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the downturn that occurred during the “dotcom bust” of 2000. A new investment cycle is expected to start in 2011, driven by 3G rollouts in Indian, Latin America and Central America, and the start of a 3G rollout in Africa. There will also be a ramp-up in LTE deployments in North America, Brazil, Western Europe and Japan, according to Stephanie Terai, principal analyst for mobile and FMC infrastructure for Infonetics.
Smartphone Market Evolves
The leadership in the smartphone market could change in 2010 if AT&T loses its exclusivity on the iPhone, as a couple of analysts have said. Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall recently said in a television interview that, as AT&T’s exclusive access to the iPhone runs out in June of next year, Apple may make agreements with one or more other carriers to offer a subsidized iPhone in the second half of 2010. The companies are mum about any such deal. But if it does happen, Apple could well challenge Blackberry as the dominant player in the smartphone space, according to Jeff Kagan, an Atlanta, Ga.-based telecom and wireless analyst. Nokia is still the handset leader, but that is likely to change as more and more consumers opt for smartphones, Kagan added.
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Infonetics Research reported that smartphone sales are on track to grow 14.5 percent in terms of the number of units sold for 2009. |
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Per-Second Billing
The idea of per second billing continues to gain traction in India. New Dehli-based Bharti Airtel recently launched a pay-per-second plan on its virtual calling card service, 'Airtel CallHome', for its customers in the U.S. Airtel CallHome has so far been available in the US, UK, Canada and Singapore. The $6.99, monthly plan comes with an administration fee of 49 cents, offering customers a tariff of just 0.03 cents per second. “With this, Bharti Airtel becomes the first to offer pay per second plans for the US to India calling card market,” Airtel said in a statement.
The announcement comes on the heels of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL)’s plan offering GSM prepaid mobile customers a pay per second billing plan if they buy a special tariff voucher. The BNSL annual plan charges these customers 1 paisa per second for local and STD calls to in-network customers. Prepaid GSM customers pay 1.2 paise per
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Infonetics Research reported that smartphone sales are on track to grow 14.5 percent in terms of the number of units sold for 2009, and are projected to have a 21 percent compound annual growth rate from 2008 to 2013. However, smartphone revenue is expected to actually be down in the current year, which Infonetics blames on price erosion and average lower prices for units coming to market. “We expect revenue to pick up in 2010, and continue growing, easily outstripping the combined revenue of standard mobile phones by 2012,” predicts Richard Webb, Infonetics directing analyst for mobile devices.
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second for local and STD calls to other networks. One paisa is 1/100th of a rupee. The rupee is valued at a little more than two U.S. cents. The voucher is price a little less than half a rupee.
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