Getting Mobile Indoors May Spur Network Sharing
Many countries in the developed world boast up to five mobile network operators. Each may have two complementary networks, one based on 2G technology, the other based on 3G. The fixed cost of licensing and building each network can be tens of billions of dollars56.
The operational costs are significant. Since the turn of the decade, mobile operators have undertaken numerous upgrades to their network, adding not just 3G but a range of other network enhancements, most recently HSDPA. While the pace of network upgrades has been steady, revenue growth in developed markets has slowed57. At the same time competition has generally intensified, further straining margins58 .
In the last few years, mobile has steadily evolved from an outdoor network into an indoor network. In 2008, 70 percent of mobile voice calls59 and a similar proportion of mobile data usage are expected to originate inside a building60 . During the course of the year, operators are likely to evaluate various ways to attain indoor coverage.
One is using femto cells, which are base stations small enough to dedicate to a home61. However this entails an approach that some operators may consider challenging. Femto cells would most likely be connected to fixed broadband networks, requiring mobile operators to own or have a close alliance with a fixed broadband operator62. There may also be issues relating to call hand-off, interference and backhaul63.
Operators may also consider single handset solutions, known as FMC. This approach is based on a handset that could work with both internal WiFi networks and cellular networks elsewhere. The challenges for FMC in 2008, however, would be the cost of the handset, the need to deploy voice-quality WiFi networks within buildings, and the technical complexity of managing cellular to WiFi handoff64. Concerns over the commercial attractiveness of FMC, from the perspective of customers and suppliers may also cause operators to pause for thought65.
In 2008 the combination of these trends, and the lack of viable alternatives, may cause some operators to contemplate, and in some cases undertake, network sharing as the best way to reduce network-related overheads and boost indoor coverage66. Partial network-sharing activities are already in place in Australia67, the United Kingdom68, Italy69, Spain70, and India71, and other agreements are in the process of being drawn up. The move to network sharing would recognize the growing belief that in 2008 the business model for cellular mobile that has prevailed until now may no longer be viable72 .
While sharing has attractive economic benefits, regulators and customers may worry about its impact on independence, innovation and quality. The experience of the fixed broadband market, where a number of regulators have required the dominant player to open its network, has suggested that the customer experience can suffer, particularly if cooperation between operators is lacking73.
While sharing mobile networks would more typically be on equal terms, with networks of equivalent size being combined, there may still be scope for politics and the practicalities of sharing to affect service quality. As a result, the success or failure of mobile network sharing may depend on the amount of management time and attention it receives.
Bottom Line
The need for improved indoor mobile network coverage is likely to be increasingly important for operators. With an increasing proportion of traffic moving indoors as the process of fixed displacement takes hold74, mobile operators are likely to have to act rapidly.
As with any major strategic decision, the quality of execution is likely to be fundamental to the success. Network sharing can reduce capital expenditure and operating overheads. But it has many pitfalls.
Operators entering into network sharing should table comprehensive agreements that have considered a wide range of eventualities. Operators should consider how best to create shared departments for network strategy and planning to minimize the potential for disagreement. Any agreement should therefore include clear processes for dispute resolution.
Operators should also consider longer term strategic issues, such as investment in emerging or as yet unknown technologies. Each operator may have a different view as to the viability, timing, source and coverage requirements for each. They should manage and monitor network sharing arrangements at the highest level possible.
Lobbying regulators is likely to be important. Operators should be able to demonstrate that network sharing will directly benefit the customer, in terms of total network coverage and also quality of service.
Regulators should take network sharing requests seriously. While the strategy is a break with the past, it may prove an essential evolution for the mobile industry.
Operators should also consider partial network sharing, initially in limited geographic areas or for individual services such as WiFi hotspots. The experience of partial sharing could provide the basis for more fundamental network sharing.
Gray Is Good: The Return On Investment From Making Telecommunications Accessible To All
Three years ago, there were already more people over 50 than under 20 in North America. In Europe, it is forecast that by 2010, those over 60 will outnumber the under-20s. And by 2020, there will be 75 percent more over-50s in North America and Europe than those under 2075.
Many readers will be familiar with these trends. But knowledge of where personal wealth is concentrated often appears to be overlooked: the over-45s already hold a far greater share of the wealth of the world's most developed nations than the under-45s76.
Yet, despite this, the telecommunications industry can appear too focused on serving the youth market. In 2008, this oversight is likely to continue, even though this may be damaging to the sector's bottom line.
At many telecommunications industry conferences, almost every panel seems to highlight one common line of thought: look at what the young are doing and serve their needs. This discussion may well continue through 2008. Go to a store specializing in telecommunications products and services, from mobile phones to broadband, and the emphasis again appears to be on serving 'twentysomethings'.
