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An Overnight Behemoth, Toshiba Acquires Landis+Gyr for $2.3 Billion!

May 26, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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On 19th May 2011, Toshiba announced that it has agreed to buy Swiss electronic metering company, Landis+Gyr (L+G) for $2.3 billion in cash and assumed debt to bolster its smart grid operations. The sale looks to be completed over the next few months subjected to regulatory approvals. This purchase, Toshiba’s largest since its Westinghouse Electric acquisition five years ago, would give Toshiba access to L+G’s customers across the globe including the US and Europe. According to Toshiba, the global smart grid may surge six fold to $71 billion over the next decade.

Toshiba, looking to play a greater role in the smart energy space, has been building its smart grid business competences over the past decade, in particular, power generation (nuclear energy) and grid transmission and distribution segments. It has also been building renewables energy expertise through its solar photovoltaic systems business and rechargeable batteries for renewable energy storage applications. L+G, founded in 1896, is a global pioneer in smart metering, networking and service products to meet the needs of the utilities industry. Presently, its business operations extend to 30 countries and regions across five continents.

By and large, a single smart grid entity with a global outreach offering full smart grid solutions is on the table now and this might not be the last of acquisitions for Toshiba to reach deeper into the customer end of the energy landscape. Longer term, it will be interesting to watch how these synergies work out in terms of potential markets, regional competitiveness and technical synergies and it won’t be surprising to see Toshiba’s peers follow suit. ABI Research will shortly be publishing a research report on the smart metering market. For additional information, please refer to the variety of products in our M2M Research Service and WSN Research Service
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Intel ties up with Ubiquisys to develop unique 'Edge Cloud' solutions

May 25, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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The femto and small cell vendor Ubiquisys has announced that they are partnering with ​chip giant Intel to develop the concept of an ‘Edge Cloud’. The Edge Cloud refers to a layer of extremely powerful Atom-based 3G/LTE small cell platforms that can process and even store high-end bulky content at the edge of the network instead of sending it back to the core network. Intel will provide its Atom processors and the Intel Developer Forum to develop the concept of the ‘Edge Cloud’ along with Ubiquisys. The Edge Cloud can be used as a collective RAN caching solution or as a collective content processing layer.

The Edge Cloud is another term in the increasing glossary of terms such as Cloud RAN, Baseband Pooling, Cloud Core etc. All of these techniques are aimed at concentrating resources and processing power at a generic location in the network to drive efficiencies and lower cost. The cloud also brings flexibility in terms of resource allocation and scalability.

The unique difference here is that the Edge Cloud is focused on the content storing and content processing rather than baseband or technology protocol processing. Essentially the higher layers of the stack are being processed at the small cell itself rather than being transported back into the core. This also means that Ubiquisys will continue to use Texas Instruments for 3G/LTE baseband processing but will include Intel’s Atom processors for Edge Cloud functionality.

One of the clear advantages of the Edge Cloud is that the pressure on the backhaul pipe needed to transport bulky content will be eased. Backhaul for small cells is a key hurdle and challenge as operators begin to trial and test these solutions.

While the first prototypes of this co-development will only see light of day by 2012, this is bound to drive increasing amount of debate on the definition of a cloud, the location of the cloud, its role in future mobile networks etc. To some extent this sounds familiar to NSN’s Liquid Radio concept where capacity and processing power ebbs and flows through the access layer based on traffic demand and time of day.

Although using the Edge Cloud as a RAN caching solution might be quite tricky and complex, using the Edge Cloud as a content processing engine could well prove to be a useful technique. How this technology develops in conjunction with the advances in existing media optimization and compression solutions will be interesting to see.

One thing is clear – Ubiquisys is definitely pushing the boundaries for small cells and its role in the mobile network. Their recent tie-ups with Texas Instruments and Intel show that they are not to be taken lightly in this market.

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With the exception of RIM's, the latest NFC announcements leave me feeling a bit flat

May 23, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Despite my usually cautious nature, I started to get excited about NFC again at the start of this year. Given all the excitement and strong pronouncements being put forward by a wide range of tier 1 companies it was difficult not to. However, as we near the halfway point in the year I find myself feeling a bit let down.

I've not seen any new NFC-enabled handsets come out since before MWC and Nokia, who had made much about how NFC was a growing part of its Symbian portfolio, has gone backwards in this respect. Despite not being based upon any secure applications, such aspayments,its latest devices have not included any NFC capability. And it remains to be seen if it will be added to its firrst round of WP7 products expected at the end of the year.

Last week Orange UK announced the launch of its new QuickTap contatcless mobile payment service. In partnership with Barclaycard, it employs the SWP, SIM-based NFC implementation and so it's using the latest version of NFC. But it only has one handset in support, a quite-good-but-nothing-special new version of the Samsung Tocco Lite - hardly cutting edge. And with only one handset it hardly proffers mass market appeal.

