Emergency Response and Wireless Location Systems
by Manlio Allegra
Topics: Main | ServiceProvider | LTE | 3G | WiMax | HSDPA | IMS | ICDMA | GSM | Silicon for Wireless | Fixed Wireless | Start-ups | People | Europe | China | Japan | Latin America | India | Wireless Start-up Directory | Links & Resources | Archive
Alcatel-Lucent Acquires OpenPlug, Extending its Application Enablement Strategy
Alcatel-Lucent has acquired OpenPlug,a software developer specializing in tools for mobile applications, for an undisclosed sum. The deal extends Alcatel-Lucent's Application Enablement strategy, which is focused on combining the trusted and secure network capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the Web to provide a richer end-user experience. By building a robust application-enablement system, Alcatel-Lucent said it is aiming to transform service provider infrastructure by unlocking network resources and functionality and thereby creating new revenue share models. OpenPlug, which is based in Sophia Antipolis, France, provides tools for converting application code into software that runs natively on any leading mobile device operating system, including Apple's iOS, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux. The company's ELIPS Studio is essentially an open software environment that lets developers create an application once and then deploy to multiple mobile phone OSes.
Alcatel-Lucent plans to integrate the OpenPlug toolset into its own Developer Platform and Open API Service, thus broadening the functionality available to service providers, enterprises and developers for the exposure of network assets and the rapid introduction of new services across mobile and Web domains.
"Being able to provide more applications across multiple devices helps service providers significantly broaden their app store content to create more value for consumers," said Laura Merling, vice president of Alcatel-Lucent's global developer strategy. "As service providers typically offer multiple mobile devices to their subscriber base, the OpenPlug software can help them get to market five times faster by allowing them to easily port an application to all of their devices. And this isn't purely a mobile play -- the software can be extended to support application development for IPTV set top boxes, game consoles, even the ng Connect LTE Connected Car."
"Deploying valuable web and mobile services requires assembling many different pieces from many horizons," said Eric Baissus, CEO of OpenPlug. "By combining OpenPlug's ELIPS Suite and ELIPS Studio technologies with Alcatel-Lucent's platforms and API services, we enable developers and service providers to gather all these pieces in a very efficient and consistent way. This will dramatically facilitate the deployment and the monetization of the new generation of applications that the market is expecting."... > More
Clearwire Offers Pay-As-You-Go Mobile Broadband, $5/Day
Clearwire launched a pay-as-you-go 4G mobile broadband service with daily, weekly and monthly payment options. The Clearwire "Rover"service, which will be marketed at tech-savvy Gen Y customers, offers unlimited data usage with no bandwidth caps over the company's WiMAX network.
Rover is available in all of Clearwire's 49 4G markets across the U.S. at rover.com. Rover is also available at CLEAR stores, Best Buy stores and select independent wireless dealers in Houston and St. Louis.
Clearwire is betting that the market for prepaid mobile services in the U.S. is expanding beyond consumers with credit issues. The company believes there will be a growing segment, especially among younger consumers, who wish to be connected with mobile broadband wherever they go, but who prefer simplicity over a long-term contract.
"Simple, commitment-free wireless services are wildly popular with the Gen Y crowd, and Rover provides them with the first pay-as-you-go unlimited mobile internet offering at 4G speeds," said Mike Sievert, chief commercial officer for Clearwire.
Rover's flagship device is the Rover Puck: a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that lets the user share broadband access, or "Puck", with up to eight devices or friends in Wi-Fi range. The Rover Puck promises mobile download speeds of 3 to 6 mbps, with bursts over 10 Mbps. The device is priced at $149.99 (plus tax). Clearwire will also offer a 4G USB modem for $99.99 (plus tax).
NSN Partners with Telefónica on Smartphone Experience Lab
The future lies in "smart networks for smart devices" said Rajeev Suri, CEO of Nokia Siemens Networks, speaking at the 24th annual Spanish telecoms summit in Santander, Spain. To help chard this future, NSN will create a "Smartphone Experience Lab" based in Telefónica premises in Madrid. The lab is investigating ideal configurations between mobile handsets, applications and networks to minimize any negative network impact from smart devices, improve resource consumption as well as better handset and application performance, and to ultimately provide people with the best possible user experience. The outcomes from the Lab's activities will include guidelines on the optimum network and handset configurations and application development."Networks need to transform - now - to cope with the huge amounts of signalling and data traffic smart devices generate. Our approach is the only one that can cope with this explosion, while preparing operators for the fast-approaching roll-out of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks," said Rajeev Suri.
Suri also confirmed that private equity firms have expressed interest investing in the company. Suri said reflects a turnaround underway at the company.
Ceragon Notes Mobile Backhaul Order from Leading Indian Carrier
Ceragon Networks announced new orders for its advanced FibeAir platforms from a leading Indian operator.Ceragon's equipment will be deployed in a number of circles to facilitate the operator's network expansion. Financial terms were not disclosed.
SK Telecom Selects ALU's MPLS-TP Packet Optical Backhaul
SK Telecom, Korea's largest mobile service provider,has selected Alcatel-Lucent's packet optical transport solution to upgrade its nationwide wireless data network. The project, which is currently being deployed, will increase backbone capacity for the delivery of its WiFi and WiBro services. In addition, it will support SK Telecom's WCDMA traffic and lay a solid foundation for LTE-based services.
Alcatel-Lucent's packet optical transport solution is based on its 1850 Transport Service Switch (TSS) and is managed by its 1350 Optical Management Suite (OMS).Featuring T-MPLS/MPLS-TP, the Alcatel-Lucent 1850 TSS provides a graceful evolution path to packet backhaul in support of all mobile generation from 2G/3G to LTE-based 4G. MPLS-TP provides an evolution path from SONET/SDH-based networks to packet transport networks by enabling convergence between the transport and service routers.
Alcatel-Lucent noted that major global service providers, including BT, China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo have selected this solution for their mobile backhaul and transport networks.
"While the data boom is finally upon us, the viability of the business has eluded most – operators have become increasingly preoccupied with the associated high costs of data delivery versus the lag in expected revenues. Our study proves that success in mobile broadband can deliver efficiencies – radio access networks can enable sustainable, cost-efficient broadband offerings to subscribers by leveraging existing base station sites to their fullest capacity."
Marc Rouanne, Head of Network Systems, Nokia Siemens Networks 11-May-10
Search
this site
Search
the Web
Emergency Response and Wireless Location Systems
by Manlio Allegra
Interview: NSN's Sue Spradley on LightSquared's Wholesale Mobile Data Paradigm
by Sue Spradley
Mobile Backhaul Transition Requires New Testing
by Joe Zeto
Cybersecurity Requires Public/Private Coalition
by Greg Oslan
A Rethinking of Cloud Services and Network Architecture
by Jim Theodoras
Delivering Scalable Video Solutions <br><i> Advantages of SVC-Optimized QoS</i>
by Andy Singleton
E-mail Newsletter
