Order of Magnitude Better Wireless Bandwidth by Tweaking TCP?

Researchers at MIT, the University of Porto in Portugal, Harvard University, Caltech, and Technical University of Munich have developed, and have started to license, a new coding approach to TCP that they claim can improve mobile and wireless bandwidth efficiency by an order of magnitude.

Testing the system on Wi-Fi networks at MIT, where two percent of packets are typically lost, Medard's group found that a normal bandwidth of one megabit per second was boosted to 16 megabits per second. 

In a circumstance where losses were five percent—common on a fast-moving train—the method boosted bandwidth from 0.5 megabits per second to 13.5 megabits per second.

The technology is said to work by transforming the way packets of data are sent. Instead of sending packets, the system sends algebraic equations that describe series of packets. 

So if a packet goes missing, instead of asking the network to resend it, the receiving device can solve for the missing one itself. Since the equations involved are simple and linear, the processing load on a phone, router, or base station is negligible,

The licensing is being done through an MIT/Caltech startup called Code-On Technologies.

As with all new technologies, it isn't clear whether similar results will be seen in the "real world," in commercial, mass deployments. But significant improvements should be expected. 

Apple: The Company That Used to Make Computers

Apple's latest earnings report shows where Apple makes its money: phones and tablets. It still sells computers, but that is not what drives revenue. 

What Will Softbank Do with Sprint, Clearwire?

Whether you think Sprint's latest third quarter earnings report was modestly good or modestly bad almost does not matter at this point. What matters is what Softbank is willing to do with the Sprint and Clearwire assets.

Some believe, based on past evidence, that Softbank will try to disrupt the U.S. mobile market, probably using pricing in some way.

That was what Softbank did earlier in the Japanese market. That might lead some observers to speculate about whether the Softbank-owned Sprint will try to become the “Free Mobile” of the U.S. market.

In France, the Illiad-owned “Free Mobile” has disrupted the French mobile market. Already, FreedomPop is trying to disrupt mobile broadband pricing, as the Illiad Free Mobile effort already has done in the French mobile market.

In 2006, when Softbank decided to buy Vodafone KK  assets, it likewise was criticized in some quarters for undertaking a risky gambit.

Some will argue Softbank is taking another huge risk by entering a country where iit has no previous operating experience, and by assuming a huge new debt load, after only recently shedding a similar debt load.

Softbank argues it is a reasonable risk, and that its prior experience taking on NTT Docomo and KDDI show it can compete in a market dominated by larger service providers.

Softbank, many believe, will use the same strategy it used in Japan, which some would describe as providing a large number of complementary features or services to create a “sticky” relationship with the end user.

Others will point to the pricing strategy. In Japan, Softbank’s 2006 acquisition of the Vodafone unit was not universally considered wise. But in just one year, Softbank managed to boost its subscriber base from 700,000 in fiscal 2006 to 2.7 million.

By the beginning of 2008, Softbank had grabbed 44 percent of Japan’s new mobile subscribers, well ahead of KDDI’s 35 percent and NTT-DoCoMo’s 11 percent.

Some think Softbank will be willing to launch a price war.  In Japan, Softbank was willing to sacrifice voice average revenue per unit  to make market share gains.

Back in the 2006 to 2008 period, Softbank was willing to accept a $13 a month ARPU decline to build market share.
Spectrum will among the assets Softbank will be able to leverage. 

Some Things Don't Change: Sprint Subscriber Losses From Nextel

To the extent that Sprint is losing customers, those losses are attributable to Nextel, not "Sprint." As has been the case for some years, Sprint has been gaining subscribers, but those gains are offset by departing "Nextel" customers. 

In other words, net gains on the "Sprint" side are offset by declines on the Nextel side of the company. 

Apple iPhone is Top Mobile Ad Device Platform

The Apple iPhone is the top smart phone device, where it comes to mobile advertising performance, according to a new report from Opera.

The iPhone has an average cost per thousand of $2.85. Though it is closely followed by Android devices at $2.10. 

Devices with larger screen size and touchscreen input, and those with features that allow more interaction between the advertisement and the device’s functionality (click to call, expand, play video) have better revenue potential than other devices. 

