Smart Wi-Fi + VoLTE = Quick Deployment

Yesterday, Kineto made two announcements:

We have added IMS-based voice and messaging capabilities compatible with the GSMA’s VoLTE initiative to the Smart Wi-Fi smartphone client.

To make our solution quickly ready for deployment, we have developed a joint solution with Taqua® LLC., a leading supplier of convergence switching and small cell deployment solutions, that enables mobile operators to include Wi-Fi as part of their VoLTE deployment strategy.

The industry is moving towards voice over LTE solutions, and our technology can get them there more quickly.

Operators can add support for the GSMA’s IMS-based voice and messaging profile (IR.92) to Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi client and instantly provide coverage over existing Wi-Fi access points. With VoLTE support and leveraging Taqua’s IMS core network solution suite in the Smart Wi-Fi client, ordinary Wi-Fi access points become LTE small cells. This brings indoor coverage and capacity to macro LTE network deployments and adds critical network coverage and capacity in the exact locations subscribers spend most their time -- in their homes and offices.

With CTIA Wireless in New Orleans this week, there will be lots of announcements and chatter about IMS and LTE. We know the Kineto Smart Wi-Fi for VoLTE solution can assist operators in quickly becoming front-runners is providing solutions instead watching from the sidelines to see what their competitors will do.

A Wi-Fi Renaissance

Total Telecom reported today that Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) predicted that seamless WiFi offloading solutions will begin deployment within the next 12 months.

"The complementary relationship between WiFi and mobile networks is finally becoming a reality," said WBA’s Chairman Chris Bruce.

With Kineto’s software, it’s been a reality for some time. For years, we’ve been focused on the opportunity for mobile operators who recognize the benefits of Wi-Fi for offload and coverage.

Reporter Lewis Dowling mentioned T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling service based on our Smart Wi-Fi technology as an example of an operator solutions that successfully use Wi-Fi. He also mentioned steps Cisco, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent are taking to enable this operator shift.

Bruce added: "Fixed and mobile operators alike are leading a WiFi hotspot renaissance in a renewed effort to sate the seemingly unquenchable desire for ubiquitous broadband connectivity.”

The smartphone deluge has been going on for years already and is only growing. Operators need to try to get out in front of it. With Wi-Fi, they can.

Smart Wi-Fi drives data offload

Based on data recently released by Validas, which analyzes the mobile-phone bills of consumers, T-Mobile looks to be the only US mobile operator able to control its data surges from increased smartphone usage.

An article in Fierce Wireless reported Validas' research compiled between June 2010 and July 2011. It showed Verizon with the highest percentage of increase in data usage with AT&T second and Sprint in third place. Yet T-Mobile had a slight decrease.

Is T-Mobile able to increase data offload because of Smart Wi-Fi? It is the only operator of the four with an active and successful Wi-Fi data offload service -- Wi-Fi Calling, based on Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi technology.  Smart Wi-Fi gives T-Mobile subscribers a reason to connect their smartphones to Wi-Fi – and thus offload the cellular network.  So it would follow that its offload is very positively impacted and that is what sets it apart from its competitors.



With data surges developing into a major issue for mobile operators, competitive solutions abound. Could T-Mobile have found the one that truly has an impact? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Not Resting on our Laurels

Second quarter was a strong and positive one for Kineto. We're not resting on our laurels, mind you, but I do want to share them with you.

By the end of Q2 2011, Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application was officially on 15 additional Android smartphones. This brings the total number of Smart Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones to more than 30 from the industry's leading manufacturers, including HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Samsung and ZTE.

Other highlights:

•  Orange UK has expanded its Signal Boost service (based on Smart Wi-Fi) to offer the following nine smartphones: Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy Ace; the LG Optimus Me; HTC Wildfire S, Cha Cha and Desire S; along with the Orange-branded Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Stockholm.

•  T-Mobile USA introduced six new Wi-Fi Calling-enabled smartphones, including the Samsung Dart™, Samsung Gravity™ SMART, Samsung Exhibit™ 4G; HTC Sensation™ 4G, T-Mobile® G2x™ with Google™ and the T-Mobile® Sidekick® 4G, providing customers with enhanced network coverage and the ability to experience high-quality voice and data on their home Wi-Fi networks.