To make things worse, the Samsung Galaxy SII, which is advanced as any other device out there right now and would have been the flagship device to launch such a service with, has launched in Europe minus its NFC functionality! This, I can only put down to supply issues or the fact that the MNOs didn't push hard enough to get it from the start.

The rest of the recent announcements have been vague or non-commital. HTC has said it will have a NFC smartphone "by this time next year", O2 said it will launch its UK contactless mobile service in the second half of the year - but surely it will need handsets to do this? NXP has gone as far as to say it is working with Microsoft - but in what context?

I am still a fan of NFC and believe that it has great potential in a very long tail of applications. MNOs, if smart, can put themselves in the driving seat but given their lack of activity and the very narrow focus on payments, I do worry. There is a lot of talk but little action or delivery and if not careful, they will lose control as other companies push ahead on their own.

The only brightspot so far is RIM. It said it would go with NFC and it is in the two new versions of its Blackberry Bold, due out in the next month or so. I am unclear at this stage which variant of NFC it is - but it is there and that is the main thing. It will also feature in the late summer/autumn products scheduled too. With it's strong penetration into the enterprise sector it will be interesting to see how this is positioned and used. Similarly, will anyone look at developing this to serve the loyal teen Messenger base? NTT DoCoMo is building this into its Twitter application, will Blackberry (or its application partners) do the same?

So at least one company is moving ahead with its promises in this area - will anyone else follow?

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China's (3G) Great Expectations

May 20, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has just made it official. At the end of 2010, China's 3G notched up 5.5% penetration. That may seem pretty puny but when you take the population of China into consideration, that equates to 47 million 3G users. That is a good sized medium European country.... all of them using 3G.

TD-SCDMA is starting to get some traction and is getting noticed. 42% of those 3G subs were TD-SCDMA users. The original MIIT forecasts for TD-SCDMA adoption may have been a little messianic, but there is a sporting chance that China might just eclipse 100 million 3G before the end of 2011.

MIIT will be watching the numbers. It is unlkely that any 4G licenses will be issued until 3G, and in particular TD-SCDMA is seen to be a proper success. If TD-SCDMA were to hit that 100m threshold in short order? Even better. ​

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NFC On A Roll – But Not For Mobile Payments

May 20, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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There sure have been a lot of people getting excited about NFC, with Google, Research In Motion (RIM), Samsung and others stating they would be supporting it.
But most people have misread this as momentum for mobile payments. It is not. The primary NFC use case right now has nothing to do with mobile payments. Interestingly, those seen as the primary players have up to this point said nothing to debunk NFC mobile payments. Until last week.
Last week, Near Field Communications World posted an interesting piece based on a session from Google I/O called “How To NFC” (NFC World article http://bit.ly/lwcSUP Google NFC session http://bit.ly/lOPyGl ) .
The session revealed the most significant NFC mobile payment news of 2011. And nobody realized it.
According to Google NFC team members Nick Pelly and Jeff Hamilton, while the Android Gingerbread release does supply third party APIs to NFC capabilities, it does NOT support NFC APIs for card emulation (mobile payments). Neither will the “Ice Cream Sandwich” release which is slated to launch at the end of 2011. That means no Google third party APIs for mobile payments are likely until sometime in 2013.
While NFC mobile payment APIs for third party developers are not really even the use case for NFC mobile payments, it doesn’t change the fact that Google sees issues with NFC mobile payments right now. Pelly and Hamilton cited a lack of standards for card emulation as the reason Google won’t support an NFC mobile payments API yet. We have heard this before – from Apple, as to why iPhone 5 (now 4S) won’t support NFC. Research In Motion (RIM) has not said specifically they will support NFC mobile payments either.
What has got Google and RIM excited about NFC technology is how it can explode the possibilities for third party app developers, where standards and authentication are not a factor. Google demoed a variety of use cases for P2P sharing of content, including apps, contacts, photos and more. RIM has done so as well, and I have heard similar stories from representatives from France Telecom’s Orange.
There is evidence that NFC protocol interoperability or standardization will have to take place before handset manufacturers will be willing to produce NFC phones that support card emulation in significant numbers. That thought is certainly supported by the merchants, who will either require a standardized solution for POS or a vendor who can normalize different NFC technologies at POS. Result – no significant uptake of NFC mobile payments until maybe 2013.
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LTE Lessons to be Learnt from the Russians

May 19, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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4G services are just around the corner. A number of operators are doing trials. Some are moving towards commercial launches. “Many” are thinking how do we make LTE profitable?

There is perhaps a thing or two to be learnt from the Russians. Russia’s Big 4, (Beeline, Megafon, MTS, and Rostelkom) have signed a deal with Yota whereby the latter will wholesale its LTE network to these operators, enabling their 4G services. The major network operators will be MVNOs of Yota with an option to become part owners of Yota’s 4G network; as a part-owner of Yota they would be entitled to a reduced wholesale rate.
The consortium has until July 1 to prepare proposals for the Russian government for the use of frequencies currently used by the military.

