Femtocell vendor and MIT develop operator business plan

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:20:54 -0500

With femtocell technology reaching commercial maturity, attention is now switching to developing application services and operator business models that will maximise the technology benefits. In an effort to spur this move Ubiquisys, an established femtocell design house, has joined with a team from MIT's Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) to help establish an appropriate business model framework.

Ubiquisys said the team had looked at a number of areas, including femto-enabling existing Internet applications, exploration of new application services, and defining and quantifying the consumer value propositions.

Commenting on the partnership, Chris Gilbert, CEO of Ubiquisys, said that MIT's reputation for innovation and technical expertise was second to none. "We have successfully answered the technical femtocell questions and mobile operators are now looking to the potential for additional revenue generating services."

Separately, Analog Devices announced a new 3G femtocell chip (the ADF4602-1) that it claims consumes 30 per cent less power and delivers 50 per cent better EVM (error vector magnitude), while improving data rates and system conformity in multi-band 3G femtocell base stations.

For more:
- go to 3G.co.uk and ElectroPages

Related articles:
T-Mobile unveils 3G/WiFi docking station (femtocell?)
Femtocells: Orange, Starhub and Chunghwa make the pace
French operator to deploy GSM femtocells

Smart pipe or dumb pipe ... the operator's choice

Paul Rasmussen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:20:53 -0500

Revenues from mobile content could amount to US$52 billion in 2013 if mobile operators pursue the right strategies. If they fail to implement new business models then they could end up as simple dumb pipes, says a new report from Juniper Research.

Mobile operators need to change their mobile content business models to emphasise shared value creation. In today's mobile content environment, mobile operators retain a significant percentage of the revenues generated by the content providers who use their networks. This business model means end-users pay a high price for accessing mobile content and, ultimately, lose interest. This acts as a disincentive to content providers who either attempt to go directly to the end-user or exit the sector entirely. This is an unsustainable scenario which could severely impact on the revenue streams operators hope to win from mobile content. However, the report emphasises that mobile operators must make the first move to break this impasse.

If mobile operators can change their ARPU-driven mindsets to focus on value creation and support for their partners, they can swiftly make the change, the report concludes.

For more on this story go to Mobile Europe

Related article:
Mobile content flops of 2008 revealed

Business Models

Femtocell vendor and MIT develop operator business plan

Smart pipe or dumb pipe ... the operator's choice