•  ZTE will now pre-load Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application onto select new Android-based smartphones.

•  Huawei will now pre-load Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application onto select new Android-based smartphones.

Read the full Kineto Q2 milestones press release.

Want to keep up to date on Kineto activities? Subscribe to this blog's feed and follow Kineto on Twitter @kinetowireless.

Part of a Winning Team

ZTE has been on a bit of a roll lately. The company opened a major network testing and development center in London and quickly followed up that announcement with another that it shipped 35 million mobile handsets in the first half of 2011, up 30% on-year, and it's smartphone sales grew by 400% in the first six months of the year to 5 million units.

It's a strong partner, and we're proud to see ZTE supports Smart Wi-Fi in the market as well. The company is pre-loading Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application onto select new Android-based ZTE smartphones, starting with the Skate, coming soon in the UK.

Wu Sa, director of Mobile Device Operations for ZTE UK, said: "Devices such as the ZTE Skate are proving very popular with both operators and consumers, and we're happy to be working with Kineto to integrate Smart Wi-Fi into devices for carriers that want to take advantage of the benefits of UMA."

ZTE is on a winning streak, and Smart Wi-Fi is now part of that streak.

Read the full ZTE and Kineto press release.

Tesco boosts coverage in stores

Okay, their goal probably wasn't specifically to 'boost coverage', but this week, Tesco, the UK’s largest retailer, announced it began trialing free Wi-Fi throughout its stores.  

I’m sure Tesco can use Wi-Fi for many internal inventory and store management requirements.  Plus I suspect they want to try location-based things to put ads on people’s smartphones as they walk the isles.

But for Orange UK subscribers with Signal Boost, Tesco just made sure everyone gets great in-building coverage when they are doing their shopping.  

You don’t need a femtocell for that.

Amplifying Orange UK's Signal Boost

Did you read about the event, Amplify 2011, we hosted in June in London for media and analysts? It was an opportunity for us to talk about Smart Wi-Fi and for Orange UK to talk about it's successful Signal Boost service.

Watch this video from the event:

I've written before about some of the highlights from the presentation by Orange UK's Director of Product Marketing Paul Jevons. Read more about them in my previous post about the event.

Some other highlights from the evening that you can watch and hear for yourself in the video include:

- Kineto showcased some of the nearly 30 Android devices on which our Smart Wi-Fi application is available, including smartphones from Huawei, HTC, Samsung and LG.

- Jevons talks about how "brilliantly simple" Signal Boost is because of the Smart Wi-Fi app

- Jevons talks about Everything Everywhere's plans to "roll that [Signal Boost] out across the T-Mobile base in the UK later this year."

- Orange UK reports "genuine and material improvements" in customer satisfaction and retention

- 80% of customers say it is easy to set up and really easy to use; and more customers say it's becoming an influence in their decision of handsets

Watch the Amplify 2011 video for more. After you see it, come back here and let me know what you think. Did you learn anything new?

Pitfalls and the mystery of femtocell deployments

Reporting from Avren's Femtocell World Summit, Light Reading's Michelle Donegan captured some of the pitfalls of femtocell deployments.

"Thilo Kirchinger, Vodafone's principal connected home manager, said that the need for indoor voice coverage is the trigger for most customers to buy a femtocell."

It remains a mystery why a consumer would 'buy' a femtocell. But as long as they are being sold, femtocells will be relegated to a 1% solution.

Mr. Kirchinger also commented that "data offload is not a proposition that can be sold to customers."

No surprise here, customers don't care about offload, that's strictly an operational benefit. The trick is creating incentives that change user behavior. T-Mobile US now offers free calls over Wi-Fi as incentive to get subscribers to use Wi-Fi and reap the benefits of offload.

"Vodafone Greece's new products, innovation and wholesale group product manager, Polychronis Tzerefos, said that femtocells are a customer-retention tool, not an acquisition tool, and that operators should expect to subsidize them heavily."

I think the consensus in many other markets is that femtos work best for retention - as a tool for the 'save queue'. Complain you plan to leave your operator, and they overnight a femtocell to your house. The math is easy.

Putting a femto in a pre-sales retail environment raises some uncomfortable questions. If your coverage is so great, why do you have a femtocell product? If I have coverage problems, will you give me a femto?

