Welcome to This Week in Mobile, the only easy to read FREE weekly summary of the top news stories on wireless communications in Australia and New Zealand. This Week in Mobile is updated daily with stories drawn from the popular press, regulatory bodies, vendors and operators. Written and edited by Maurie Dobbin, This Week uses his more than twenty years of experience in the mobile industry to choose the stories of most relevance to our readers.

For those that want to know more, click through hyperlinks are embedded in each story enabling you to view the source information. Note some of these links may require you to subscribe to the publication that provides the source material.

Australia

Watching delayed streaming of footie on your mobile gets legal

3 February 2012

Optus has won the right to broadcast delayed streaming of AFL and NFL football matches via mobile phones. Responses from Telstra and the AFL and NFL codes, indicate that the case will be appealed.

CBD has the best 4G coverage

31 January 2012

Last week, Telstra released the first smartphone for use on its fourth generation mobile network. According to tests by The Australian, the network was able to download speeds of 2-40Mbps, and upload speeds of 1-10Mbps.

Western Australian Government spends millions of dollars to expand mobile coverage

31 January 2012

Government money is behind an expansion of the Telstra network in order to eliminate communication blackspots and will build 113 new mobile sites along the Western Australia State highways over the next three years.

Vodafone and McAfee are now partners

31 January 2012

A mobile security product has been developed by McAfee to protect Vodafone’s Android customers. Customers will be charged a $3 monthly fee if they want to use the service.

RailCorp replaces analog communication system

30 January 2012

250 sites across the NSW rail network and 60 sites in rail tunnels are being upgraded with GSM-R technology on the 1800 MHz band. The work is being done by UGL and Huawei, and will ensure better communication on the rail networks.

Nokia Lumia 800 coming to Australia in March

27 January 2012

Nokia is set to make its mark in the smartphone space with the launch the Nokia Lumia 800, their first handset with Microsoft phone software.

New Zealand

Using SMS to stop the temptation to text and drive

2 February 2012

According to studies, texting while driving is as bad as driving under the influence of alcohol. Vodafone's new and free service, called DriveSafe, automatically replies to any SMS text message you might receive, so you can concentrate on driving.

Samsung Galaxy Note will be launched in New Zealand soon

27 January 2012

The Samsung Galaxy Note will be launched in New Zealand next month. The sale price will be “around $1,099”.

New Zealanders prefer to text rather than make calls

27 January 2012

Looks like mobile phones in New Zealand are significantly more popular for SMS’s, than phone calls among the 14-17 years of age demographic.

What's New

EDX Releases In-Building RF Planning Tool

November 24, 2011– EDX Wireless, today announced the release of EDX® Signal-IQ™, a comprehensive software system for the design of in-building wireless networks, including Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), picocell, femtocell and 802.11 Access Point (AP) deployments. Extending EDX SignalPro family of RF planning solutions, EDX Signal-IQ is a fully integrated standalone indoor RF design tool focused on the unique and evolving needs of in-building design. With support for advanced RF modeling based on EDX’s 25 years of RF experience, Signal-IQ delivers rapid and accurate designs for indoor wireless networks.

EDX Wireless Expands SignalPro Planning Tool

October 4, 2011 – EDX Wireless, a leading provider of RF planning tools, announced the release of EDX® SignalPro® v7.4.2 This maintenance release of SignalPro also contains many new feature and capabilities, all available as an in line upgrade for the entire EDX SignalPro family products. Among many new capabilities, SignalPro V7.4.2 contains many improvements to the overall workflow and usability of the application. New helpful features have been added to streamline complex processes which are now easily accessible with a quick context sensitive menu.

Events

Broadband MEA
25-27 March 2012
The Westin Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina, Dubai UAE

Broadband MEA held from the 25 – 27 March 2012 is the region’s premier broadband event attracting 1,000 decision makers from across The Middle East and Africa. Now in its 4th year, the event is the only place to meet the entire industry under 1 roof.

The 3 day comprehensive programme including the BRAND NEW Rural Broadband Summit brings together 70+ speakers including 40+ operator case studies to address the current issues surrounding broadband. Download the brochure by visiting http://mea.broadbandworldforum.com/conference/download-brochure/

With our most impressive speaker line-up to date, the conference focuses on Fixed Access Evolution, Mobile Broadband Development, Service Implementation and Monetisation, Regulation and Digital Inclusion whilst the free to attend world class exhibition boasts most features than ever before.

For more information or book your place at the event visit www.broadbandworldforum.com/mea

Operators – don’t forget to claim your exclusive 50% discount when purchasing a full conference pass!

4th Mobile Backhaul Asia
27-29 March 2012
Conrad Hotel Bangkok Thailand

Solutions for the mobile capacity crunch.

The 4th Mobile Backhaul Asia will once again bring together Asia’s telecom professionals to discuss the latest technology solutions and business strategies for cost-effectively optimising the backhaul and expanding network capacity. An international line-up of operators, technology providers and analysts will address the key challenges for next generation mobile backhaul and share solutions to deal with the mobile capacity crunch while managing profitability. Click here to view the full programme.

