We Can Help

Don't lose business to competitors with better cell phone service and related technology service offerings...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irqyhiMJ

Over The Top

Cutting the cord, can it really be done...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/over-the-top

T-Mobile WiFi Calling Overview

Here is a quick overview on T-Mobile's WiFi calling numbers...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/t-mobile-wifi-calling-overview

Proactive Service Provider Engagement

Don't make a costly mistake...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/proactive-service-provider

Avoid Big Cellular Service Problems

Don't leave things to chance...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/avoiding-big-cellular-service

Cellular Networks Having Difficulty Keeping Pace, Especially In-Building

Does your building have adequate cell phone service coverage...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/cellular-network-having

VoLTE, 5G

Some thoughts on network evolution...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/volte-5g

Mobile Healthcare

The future is mobile...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/mobile-heathcare

5G Is On The Way

5G in 2017, no likely...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/5g-is-on-the-way

Microcells and Single Provider Plug In Boosters

Keep it simple...
https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/microcells-and-single-provider

Mobile Data Usage Is Growing!

https://soundcloud.com/jtmgroupmtp/mobile-data-usage-is-growing

Most people now expect seamless service at all times.  With 75% of all calls originate in buildings this is an important factor for real estate developer and property owner to consider seriously.  The quality of their cell phone service will impact leasing velocity, impact resident retention, and property stabilization.  

According to iGR, a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile communications industry, the number of in-building LTE small cells is expected to grow at a rate of almost 200 percent over the next five years.

The Silver Bullet?

I attended a webinar earlier this year.  The emphasis was wireless data usage.  One of the main findings from the firm's research was that at lower speeds, users were more likely use their mobile device.  These features included communication, social network and cloud access.  Interestingly, even on more data intensive applications, the mobile usage was surprisingly high.

Why is that and what about WiFi?  There is definitely a place for WiFi as part of the broader cellular network; however, it likely will not be silver bullet that many are hoping for.

According to Mark Lowenstein, an industry analyst and managing director of Mobile Ecosystem, “Wi-Fi offloading is not really where the [wireless] operators want to be [the] wireless carriers' business models are completely geared toward encouraging users to buy larger and larger buckets of cellular data.  Thus, there's little reason for them to embrace Wi-Fi offloading since it generally gives users more data that they don't have to pay extra for.”

While there is potential in WiFi there seems to be a lot of issues that need to be addressed first.  Here is an excerpt from a recent FierceWirelessTech article titled, “Sprint, Google, Microsoft, Huawei, TWC and others tap into aggregated Wi-Fi but revenues remain lethargic” that does a good job outlining some of those challenges.

“First and foremost, of course, is the fact that a Wi-Fi network is not comparable to a cellular network. Wi-Fi coverage can be counted in yards, while cellular coverage can be counted in miles. And Wi-Fi works in unlicensed spectrum, which means that interference from other nearby users is a distinct possibility. Cellular networks, on the other hand, run in licensed spectrum, meaning that wireless carriers can take legal action against anyone interfering in their transmissions.”

“And every time a Wi-Fi user moves, they may have to deal with a completely new Wi-Fi network and login process, whereas cellular roaming is relatively seamless. (Though, to be clear, the Wi-Fi Alliance's Hotspot 2.0 technical specification, dubbed Passpoint, is intended to smooth the Wi-Fi roaming and login process.)” 

“Lowenstein said that the Wi-Fi market also suffers from a somewhat crude user experience. Some services--like Google's Project Fi, Republic Wireless and Cablevision's Freewheel--require users to purchase specialized handsets. And oftentimes users must negotiate ads and other obstacles, particularly when accessing free hotspots. And even if those issues are addressed, some Wi-Fi hotspots (usually free ones) are simply overloaded because they don't have the backhaul or RF design necessary to handle traffic from multiple users.”

"I think we're still very much in the experimental stage" in the Wi-Fi industry, Lowenstein said. "There's still a lot of work to be done to deliver an easy, seamless, best-connected experience."