"Among the technical challenges the operator encountered, Tzerefos said there is lot of integration to be done with existing business systems, customer relationship management, business intelligence and customer self-care portals."

This is a story we've heard time and time again. Many focus on the cost of the femtocell as the key item, but there is a tremendous amount of back-end integration and cost associated with deploying them.

"And as for marketing the femto service, Tzerefos shared that there was much internal debate about, "How do you sell the customer coverage when you're supposed to have the best coverage in Greece? How do we explain they need a solution?"

And this is the beauty of a Smart Wi-Fi solution. It's an application that puts the customer in charge. If they have coverage problems, they can use their Wi-Fi to fix it. In today's self-service environment, this is one message which resonates clearly.

T-Mobile rolls out free calls over Wi-Fi

Once again, TMoNews.com scooped everyone else with the news that T-Mobile is announcing FREE calls over Wi-Fi starting May 13^th. Per the internal memo in the article, it seems like there’s no doubt. A few calls today to local shops in Silicon Valley confirms it.

What does this mean? Free means free. For subscribers with Wi-Fi Calling capable phones that are powered by Kineto’s Smart Wi-Fi Application, calls over Wi-Fi will now NOT count against the plan bucket. Previously, calls over Wi-Fi were charged like calls over cellular.

Since initially launching last November, T-Mobile has focused its Wi-Fi Calling service on reducing churn by improving coverage and customer satisfaction.

By expanding Wi-Fi Calling to free calling plus better coverage, T-Mobile is able to drive offload by providing positive incentives for people to turn on Wi-Fi at home and in the office – the two locations which account for 50-66% of mobile data usage.

T-Mobile’s Wi-Fi Calling service gives subscribers what they want: better service at a lower cost.

For mobile service providers looking to encourage Wi-Fi offload, Smart Wi-Fi delivers powerful incentives that change consumer behavior.

I think there are some big implications about telephony, the future of voice, even femtocells, in this service offer. And certainly, T-Mobile continues to lead the pack in customer service. See what subscribers are saying at WiFiCalling.net/twitter.

What do you think about this announcement? Let me know in the comments.

More Smart Wi-Fi for Orange UK Subscribers

We've been hearing about some subscriber demand for more UMA/GAN-enabled devices from Orange UK. And, as reported in MobileBurn.com, Orange has delivered the HTC Desire S Android with Orange's Signal Boost service.

Can you hear the applause?

This is the second Android phone available from Orange with its Signal Boost (UMA) service. It's now listed on the Orange site. The other is the LG Optimus One, another strong Android smartphone. Plus, Orange also added the Nokia E5, which is optimal for business and personal use. Signal Boost is based on Smart Wi-Fi.

Mobile Burn's reviewer is a fan of the Desire. You can read his full review and watch the video tour at http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=13905.

AT&T CTO: Subsidizing femtocells won’t fix our network

Wow, that's a pretty blatant statement, and it's the title of an article by Devindra Hardawar at Venture Beat.

We've been following the femtocell market since it's inception four years ago. 

It's clear the bloom has come off the rose, and that the reality of what femtocells can, and can't, do is clear.

I think what's really being said is that in places where the femtocell is deployed a long way from a macro signal, things work pretty well.

But in areas with marginal or good AT&T coverage, the femtocell introduces more interference, outweighing any benefit of added capacity.

In addition, by drawing a line in the sand saying "data on femtos count against data caps," AT&T has clearly pigeon-holed them into 'save' solution for people with zero coverage.

What about data offload? What about places with marginal coverage?

Certainly a Smart Wi-Fi solution would work. Wi-Fi, completely agnostic to the macro cellular network, doesn't interfere at all. Plus it's already in the places where people want coverage - the home and office. And it helps to drive offload, because 50-66% of mobile data usage occurs in the home/office.

We could have this problem licked in no time.

Signal Boost is “Brilliant”

There was an interesting article in The Independent the other day. The author, David Phelan, wrote a piece called “How I FINALLY found a way to make a phone call.”

He pointed out the problems that a lot of Londoners have – even in the middle of town, coverage is spotty. It’s Orange’s Signal Boost (powered by UMA and Kineto’s Smart Wi-Fi Application) actually solves the problem in the end.

