Mobile airtime Hosted services Employee benefit schemes Managed print services Video conferencing
www . mobilenewscwp . co . uk @ mobilenewsmag MobileNewsMagazine
40 NEWS 09
SEND YOUR CONVERGENCE NEWS TO samanthat @ mobilenewscwp . co . uk
Ofcom proposes pricing limits for BT wholesale broadband
By Samantha Tomaszczyk
Ofcom has proposed cutting the prices BT can charge providers for wholesale access to its copper broadband network to encourage the company to be more efficient .
The telecoms regulator wants to set ‘ charge controls ’ on some products offered by BT ’ s broadband division Openreach , which would come into effect in April 2014 and run until the end of March 2017 .
Under Ofcom ’ s proposals , the wholesale price for fully unbundled lines ( where service
The number of global VoIP ( voice over internet protocol ) subscribers is set to hit one billion by the end of 2013 , up from 640 million at the end of last year .
This is according to analysis firm Infonetics Research , which also expects the number of VoLTE ( voice over LTE ) subscribers to grow by 145 per cent annually until 2017 .
The firm estimates there will be eight million VoLTE subscribers by the end of 2013 , with three-quarters of those in the Asia-Pacific region .
Combined , Infonetics predicts VoIP and VoLTE services will be worth $ 16 billion (£ 10.5 billion ) by 2017 .
It said that as VoIP is
Microsoft has announced a partnership with network providers and hardware manufacturers including Cisco , Hitachi , HP and Dell which will see them spend more than $ 100 million (£ 66 million ) on encouraging cloud adoption .
‘ Cloud OS Accelerate ’, launched at Microsoft ’ s Worldwide Partner Conference ( WPC ) on July 8 , will subsidise the deployment of Microsoft ’ s private and hybrid cloud solutions , to reduce costs for customers .
The programme , which will
Ofcom hopes planned ‘ charge controls ’ will promote competition
‘ Billion VoIP users by end of year ’
hard to monetise as a standalone service , most providers are turning to advertising , third-party applications and wholesale arrangements with operators for profits .
Skype ( owned by Microsoft ) held 40 per cent of the VoIP market in 2012 .
Infonetics principal analyst for VoIP , UC and IMS ( instant messaging services ) Diane Myers said : “ While Skype dominates the over-the-top mobile VoIP space , the market is seeing other applications such as Fring , KakaoTalk , Line , Nimbuzz , WeChat and Viber gain in strength .
“ But the fact remains most OTT [ over the top ] and VoIP providers
run until July 2014 , also includes incentives for buying products such as Hitachi ’ s unified computer platform ( UCP ) for Microsoft ’ s private cloud .
Microsoft is also launching a ‘ Windows Intune ’ incentive on September 1 , which will offer customers purchasing cloud solutions a 30 per cent discount .
President of server and tools business Satya Nadella said : “ The technology to help our partners realise the opportunities in cloud computing and big data is here and the time to collectively help are making very little money per user . In 2012 , the average revenue per user was a meagre $ 7.13 [£ 4.67 ] annually . Since this alone is an unsustainable business model , most providers are turning to advertising , third-party apps and wholesale arrangements with traditional operators .”
Principal analyst for mobile infrastructure and carrier economics Stéphane Téral said : “ On the VoLTE front , the success of SK Telecom ’ s VoLTE adoption – 3.6 million subscribers in April 2013 – has lifted our forecast : we now expect 12 commercial VoLTE networks and eight million VoLTE subscribers by year-end , with about three-quarters of those in Asia-Pacific .”
Microsoft to put £ 66m into cloud
our customers embrace these mega trends is now .
“ Together , Microsoft and our partners helped customers successfully navigate the client-server and enterprise IT technology transformations . We ’ re committed to doing that again for enterprise cloud .”
Microsoft also previewed several new technologies including ‘ Power BI ’ ( business intelligence ) for Office 365 , a cloud-based solution that allows users to view data on Excel from various mobile devices . providers install their own equipment on BT ’ s network and take complete control of the line ), currently £ 84.26 per year , would fall by up to six per cent annually .
The wholesale price of shared unbundled lines ( where BT continues to provide basic voice connection ), which is now £ 9.75 per year , would fall by between eight per cent and 12 per cent annually .
Wholesale line rental , priced at £ 93.27 per year , would fall by between two per cent and eight per cent annually .
Ofcom said the new prices
UC provider ShoreTel has launched Mobility 7 , software which allows users to turn their mobile devices into desk phones when used with the company ’ s docking station .
Mobility 7 features a ‘ Today ’ screen which integrates with the native calendar on Android and iOS devices .
It automatically displays conference calls on the mobile user ’ s calendar and allows for single-click access to web and audio conferences . It also enables users to switch to view presentations with a single click .
It is available on
Unified comms provider Maintel has been awarded a certificate for its high security standards with regards to the handling of customer information .
The ISO27001 Standard , which covers electronic , physical and building security , ensures Manchester-based Maintel protects the data and information of its customers , a significant portion of which are in the public sector .
Maintel chief operating officer are “ designed to provide incentives to invest in networks while also ensuring broadband and landline prices are affordable for consumers ”.
It is hoped the lowering of BT ’ s charges will encourage the company to make “ efficiency gains ”, the regulator said .
Earlier this month Ofcom also published a consultation into wholesale broadband access , which could see it impose a charge control on the 10 per cent of the UK where there isn ’ t much competition between service providers .
ShoreTel unveils ‘ desk phone mobile ’ software
more than 50 devices running on the iOS , Android and BlackBerry operating systems . The docking station offers high-quality audio and charges the device .
ShoreTel senior VP for worldwide sales David Petts said : “ Our latest release means customers can integrate leading smartphones and tablets securely , simply and cost-effectively into existing enterprise communication applications and infrastructure to provide greater flexibility and increased productivity .”
Maintel recognised for customer data security
Kevin Stevens said : “ ISO27001 is about how you handle any piece of information in the business , whether it is written , faxed , electronic , spoken , emailed or written on a scrap of paper .
“ It ’ s about how you manage , secure and identify that information , categorise it and deal with security breaches . The achievement of this standard gives Maintel ’ s customers real confidence that their information is secure .”
Mobile airtime Hosted services Employee benefit schemes Managed print services Video conferencing
ExPand your businEss
Become a Conect Partner
To become a Conect Partner go to conect . micro-p . com / becomeapartner
or call us today on 03712 310534
MN 2013-0730 Unified Comms . indd 9 24 / 07 / 2013 17:05