In a recent article by Monica Allevan, an editor FierceWirelessTech, she wrote, “Verizon Wireless, which seems to be the last holdout among the big nationwide carriers, isn't revealing its cards when it comes to Wi-Fi calling, and while it has said it would support Wi-Fi calling at some point, COO David Small at a recent investor conference pointed out that the technology has not been perfected in terms of handoffs, and Verizon would rather position its own cellular network over Wi-Fi any day.”

My guess is the cellular network of the future will be a will consist of macro network upgrades, new outdoor sites, indoor and outdoor small cells, distributed antenna systems, (DAS), WiFi and microcells.  For those have potential needs now, it is best to be proactive, and look carefully at all of your available options.

The Next Battleground: OTT Mobile Video

Written by Iain Gillott, May 21, 2015 

Posted with permission from iGR 

Like most tech industries, wireless grows in phases, each characterized by a particular technology or marketing scheme.  In the U.S., the original growth in the industry (back in the early 90s) was started when the operators offered subsidized handsets.  Then we moved to the SMS phase, where it seemed every startup had some new solution for texting.  In the run up to the current LTE building competition ("I have more covered POPs than you." "My LTE speeds are faster." etc.), we have seen competition around laptop data modems, PDAs, smartphones and tablets (of course), unlimited data rate plans and push-to-talk, among other things.

With significant capital investment still going into LTE networks, the North American mobile operators have generally built robust networks. (We can debate who has the better LTE network ad infinitum.)  The same is true in other regions of the world, while other places are still deploying their initial build outs.  At the same time, demand for bandwidth is obviously increasing, driven mostly by the demand for video.  Simply put, video uses more mobile bandwidth and with big-screen smartphones and tablets, consumers are likely to consume more video.  We have seen this trend both anecdotally and in our survey statistics.

The latest trend - one that we believe will be the basis of the next phase of competition - is mobile video content delivery.  Note that we are not saying that consumers will be able to access video from their mobile devices; as we know from our research, this already happens today. The most popular devices to watch Netflix on are tablets and smartphones.  Getting video over an LTE network today is not an issue.

But OTT video services and content are accessed independently of the mobile operator involvement (generally - there are a few exceptions).  So the consumer is accessing their Hulu account and content over an LTE connection simply because they can.  The mobile operator is not part of this transaction (other than providing data service) and the content generally has to traverse the entire mobile network (RAN and EPC) to reach the consumer.  This is not very efficient.

New competition is starting to come in the form of the mobile operators working with the OTT content providers, as well as potentially offering their own video service.  There are already examples of mobile operators hosting OTT video servers in their networks to reduce the transport costs and improve the customer experience.  And operators have announced partnerships with OTT service providers.  Plus there have been numerous stories of Verizon Wireless' plans to offer its own mobile video service later this year. (Buying AOL assists this with intelligent ad placement and delivery).  Partnerships are happening now and will become more common. In the next year, not having relationships with OTT video providers will be a competitive disadvantage for a mobile operator.

All of this, of course, assumes that the mobile operator has a robust LTE network that can handle the load.  As my son pointed out last night at dinner, Netflix is where most teenagers get their TV programming (his view) and that binge viewing is normal.  My son can easily burn through 15 - 20 GB per month on Netflix.  And while he may be at the extreme end now, the norm is moving closer to his usage pattern all the time.

For mobile operators that invested in LTE early - and continue to do so today - the video delivery challenge presents a massive competitive advantage opportunity.  I am not underestimating the challenge of meeting the demand for video from a network perspective, but for those operators that have the LTE reach and capacity, the next few years will be very interesting.  All of this will be done under the Net Neutrality rules, of course (or for as long as they last in the face of numerous court challenges), but there is little doubt that the OTT providers and the larger mobile operators are going to become friends, one way or another.  And for mobile operators offering their own video content services, the old saying of "keep your friends close but your enemies closer" will be very true.