“This story, you’ll be glad to know, has a happy ending in the form of UMA. This stands for Unlicensed Mobile Access or as I think of it, Ultimately My Answer. It’s a service which is unique to one network but luckily, it’s Orange. It connects my phone to my wi-fi for calls, so poor GSM signal is irrelevant. But it’s a brilliant trick. Now my phone just, you know rings.”

Wi-Fi May Just be the Glue to Hold AT&T, T-Mobile Networks Together

Dan Jones of LightReading, a tough critic of the mobile operator landscape, taped this brief video at CTIA 2011 in which he discusses how T-Mobile and AT&T can tie together their networks in the early days of the merger.

He says the combination of assets - AT&T's vast network of public wi-fi hotspots and T-Mobile's Wi-Fi Calling service - can be brought together ahead of the hardware for the 3G and eventually LTE networks: "Think of Wi-Fi as the glue that will hold it all together before we get to fourth generation services."

Watch the video below. What do you think about Dan's prediction?

T-Mobile Talks Up It's Wi-Fi Calling Advantage

At Mobile World Congress, T-Mobile’s Josh Lonn spent some time talking with several different editors about the company’s success with the Wi-Fi Calling service.

In Monica Alleven’s article “Wi-Fi Calling is Talk of the Town,” she quotes Mr. Lonn saying “We believe this is more effective [than femtocells].”

Mike Dano with Fierce Wireless wrote that T-Mobile has approximately 5 millions Wi-Fi Calling users today, with about 1.25 million on the new Android version of the service.

In Total Telecom’s piece, “Wi-Fi Offload?  There’s an app for that,” Mary Lennighan quotes Mr. Lonn saying: “We’re putting [coverage] on the device side rather than something that plugs into the wall.”

Network World’s Nancy Gohring’s trend piece on ‘small cells’ on femtocells and Wi-Fi covered both sides of the debate.  But T-Mobile’s quote hit the nail on the head. “Wi-Fi is robust.  Why do something as complicated as a femto?” questioned Mr. Lonn.

But it was TMoNews that really summed up the situation, writing “Personally, I believe T-Mobile hit a home run with the Wi-Fi Calling service over that of a femtocell.”

I couldn’t agree more.

T-Mobile Femtocells: Yes, No, Maybe

Earlier this week Michelle Donegan at Light Reading reported that an unnamed source at the operator confirmed that "the carrier will have 3G femtocells as part of its product portfolio in 2011".

As one might expect, the post was light on details - there was no timeframe and no vendors because T-Mobile was 'still in the process of selecting them.'

Then today, Kevin Fitchard at Connected Planet posted that "T-Mobile USA has no plans to offer a femtocell and will continue to focus on its dual-mode Wi-Fi fixed mobile convergence strategy," adding "at least that's what we're hearing from T-Mobile."

I think the answer is clear:  a definite maybe.

It's a blog, so let's speculate:  Why T-Mobile would want to offer a femtocell:
Everyone else is.  ATT, VZW, Sprint all have a femtocell, they don't want to be left out.  Undoubtedly there are T-Mobile customers who would be willing to pay for a femtocell to get better coverage at home.

Why T-Mobile wouldn't want to offer a femtocell:
It's not at all clear that people want a femtocell service - especially if they have to pay for it.  Of course, some do, but recall that earlier this year the Femto Forum announced that there were 'more femtocells in the US than macro cell towers'.  They pegged the number at 350,000 units.

Let's do some math.  Between the three largest carriers in the US, servicing some 230,000,000 subscribers, they have managed to sell (or give away) 350,000 femtocells - or about 0.1%.  No wonder 2010 was the 'year of the femtocell', or was it 2009, or 2008..., or maybe it will be 2011.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile seems to be rocking the Smart Wi-Fi.  It's part of their hottest selling '4G' phones the MyTouch 4G and Google G2.  Plus with Wi-Fi installed in an estimated 50,000,000 homes in the US, Smart Wi-Fi has a HUGE head start when it comes to installed base.

T-Mobile Launches Motorola Cliq 2 with Wi-Fi Calling

Somehow I manged to squeeze in to the Motorola stand at CES last week.

The stand was jam packed with people there to see the new Motorola tablet, zoom.

But equaly popular were Motorola's lineup of Android phones, including the Cliq2.

The phone I found shows T-Mobile's Wi-Fi Calling app pre-loaded on the desktop.

