U.S. Mobile Backhaul Networks at Capacity, More Investment Needed

Wireless networks in the United States are operating at 80 percent of total capacity, the highest of any region in the world, according to a report prepared by investment bank Credit Suisse.

The firm argued that wireless carriers likely will need to increase their spending on infrastructure, as a result. Globally, average peak network utilization rates are at 65 percent, and that peak network utilization levels will reach 70 percent within the next year, the report says.

Investors may be underestimating the level of equipment spending that is required on an ongoing basis to support rapid growth in wireless data, Chaplin adds.

Some 23 percent of base stations globally have capacity constraints, or utilization rates of more than 80 to 85 percent in busy hours, up from 20 percent last year. In the United States, the percentage of base stations with capacity constraints is 38 percent, up from 26 percent in 2010.

Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Chaplin says "wireless capex expectations may need to increase longer-term." Chaplin thinks investors seem to expect capital intensity to start to decline in 2012, once LTE spending is largely complete, but that might not be correct.

Read more here.

More 2.3 GHz, 2.5 GHz Spectrum to be Auctioned?

NextWave, which owns spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 2.5 GHz bands, might be headed for bankruptcy again, which also means its spectrum might be up for sale. NextWave bought $4.7bn worth of spectrum in 1996, sold most of its spectrum assets to Verizon, but retained frequencies in 2.5GHz and 2.3GHz bands.

Clearwire has tried recently to sell spectrum in the 2.5 GHz block and failed to do so, so some will question current demand for assets in those frequencies. But we might get another chance to see whether there is interest in those bands.

NextWave warns of possible return to bankruptcy

Orange, T-Mobile Rethinking Everything Everywhere?

Everything Everywhere, the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, might have the biggest share in the U.K. market, but reported a two percent decline in earnings, as well as a slowing of new customer additions in the first quarter of 2011. And the parents might now be unwilling to subsidize the joint venture much longer. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/everything-everywhere-execs-go-elsewhere-34475

So the departures of former CEO Tom Alexander and Duncan Hay, director of indirect sales, likely are telling. Everything Everywhere loses CEO

Monitise Nigerian Mobile Money Pilot Gets 6,700 Users

Mobile money services provider Monitise has signed up 6,700 users for a test of mobile money services in Nigeria. Some 160 agents working in four cities

Monitise has built a network of 160 agents in four cities across Nigeria since March 2011. The initial launch uses authorized agents in in corner shops, news-stands and market place kiosks, allowing Nigerians deposit cash and checks, send money to each other and withdraw funds without the need for a bank account by using a mobile phone.

The Paypers

Wireless Industry Sheds Jobs

In May 2011, on the heels of a record year for industry revenue, employment at U.S. wireless carriers hit a 12-year low of 166,600, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released earlier this month. That's about 20,000 fewer jobs than when the recession ended in June 2009 and 2,000 fewer than a year ago. Some will wonder what that means.

While the industry's revenue has grown 28 percent since 2006, when wireless employment peaked at 207,000 workers, the work force has shrunk about 20 percent. Some will point to productivity gains as the possible reason for job loss, and it is hard to deny some impact in that regard.

"The disconnect between employment and industry growth reflects the broader head winds lashing the U.S. job market, as consolidation, outsourcing and productivity gains from new technology and business methods combine to undermine job growth," the Wall Street Journal says.

The number of customer-service workers at wireless carriers, for example, dropped to 33,580 last year from 55,930 in 2007, according to the Labor Department. "It used to be you had to scale your customer-care resources linearly with the number of customers you had," said Dan Hays, a telecom consultant. "We don't do that anymore."

Beyond all that, one might argue that the hugely capital intensive infrastructure business must dramatically reduce its operating costs if revenue is expected to be difficult on the top line. In other words, in a business with huge sunk costs, facing headwinds in the revenue area, with value and revenue shifting to third party parts of the ecosystem, lower operating costs are almost essential.

That isn't to argue that access providers are "only or primarily" providers of low-margin, moderate-revenue" access services. It is to note that much of the new value and revenue will flow largely to application providers in the ecosystem. Prudent executives will work to create as much of a role in the new revenue areas as possible, but also will plan for tougher going in all the existing lines of business.

Generally speaking, that means simplifying operations and taking out cost, allowing more generated cash to be invested in growth initiatives, and providing some protection from slowing growth in core revenue segments.

Wireless Jobs Evaporate Even As Industry Expands (subscription required)

Social Media Increasingly is All Media

There's a reason social media has become so important for marketers. People are using social media to research products and compare prices, sharing information about products with their friends and apparently using social media to make decisions about what to buy, and where to buy.

Dell Could Use Google+ "Hangouts" for Customer Service

Consumer tools have become a growing part of enterprise thinking about software and services, and that seems to be the case for Google+ "Hangouts," a group video conferencing app. Dell says it could soon use Google’s new group video chat platform Google Hangouts as an alternative to the traditional customer service call, according to the company’s chairman and CEO, Michael Dell.

Dell posted aquestion on Google+: "I am thinking about hangouts for business. Would you like to be able to connect with your Dell service and sale teams via video directly from Dell.com?"

Apparently hundreds of people agreed. Hangouts obviously could be a substitute for "enterprise" video collaboration systems and tools.

Dell wants to use Google Hangouts for customer service