Exclusivity Works, Survey Finds

Access to original programming is a key method by which networks attempt to gain distinctiveness in a competitive market. And there is at least some evidence that the tactic works.

A survey conducted by RBC Capital Markets found that original content affected the buy decision for 49 percent of respondents.

More than 25 percent of respondents said that having access to original content convinced them a great deal, or a good amount, to subscribe to Netflix.

Original programming, as a strategy, really helps Netflix, as it does other networks.  

Does SDN Need a Faster Version of TCP/IP?

The transport layer of the protocol stack has direct implications for use of software defined networking, many would argue, and therefore creates a need for SDN-optimized versions of TCP/IP.

So it is that the new OpenFastPath  Foundation, founded by Nokia Networks, ARM and industrial IT services player Enea, seeks to create an open source TCP/IP stack which can accelerate the move towards SDN in carrier and enterprise networks.

AMD, Cavium, Freescale, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Linaro also are supporting the effort to create a standardized, accelerated TCP/IP stack that provides top performance for SDN-ready network functions.

For network operators, the new fast-path stack should lead to reduced IP latency, higher capacity and thus faster packet forwarding, and lower implementation costs.

Public Cloud Services Market Will Grow 19% in Middle East, North Africa in 2016

The public cloud services market in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is projected to grow to 19.3 percent in 2016 to total $ 880 million, up from an estimated $737 million in 2015, according to Gartner analysts.

Business Process as a Service (BPaaS), the largest segment of the cloud services market in MENA, is expected to grow 7.3 percent year over year  in 2016 to reach $266.2 million.

The fastest-growing market, cloud management and security services, is projected to grow 29.3 percent in 2016, year over year.

Gartner predicts that in 2019, total public cloud services spending in the MENA region will rise to $1.45 billion, with Software as a Service accounting for 22.6 percent of the market.

followed by Cloud Management and Security, growing 21 percent, and Infrastructure as a Service growing 19 percent in 2019, year over year.

Global PBX Market Up in 3Q, Down for Year

Global sales of pure IP, hybrid and TDM PBX enterprise telephone systems totaled $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015, up 3.9 percent from the previous quarter, while unified communications solutions grew 5.4 percent, according to Market research firm IHS.

On a year-over-year basis, the PBX market was down seven percent in the third quarter, while the unified communications market was flat.

IHS predicts the worldwide PBX market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of -0.1 percent between 2014 and 2019, reaching $6.9 billion in 2019.

Will Linear Video Revenues Drop 66%?

Skinny bundles costing $30 are the future of linear video linear video, says CBS head.

If an average linear video monthly bill is $90 a month, and the future is $30 a month, average revenue per account will drop 66 percent.

That illustrates, after similar devlines in voice revenue, why all service providers are searching aggressively for new revenue sources.

If an average linear video monthly bill is $90 a month, and the future is $30 a month, average revenue per account will drop 66 percent.

At AT&T, for example, voice revenue is only the third-largest revenue source, representing perhaps 22 percent of total revenue.

source: CableOne

source: Spirent

source: CableOne