|
|
By
Phil Britt
Business consolidations continued during the last month as OSS/BSS providers and telecommunications firms sought to provide new, engaging solutions for customers. New offerings are needed, particularly in mobile communications, as market penetration nears 90 percent.
Redknee, a provider of billing and charging software and solutions for communications service providers, closed its previously announced acquisition of Nimbus Systems, a privately held company that specializes in next generation billing, content settlement and customer care. The acquisition increased Redknee’s presence in Tier 1 group operators. The company expects new business from the full integration of Nimbus Systems’ solutions into Redknee’s product portfolio.
With the addition of Nimbus, Redknee expects to be able increase its offerings to customers as they upgrade or replace legacy systems in order to migrate to next generation billing, charging and customer care platforms. Redknee and Nimbus Systems’ independently developed software, which includes open APIs, was designed to ensure that Redknee’s solutions can be fully integrated into any existing billing systems.
In Asia, 3 Hong Kong partnered with UK-based mobile video content distributor Swanbay to offer free, advertising-supported mobile video content.
|
|
The growth of mobile traffic will lead to a sharp increase in uploading in the next five years, according to ABI research |
|
which predicts a compound annual growth rate of 13.6 percent till 2016 when the market will reach nearly $820 million.
"Spending on video conferencing solutions picked up in the final quarter of 2009 and has shown similar upbeat trends so far in the first half of 2010," said Frost & Sullivan industry manager Pranabesh Nath. He expected the demand to continue, assuming the economic recovery proceeds as anticipated in most Asia-Pac markets.
The video conferencing market had grown only 5.4 percent in the previous year, as many enterprises curtailed spending due to the worldwide economic slowdown, according to Nath.
|
|
|
|
|
Swanbay is providing free international and regional video content such as the highlights of World Cup matches, NBA basketball, music videos and movies on Planet TV, which is exclusively available on 3 Hong Kong’s mobile platform. Raymond Ho, head of content management of 3 Hong Kong, said Swanbay’s service would attract more viewers to 3’s mobile platform.
Since the beginning of 2010, Swanbay has launched its service in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and soon to launch across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Local strategic marketing specialist Medesign will handle Planet TV’s advertising business in Hong Kong.
The Asia-Pacific region will see strong growth in video conferencing in the next few years, according to Frost & Sullivan,
|
|
Mobile Penetration Expected to Go Deeper
The mobile market in the U.S. can be considered saturated,
with penetration now exceeding 88 percent, according to Frost & Sullivan.
With only marginal horizontal growth available, carriers are focusing
more on vertical growth through innovative premium data services that
run over next-generation wireless networks and devices.
The emergence of a broad range of connected devices expected to push
penetration of mobile services to more than 100 percent.
Over 60 percent of North American mobile subscribers regularly use text messaging, and a majority of these are part of a bundled data plan. The impact of smart phones in driving data usage on the mobile networks is beyond doubt.
|
|
|
