Author Archive
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
This year Mobilize has been split into two days and more people are expected than last year – but it’s somewhat calmer than last year, which makes connecting with other people a little easier.
On Day One there has been a lot of conversation on the topic of 4G (and not enough on Wi-Fi in my mind.) We had both T-Mobile and Sprint talking about the power of their networks – not much on the AT&T proposed acquisition of T-Mobile though.
Cole Brodman, CMO of T-Mobile said that the demands on the T-Mobile network is doubling every six months currently – and half of that demand is video. Never has there been a more important time for offload requirements! He also added that 1 in 5 people who access social networks are doing so via smartphones. “Mobile and social networks are fueling each other,” said Brodman and added that 75 percent of the devices sold by T-Mobile are smartphones – with 90 percent of those sales being Android. Clearly, T-Mobile is betting on Android.
While T-Mobile has tiered plans on offer with no contracts, depending on your requirements, he did illustrate that T-Mobile’s 4G devices (that account for 20 percent of their devices) does account for 50 percent of their data traffic. Clearly 4G is fueling these devices but it also begs concern about bill shock and overages. It’s clearly much easier to consume increasing amounts of data with 4G great for the carriers, not so great for consumers.
Sprint appear to be taking a different tack with their customers offering unlimited plans – which drew the question: How long can you keep offering unlimited data? Stephen Bye, the CTO of Sprint did offer an interesting answer – one that he states analysts are missing. “Clearly there’s a cost [of unlimited data]… but what is often missed is the cost for care and support,” said Bye.
He talked about the costs of service credits and call centers. He also added that Sprint is looking at the cost structure of the network and as engineers, they are looking at network modernization. They want to design a network that is purposely built for data and not for voice, that also reduces the cost structure of Sprint’s network.
Day Two should provide more insight for the Enterprise, so stay tuned for a blog from my colleague.
Photo by Pinar Ozger
Day 1 at GigaOm’s Mobilize Conference >>
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
Today we announced a partnership with Mikenopa, a service provider that supplies luxury and business hotels in Central and Eastern Europe with top-class technologies.
As Miroslav Hanus from Mikenopa said: “Our mission is to provide five-star service to hotels so they can benefit from additional income or significant operational savings [and] our relationship with iPass strengthens our offering by bringing iPass users to world-class hotels.”
Over the recent past we have seen a growing demand from iPass users to offer connectivity in Central and Eastern Europe and it’s not only iPass that is seeing increased demand either.
(more…)
Mikenopa adds to iPass hotel footprint in Europe >>
Friday, July 15th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
For six quarters we’ve been examining mobile device habits with our Mobile Workforce Report, and this quarter is no different.
In our upcoming August report we asked if mobile workers ever truly disconnect from technology during waking hours, and if so where, when and why? 57 percent of those surveyed responded that they disconnect during a theater or stage performance.
Well, I experienced this first hand on Tuesday night, whether I liked it or not. At the Paramount Theater in Oakland, Calif. they appear to have a zero-smartphone during performance policy. I was there to see Eddie Vedder perform an acoustic set. It was an amazing show, and the Paramount Theater was wonderful venue, a majestic 1,284 seat Art Deco theater built in 1931.
The first thing I noticed was that the theater was very dark, except for a couple of lowlight wall sconces and the stage lighting. My first indication of the theater’s policy came as I started to tweet, the person behind me asked me to turn off my smartphone because the brightness of the screen was hurting his melon – hmmm, melon, I hadn’t heard that used since 1991. Sure no problem I turned over my iPhone to mute the offensive brightness of the screen. No harm, no foul.
Then as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I noticed a large contingent of security and ushers throughout the theater. As a blue light of a smartphone screen would light the darkness, they would quietly swoop in and escort the mobile maniac out of the theater.
All in all about 10 people were escorted out. The rest of us caught on, and let sleeping smartphones lie. I must say that I was a bit restless, but I managed to survive for two hours without consulting Facebook, checking email, tweeting or texting. I would have a picture, but I couldn’t use my smartphone to capture the moment.
Have you ever truly disconnected from technology?
If so, we would love to hear your story. Complete our Mobile Workforce Report survey and you may even win an iPad 2.
Photo courtesy REL Waldmen CC 2.0
Ma’am Turn Off Your Smartphone >>
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
A New York Times editorial today hit on the sensitive subject of roaming. As our CEO has stated many times, “devices are cheap; it’s the networks that are expensive.” The editorial cites an OECD report (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) that was published late in 2010 discussing the expensive charges that are generally incurred for international mobile data roaming.