Great news for T-Mobile and Wi-Fi Calling enthusiasts.

Guest Blogger: Jeff Brown, Kineto Wireless

Thankful

During a long Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, I had time to reflect on Kineto's opportunity. I spent the previous three weeks in Europe and Asia visiting mobile operators of all shapes and sizes, and I realize Kineto has a lot to be thankful for.

To begin with, everywhere I went smartphones dominated the discussion. Product plans for 2011 were heavily weighted to smartphones, with feature phones quickly playing a marginalized role. Smartphones for the high-end; the mid-tier; even entry level; plus post and pre-paid…it seemed like everyone wanted to talk smartphones.

Of the platforms, Android continues to have an outsized share. I often refer to a Gartner report from November 2010 which shows Android growing from 3% to 25% of the total smartphone market share in just one year. This is staggering growth, made even more impressive because the overall market doubled in the same timeframe.

And finally, mobile operators have fully embraced Wi-Fi. It seemed that any discussion about smartphones and/or Android included Wi-Fi. It isn't a question of whether Wi-Fi technology will play a role in the mobile internet, it's just a question of how big the role will be.

With this foundation, Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi products are being embraced with open arms. Smart Wi-Fi takes the benefits of Wi-Fi to the next level, enabling operators to deliver improved coverage to their subscribers -- something that isn't available with basic Wi-Fi.

Kineto's Smart Wi-Fi Application is now available on 10 different handsets from operators in North America and Europe. Smart Wi-Fi is the right product at the right time, and Kineto has plenty to be thankful for.

Battery Life - Keeps getting better

Engadget editor Chris Ziegler recently reviewed Motorola's new Defy.  In case you forgot, this is Motorola's new 'party phone', water resistant, scratch-proof screen, something about rolling around in the sand (watch the commercial...).  This is also the Oprah phone... the phone given to the audience members of Oprah's first show of her last season.

But I don't want to talk about all that.  The Defy comes with Wi-Fi Calling.  Some industry commentators continue to propagate the rumor that excessive Wi-Fi use drains a smartphone's battery.  That may be the case, unless that phone has Smart Wi-Fi technology.

In Chris' review, he actually credits Wi-Fi, and Wi-Fi Calling (aka Smart Wi-Fi), as the reason why the battery performance was "stellar."

"In our experience, the Defy seems to have stellar battery life, which is relatively hard to come by among Android phones. Not only we were able to consistently make it comfortably through an entire day on a charge, but we were surprised to find that after putting the phone away with about 75 percent charge, it was still on with 21 percent remaining two days later. Granted, it spent most of that time in WiFi calling range (which disables the cellular radio), but many smartphones give up the ghost from 100 percent charge in less time, so we were pleased to see that." 

Smart Wi-Fi... actually making Wi-Fi on Smartphones 'smarter'.

Orange UK launches LG Optimus with Signal Booster

Yesterday the LG Optimus appeared on the Orange UK website.  It's the first Android phone which supports Orange UK's "Signal Boost" feature which is based on UMA Technonology.

At press time, the phone was listed as having a talk time of 29.1 days... I'm sure that's supposed to be standby time, and I'm pretty sure it's not 29 days... but hey - there's no doubt that UMA powerful stuff.

The LG Optimus was released at T-Mobile US a couple weeks ago with the same UMA technology, albeit under the commercial name Wi-Fi Calling.

The Optimus is part of a new category of low-cost Android-powered smartphones.  The phone is free with a two year commitment at both Orange and T-Mobile.

Wi-Fi Calling Comes to T-Mobile Android

Today's the day...T-Mobile is now selling four phones with Wi-Fi Calling. Finally.

With today's big push is around '4G', it turns out that T-Mobile's two flagship 4G phones both support Wi-Fi Calling.

The MyTouch 4G comes with Wi-Fi Calling pre-loaded on the handset.

The G2, the other phone in the '4G' launch, gets Wi-Fi Calling added as an 'over the air' update occuring over the next week.

In addition, two of T-Mobile's entry level Android phones are available with Wi-Fi Calling.

The LG Optimus (free with 2 year contract) and the Motorola Defy ($99 with 2 year contract) are both available with Wi-Fi Calling.

Today's the day - taking Wi-Fi and Android to the next level.