OS Share	% of traffic	% of revenue	eCPM
iOS	46.53%	61.41%	$2.49
— iPhone	29.88%	43.54%	$2.85
— iPad	6.86%	14.26%	$3.96
Android	24.43%	26.56%	$2.10
J2ME / Other	21.27%	9.86%	$1.01
RIM OS	6.32%	1.79%	$0.64
Symbian	1.37%	0.37%	$0.59
Windows Phone	0.08%	0.01%	$0.20

The high CPM achieved by the iPad illustrates the principle that bigger screens matter. Delivering an average CPM of $3.96 across the Opera mobile ad platform. 

In 2012, Apple iOS has delivered a clear majority of rich media ad impressions compared to Android devices. Image-based content also clearly boosts engagement and dwell time. 

Dwell time & interaction rates

Monetization by site category

The United States and Canada generate the majority of ad requests, with 73 percent of the global total. U.S. CPM is also the highest ($1.98), closely followed by the EU5 ($1.94) — and both top the global average of $1.90.

Percent of impressions

Top 20 Countries by Impressions

1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom (EU5)
4. Indonesia
5. Japan
6. Italy (EU5)
7. Mexico
8. India
9. China
10. Australia
11. Netherlands
12. Spain (EU5)
13. Germany (EU5)
14. France (EU5)
15. Singapore
16. Saudi Arabia
17. Republic of Korea
18. Iceland
19. Philippines
20. Malaysia

eCPM by Region

region	eCPM
Global Average eCPM	$1.90
US eCPM	$1.98
EU5 eCPM	$1.94
Rest of world	$1.57

Necessity is the Mother of Mobile Pricing

Most people would accept the notion that retail prices for any product, good or service are related somehow to the costs of supplying those products. That does not always mean the actual retail price is directly related to the cost of supplying the product. Grocers commonly choose to price a few items at a loss to get shoppers into stores, on the assumption that they will make money on the other products shoppers buy while in the store. 

One might also observe that profit margins for products that use a shared platform are not always the same. Some products offer higher margins, while others have lower margins. The reason many grocers sell finished meals is that the margin and gross revenue for meals is higher than for the raw ingredients used to make those meals.

Mobile service providers, in fact fixed network providers as well, will face those issues in the decade ahead as the mainstay voice product loses the ability to support the bulk of network and operational costs. 

The problem for the U.K.'s EE and every other mobile operator in a developed market is that voice revenue is static, or dropping, while data isn't contributing enough to fund the network, so something has to give, The Register reports. 

Network sharing and outsourcing support can cut costs a bit, but ultimately customers will have to pay more for their data, the argument goes. 

Is it Already "Too Late" for Mobile Service Providers in Mobile Payments?

Brand new markets are chaotic, and especially most new markets that involve the Internet, applications and mobile in a broad sense. That generally works out in practice to contestants trying to innovate "at Internet speed," a problem for telecom service providers. 

That might lead observers to suggest that it is possible mobile service providers already have fallen far behind the strides made by payment networks, retailers, banks and application providers in the mobile wallet or mobile payment space. 

"Not many ventures have demonstrated good success so far," says Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. But the market, and the contestants, continues to get traction. 

For Western Europe as a whole, Gartner forecasts that in 2012 the number of near field communications users will be 22.8 million and the transaction value for mobile payments including text messaging, WAP and NFC will be $20.3 billion (€15.7 billion) in 2012.

One might argue from history that it is unreasonable to expect telcos to "lead" any big new market, at first. That does not mean telcos will, or will not, ultimately carve out a role, or even a significant role, in the business

It does mean that expectations of "immediate" success do not correspond to the way telcos historically have achieved success in any of their leading markets or product segments. 

Telcos tend to wait for emerging markets to clarify, typically only after others have shown a revenue opportunity of some size exists. Then they move. Nor do telcos always move "organically." Very often, they "buy their way into new markets" by acquiring other firms in the emerging markets. 

One would be on rather firm ground in suggesting telcos might wind up as major participants in mobile commerce, mobile wallets or mobile payments in ways they have not yet revealed or decided to embrace.