V Is for Virtualization Light Reading article from February 21st, 2013 But it’s a very real topic: The recent formation of the network functions virtualization (NFV) Industry Specifications Group by a collective, including some of the world’s biggest and most influential operators, means the mobile networking community can’t afford to ignore the topic, whatever they think [...]
RCS 5.0 – the light at the end of the tunnel?
After much discussion and industry debate, there is some serious progress being made in the move to the latest standard, IP-based RCS 5.0. GSMA’s RCS 5.0 standard offers a larger feature set than most existing joyn roll-outs (read more here) and it’s making news. Recently, MetroPCS was the first to introduce Rich Communication Services on LTE and [...]
How to get mobile networks iphone 5 ready, without investing in legacy infrastructure.

As operators have been working to get their networks ready for 4G LTE devices, the arrival of the iphone 5 has changed everything. This TechCrunch article describes how Apple’s iPhone 5 is affecting the carrier landscape, especially in Europe. The race is on! But operators that are still considering upgrades to MSC (legacy infrastructure) instead of [...]
Victory for VoLTE and for MetroPCS!

After what seemed like years in the making, Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services launched last week making news around the world! MetroPCS announced the ‘world’s first commercial launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services’, as well as the availability of the world’s first VoLTE-capable handsets and the first sale of a VoLTE-capable handset. That was [...]
What is VoMBB?

Yes, there’s another new acronym out there…VoMBB. What is it? It’s a high level term. Voice over Mobile Broadband or VoMBB, encompasses carrier-grade voice solutions running over LTE, Wi-Fi and HSPA/HSPA+ . It’s also “nearly 100 Billion USD in voice service revenues in 2016“, as discussed below. Basically, regardless of which connection used, VoMBB presents [...]
Battle: Mobile Data

Both in voice and messaging, there has been a cry among mobile operators that their top revenue source was being eroded by OTT services. ‘Mobile operators under pressure from OTTs and losing critical SMS revenue’ or something like that is a very common headline these days. However, recent research from Informa shows that SMS will [...]
Wanted: Equipment Identity Register

Have you or someone you know, had a smartphone stolen? The answer is likely yes. This week in the US, the FCC launched the new ‘Protects Initiative’ that will establish a national database to enable mobile operators and consumers to disable stolen phones. “These are steps that will reduce the value of stolen smartphones and [...]
Fighting back! New Telco-OTT strategies

Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis, who is sometimes critical of the traditional telco ways, actually defines the path to play in this market and highlights the existing initiatives taken by operators already. A short excerpt from his recent report says “Disruptive Analysis contends that operators need to launch their own Internet-based OTT offers and decouple [...]
Does Voice have a Future?

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the demise of voice…..mostly due to the combination of the incredible growth of messaging and the new ‘Generation Text’. Anyone who wants to reach Generation Text knows that they won’t even listen to their voicemails! Mobile operators have been concerned about the drop in [...]