The most obvious issue for an enterprise is that the cost of mobility for workers can be incredibly expensive if there is no enterprise mobility strategy to deal with the roaming issue effectively.
Not only are these costs often significant, they are also very hard to account for within enterprises. Instead of falling within the IT budget, mobility costs are often hidden within expense claims — the mobility ‘black budget.’ Not only does this make it incredibly difficult for enterprises to understand their mobility costs, it also means they have very little insight into mobile working patterns and how they can best support their users going forwards. They will fall into the trap of expensive solutions for problems that are not well understood.
When I travel in Europe, my US carrier charges $20 per MB for data roaming. However, it has the desired effect of ensuring that I turn off data roaming and look for other solutions to connect and communicate. It also has the desired effect of creating a loathsome dislike for my carrier (I truly can’t wait to change carriers, once my contract expires.)
But with the second wave of Wi-Fi, I’ve also turned to using my Nimbuzz or GoogleVoice VoIP clients over Wi-Fi to talk while I’m abroad. It’s highly worth the $10 pre-payment for each one of these accounts. Luckily I also have iPass as well to overcome the data roaming issue too. But the downside for my mobile operator is that they don’t have the ability to capture the revenue when I roam, so I spend that money elsewhere. My operators also destroy any loyalty that I might have to their service offering.
The NYT editorial states: “American wireless customers roaming in other industrial nations pay about $8 to $22 per megabyte, on average. In Europe, where interconnection rates are capped, roaming is still expensive but substantially cheaper. French and British roamers pay less than $7.”
However, while I may balk at mobile operators international roaming prices I understand that it’s incredibly difficult for operators to offer deep discounts now – especially with a global bandwidth shortage.
But that’s all the more reason for telecom carriers to get into the Wi-Fi business so they can offer customers alternative options while roaming and also deal with the global bandwidth shortage.
Wi-Fi makes a lot of sense for telecom operators especially as it resolves numerous issues for their customers and their business. A few telecom operators have already announced initiatives to offer users a Wi-Fi solution when they roam too such as SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom too.
The iPass Q1 Mobile Workforce Report illustrated that 72 percent of mobile workers know how much data they consume in a month and importantly 70 percent would go on a data diet if cost became a consideration for data coverage. But it’s also the other 30 percent who have no insight into their use and costs that can create an IT nightmare especially when employers are footing the bill.
Roaming doesn’t need to be expensive especially when you have an iPass account and can take advantage of over half a million hotspots worldwide. But as more and more devices come online and the demand for connectivity keeps rising, enterprises could be caught unaware if they do not take proactive measures with their enterprise mobility strategy.
So if North American mobile operators charged less for international mobile roaming it’s very likely that more of their customers would use their service when they travel abroad and importantly stay loyal to their carrier. Especially when you consider that one-third of Europeans data roam when they travel internationally – and no doubt more will as prices may drop even further with pending EU regulations.
Unaffordable Roaming >>
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
John Gallagher, Sr. Public Relations Manager
We announced earlier today that the iPass Mobile Network has exceeded half a million Wi-Fi hotspots; well, 518,000+ venues in 107 countries, to be a little more precise. The increasing focus and demand for Wi-Fi has arisen for a number of reasons, one of which is the growth in connected devices such as smartphones and tablets. Additionally, enterprises and end-users want to avoid the expensive monthly roaming and overage bills. Plus there are telecom carriers who want to provide value-added services to customers or even offload domestic traffic or international roaming – not to mention access for cloud computing too.
As my colleague Marcio Avillez said: “What differentiates the iPass Mobile Network is the depth and breadth of access to commercial-grade hotspots at locations where customers are using wireless networks frequently – at airports, hotels, cafés and retailers worldwide. Coupled with the unique authentication capabilities of iPass Open Mobile, users have the ability to connect quickly and securely to Wi-Fi hotspots worldwide.”
Last quarter’s Mobile Workforce Report talked about the use of Wi-Fi amongst mobile workers, 50 percent of whom kept Wi-Fi on “all the time” on their smartphone. Over a quarter of them turned Wi-Fi on when 3G performance was poor – and 40 percent when they traveled internationally. With half a million hotspots we’re making sure customers connect and you can always find your hotspot with the iPass Hotspot Finder.
Over 500,000 Wi-Fi hotspots available to you >>
