High IQ

Qualcomm held its annual innovation event last month, where much of the emphasis was placed on the growing connectivity of traditional and non-traditional communications devices, and the interfaces to interact with them. Demonstrations included wireless health applications, augmented reality and gesture-based technology, underlying Qualcomm’s growing portfolio of next generation mobile services. Comm. reports from Istanbul Paul_Jacobs_Pic 1

Jacobs says Qualcomm is spending a lot of time looking at how to get its chipsets into other devices and machines beyond [traditional] mobile devices

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Charging and tariffing strategies in a video world

In January 2009, when Cisco released its first Visual Networking Index, a forecast of data traffic in mobile networks, the first reaction from the market was incredulity.

Cisco was projecting that, based on traffic observed over the last five years, mobile data traffic was to double every year. Even more remarkable, video, then a mere 20 per cent of the overall traffic would rise and account up to 64 per cent of the traffic by 2013.

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Recapturing the magic

Nokia’s fortunes in the high-end, smart- and feature-phone market have plummeted since the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007. Since then, other manufacturers including Samsung and Research In Motion have also done their best to further carve into Nokia’s market leadership position, leaving the Finnish manufacturer needing to adapt and reinvent itself or risk being left behind in the social media-driven communications world that existsPic 1 - Nokia - Tom Farrell 2

Tom Farrell was appointed GM of the Lower Gulf region for Nokia in April 2011

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Parting advice

In what turned out to be one of Abdul Al Jaber’s last presentations as CEO of Zain Jordan and COO of Zain Group, in early June in London he spoke about the changes required in the broadband and content game in order for service operators to finally enjoy the share of the incremental revenues they ought toAbdul Malek Al Jaber Web

Al Jaber believes operator brands are becoming less relevant with respect to end-users’ mobile purchase decisions

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Sailing too close to the wind

IctQatar’s order for Qtel to close down the Virgin Mobile brand by August was a drastic measure, and potentially a blow to innovation in Qatar. However, upon closer examination the case the regulator makes for taking the action appears largely justified as Qtel appears to have been pushing the limits of what could reasonably be considered a brand extension exerciseSailing

Qtel failed to bring Virgin Mobile into the guidelines laid out by the regulator despite a number of requests and ongoing monitoring of its activities

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News

Qualcomm records stellar quarter to December 25, 2011

Qualcomm has reported record quarterly revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 ended December 25, 2011. The company posted revenues of US$4.68 billion, a rise of 40 per cent on the previous year. Net income was up by 20 per cent to US1.4 billion. Operating income was also up, by 24 per cent to [...]

122 telecom licences cancelled in India given allegedly corrupt award process

India’s Supreme Court has cancelled 122 telecommunications licences awarded to companies in 2008. The licences were issued by former minister A Raja, who is accused of mis-selling bandwidth in what has been called India’s biggest corruption scandal. Raja denies wrongdoing. Government auditors say the scandal cost the country about US$40 billion. The judges also ordered [...]

Etisalat considers sale of towers in Africa

Etisalat is reported to be mulling bids to sell its towers network Africa. The telco has subsidiaries in 10 countries and owns around 4,500 towers across the continent. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuters said that Etisalat has invited bids for the tower assets. The telco had been looking to sell the towers to [...]

Bharti Airtel faces ownership crisis in Nigeria

A court in Nigeria has upheld Econet Wireless Limited’s five per cent claim to Airtel Nigeria, a cellco to which it was a founding shareholder in 2001. The court sided with the Zimbabwe operator that its stake been unfairly cancelled, and any decisions since the cancellation are void. “All actions and resolutions taken by the [...]

Qatari sovereign wealth fund reportedly interested in Saudi Oger

The government of Qatar is reported to have approached Saudi Oger about a deal to buy its 55 per cent stake in Oger Telecom, which owns a controlling 55 per cent stake in Turkey based Turk Telecom. Oger Telecom also owns a 75 per cent stake in South Africa’s third mobile network, Cell C. Citing [...]

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