Due to the extensive support of our sponsors, a limited complimentary passes are available for operators. Please email Priscilla Chu at mailto:pchu@beaconevents.com to see if you qualify. If you do not qualify for one of the free passes, you can still enjoy a US$300 discount, by registering before 16 December 2011!

Registering is easy, simply:

EMAIL: mailto:info@BeaconEvents.com stating your request to register for Mobile Backhaul Asia 2012 and state your reference code AT641TRWEB
PHONE: Call our customer service representatives at +852 2219 0111

4G Devices, Smartphone Apps, M2M 2012 World Summit
29 – 30 March 2012
W Seoul Walkerhill, Seoul, Korea

At this unique Summit held for the 1st time in Seoul, telecom regulators, cellcos, smartphone apps developers, cellphone designers, device companies, OEMs, chip vendors, investors and 4G/5G visionaries from Asia, North America, Europe & Middle East, will be discussing the “Next Big Thing” in 4G devices and strategies for the Future.

How do companies get the balance right between focusing on technology while staying relevant to the consumer? As mobile gadgets become more powerful and consumers' expectations rise, both carriers and CE manufacturers are pushed to make better gadgets and improve the consumer experience. What are the shape-shifting future of the Mobile Phone? What are the implications of Creativity and “Madness” in Smartphone Design? What are the innovations in Smartphone Apps?

Not only will you hear the latest insights into these issues but also new market developments on:

• Patent rights & IPR in Smartphone OS & design
• The Apps of Tomorrow as powered by indoor positioning, proximity marketing, navigation, augmented reality
• Optimized Chipset architectures for LTE devices
• Wi-Fi integrated LTE Femtocells
• The new LTE experience, rollouts, QoS, business models : updates by top cellcos from Korea, China, North America, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia
• 4G smart app developments, M2M business models, mobile cloud services in North Asia
• Handsets for new market segments such as low cost smartphones

For more information, please email: mailto:merilynn@magenta-global.com.sg or call +65 6391 2549

4G World Asia 2012
17-19 April 2012
Raffles City Convention Centre Singapore

Covering the entire 4G ecosystem, 4G World Asia presents a world-class conference program that highlights the opportunities ahead with the next-generation of mobile and wireless technologies, business models, networks, services and applications powering the future mobile Internet.

Co-organized by leading analyst / advisory firm Yankee Group and Inspira Events, it is the perfect industry gathering to learn what’s new, meet with clients, collaborate with potential business partners and expand your business reach into Asia’s fast growing markets.

The event is expected to attract over 1,000 attendees and 200+ expert speakers, media partners and sponsors. For more details, please visit http://asia.4gworld.com.

Mobile Payments & NFC World Summit 2012
19-20 April 2012
Eaton Smart Hong Kong

Mobile Payments & NFC World Summit 2012 will draw together highly-regarded speakers representing the mobile network operators, banks, money transfer providers, mobile transfer networks, mWallets, retailers, public transit providers, ‘interoperability hubs’, handset manufacturers, technology and equipment providers to share their latest efforts in launching mobile financial services and the key challenges facing them.

The summit will further provide tips on how to analyse your customers’ behaviours to help you plan your winning strategies to deploy Mobile Payments services. The most exciting session will be the panel discussion represented by all the stakeholders of the ecosystem to discuss Strategic Partnership in providing Innovative and Sustainable Mobile Payments services.

The following Current and Cutting Edge Issues will be addressed in depth with necessary Real World Case Studies:

• Regulatory Issues for Mobile Payments and the Applicable Rules and Regulations
• Collaborating with the Regulatory Authorities
• Future Trends of Mobile Proximity Payments
• Retail Payment Development Updates – Hong Kong Case Study
• New Opportunities and Challenges Facing the Banks in Delivering M-Payments
• For Banks – How to Successfully Align Financial Services with NFC and Mobile Payments Systems?
• Opportunities for Increasing Sales Volume for Merchants/Retailers in Deploying M-Payments
• Public Transit Provider’s Perspectives in Deploying Mobile Payments
• Innovative Mobile Payments Strategies to Capture New Market
  Innovation in mPayments: What’s Hot?
• Additional Revenue Generating Channels through Deployment of M-Payments
• Introducing G2C Initiatives
• Critical Success Factors in Deploying Mobile Payment Services? – From Each
• Stakeholder’s Point of View
• Benefits and Business Case Drivers for Each Stakeholder
• Comparisons – Operator-Centric, Bank-Centric, 3rd Party Centric or Collaboration
• Profitable and Sustainable Business Models
• International Mobile Money Transfer and Remittance Market
• Addressing Issues of Standardization and Interoperability
• Banking the ‘Unbanked’ – How to Capture the Mass Market?
• Strategizing Your Mobile Payments Plan through Analysis of Consumer Behaviour
• Effective & Sustainable Strategies to Encourage Active Consumer’s Usage of Mobile Payments

For more details of the conference, please email: mailto:enquiry@symphonyglobal.com