It is quite a practical solution:
stronger bargaining power when they are dealing with the network equipment providers;
lower capital expenditures required to set up and maintain existing networks;

avoid costly duplication of infrastructure. Why have two base-stations in the same location?
For more information read our insight at:

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Get Ready: VZW Expected to Shift From Unlimited to Multi-Device Data Sharing Plans

May 19, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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As we've been expecting,Verizon Wirelesswillbegin phasing out'unlimited' mobile data plans this summer,paving the way for the eventual shiftto multi-device data sharing plans, according toa top executive quoted in aReuters story.

The idea: instead of payinga flat fee per device for mobile data (roughly $30 per month), you would pay for a bundle of datathat couldbe used across several devices, and within a family plan. Those devices could includesmartphones and tablets.

The move makes sense, and could help lessen the blowas tiered-data pricing becomes the norm.For many usersthis will probably turn out OK, andcouldevenbring a lower monthly bill if the new data bundle turns out to cost less than the combined cost of several per-deviceplans. Verizon must price these right, or there will be a backlash.

However,I expect a rough patch when multi-device plans enter the market, as users who have grown accustom to 'unlimited' data try to figure out what their data limits really are.Discussions around the family table couldget interesting ("Johnny, you're hogging all the data with that newiPad 2.")

Nonetheless,new pricing schemes areto be expected as operatorstry to figure out how to monetizeamidst an explosion ofmobile data demand.

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Asia-Pacific Smartphone Dragon Awakes

May 12, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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The Asia-Pacific smartphone market is really starting to fire on all cylinders.

Despite notching up US$ 26 billion in sales in 2010, the Asia-Pacific smartphone market still lagged behind Europe and North America. However by 2012, Asia-Pac is expected to eclipse them both. Asia smartphone shipments in 2011 could well deliver 35% growth, perhaps higher. While iPhone, Android and BlackBerry are on strong growth trajectories, there are question-marks as to whether Nokia-Microsoft can ramp up Window Mobile 7 smartphone sales to compensate for the possible decline in Nokia’s Symbian smartphones shipments.
Asia has long been a bastion of support for Nokia sales support but Apple’s, Samsung’s, RIM’s, HTC’s, smartphones have been undermining purchasing interest in Nokia’s smartphone from Asia’s customers. Nokia will have to take pro-active steps to maintain its momentum in the Asia market. Asia, Europe and Emerging Market sales have always helped to compensate for Nokia's weaker presence in North America.
(Based, in part, on commentary from a Channel News Asia Interview, 12-May-2011)

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InMobi Partners with Amobee, Gains Access to Leading Brands

May 11, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Mobile ad network InMobi has just closed a three-year, multi-million deal with mobile ad solution provider Amobee that will enhance InMobi's standing among top brands. Amobee counts a sizeablenumber ofFortune 500 brands among its clients.

Few other details were disclosed, but this move shows how the mobile ad business is coalescing around companies with global reach(InMobi reaches 200 million people in 125 countries) and proven solutions (Amobee).

InMobi may not be well known in the U.S. or European markets, since it got its start in Asia (originalheadquarters werein Bangalore, India, and it was previously known as mKhoj). However, the company has moved aggressively in the past year to establish itself in the U.S. market, and with this new partnership it hasraised its visibility amongadvertiserswithlarger budgets, whichshould help it continue its growth curve.

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Arris Digeo Acquisition Bears Fruit

May 11, 2011 12:00:00 AM / by Admin

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Arris recently announced that it had started shipping its Arris Whole Home Gateway solution to Shaw in Canada (starting in Calgary). This solution includes a Gateway with Six HD tuners, a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, Ethernet Port, 500 GB Hard Drive, MoCA 1.1+ networking and DLNA. It uses Digeo’s Moxi interface which Arris acquired in September 2009 for about $20 million. The solution includes two boxes – the Whole Home DVR (branded as Shaw’s Gateway) for the first screen and Moxi Mate (branded as Shaw’s Total Home Portal) for each additional screen. While Arris provides an 802.11n WiFi option, Shaw did not include this.

Prior to the Digeo acquisition, Arris provided many infrastructure products, such as Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS) and Encoders (from the EGT acquisition) which were competitive with those provided by Cisco and Motorola. Arris also excelled at data-oriented customer premise equipment (CPE), including Cable Modems and E-MTA’s (Embedded Multimedia Terminal Adaptors) used to connect phones to a cable system. However, Arris lacked some credibility because they could not offer an end-to-end video solution because of a lack of an internal set-top box (STB) solution.

It is always good to see a strong company like Arris deliver on an acquisition with a strong design win like this one with Shaw, with 2.3 million cable customers (including 1.7 million digital customers and 1.8 million broadband customers).

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