This can result in products and services that while looking good may be daunting to use for the cash rich, but visually challenged over- 45s77, due to their small font sizes. Indeed tiny buttons and minuscule fonts may make some devices unusable for some people, perhaps unnecessarily restricting the product's target market.
The focus on younger customers can also cause the industry to design only for those who have grown up with technology. Yet anyone born before the 1970s is unlikely to have learned about technology in high school, while anyone born before the 1980s may have learned only a token amount of IT. Creating products and services that do not take into account older age groups' lack of familiarity with technology could restrict, unnecessarily, their available market.
Online content – a key reason for using the Internet – also appears skewed to a younger audience. Social networks, for example, appear designed for the young. But given the underlying need that social networks are addressing – communication with peers – they are as relevant for 50-year-olds as for 15-year-olds. The few cases of social networks aimed at older age groups appear to have been a success78.
There are around 500 million disabled people around the world, many of whom appear to have been poorly served by the telecommunications sector79. Given that some products and services designed to be accessible to the disabled have become mass market successes, the potential of this market may have been overlooked. For example, a large-button phone, specifically commissioned by UK telecommunications operator BT, with a remit to be accessible to partially-sighted people, became one of the best selling fixed-line phones ever sold in the United Kingdom80. The cassette tape was originally designed for the visually impaired as a more accessible alternative to the incumbent reel-to-reel tape. At the time of its introduction, the cassette tape was not expected to have mass market appeal as its audio quality was inferior to the reel-to-reel. Yet the success of the cassette tape and reel-to-reel's demise showed that the public generally places more emphasis on ease of use than on quality.
Bottom Line
The telecommunications sector should increase its focus on developing accessible products and services. This could address corporate social responsibility objectives and also please financial stakeholders.
In developed economies, many telecommunications companies face growth challenges. Fixed broadband operators in several key markets are experiencing slowing broadband growth81. At the same time, while mobile operators in many developed countries have nominal penetration rates of over 100 percent, some individuals have multiple subscriptions, but up to 20 percent of the population have none82.
Operators, as well as the equipment manufacturers that co-serve these markets, should understand why a significant proportion of the population is not yet connected. It appears that price is not the only factor83.
Ease of use may be a stronger factor. In this regard, the telecommunications sector could learn some lessons from related markets. For example, device manufacturers could learn from some of the usability challenges encountered in the design of microwave ovens. One study found that people over 65 were more likely to use microwaves if they had rotary or slide controls rather than touch controls. Display panels were confusing and visual acuity diminishes with age84.
Doing away with buttons and sliders altogether may also be an increasingly viable option. Mobile phones that use accelerometers and tilt sensors to respond to movement as an input medium are becoming more widely available85, and other control mechanisms such as speech recognition and eye scanning can be increasingly robust and reliable.
Accessibility should be included at the design stage as retrospective adaptation may be too difficult to undertake. Making products easy to use may enable more than just a tick in the box for corporate social responsibility, it may also be good news for shareholders.
Prey Becomes Predator: The Rising Power Of Emerging Market Mobile Operators
While the credit crunch may dampen the pace of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in 200886, the will to grow via acquisitions is likely to remain strong in the mobile telecommunications sector.
During 2007, there were several instances of long-established operators purchasing stakes in operators in emerging markets. A key motivator for such acquisitions was to tap into growth. In developed countries, telecommunications is now often regarded as close to saturation point. For example, the nominal mobile penetration rate in a growing number of countries now exceeds 100 percent.
In 2007, over 70 percent of new mobile subscribers were expected to come from developing countries87. In 2008, new mobile subscribers in emerging markets may number almost one-third of a billion, more than all the mobile subscribers accumulated in North America during the 1990s88. More than a billion new mobile subscribers are forecast to be added in developing countries between 2008 and 201089.
Revenue per mobile customer in developing economies is considerably less than in developed nations, at about a quarter of the level. But EBITDA margins are consistently higher. Mobile operators can earn EBITDA margins in excess of 50 percent, despite monthly ARPU being under $10. At the end of 2007, the 10 mobile operators with the best EBITDA margins were all in emerging markets. In developed countries, average margins are closer to 35 percent, despite monthly ARPU of almost $4590.
In 2008, acquiring or owning operators in emerging countries may provide more benefits than just revenues and margins. It may also help western operators learn important lessons relating to cost optimization. Operators in developing markets have, in some cases, already been obliged to build lean business models based on a few dollars of monthly ARPU. Some of the approaches used to minimize cost may become increasingly relevant to western operators in 2008.
However while established mobile operators in the developed world may be looking for acquisitions in emerging markets during 2008, the tables may increasingly be turned. Following a trickle of acquisitions by emerging market operators in 2007, players in these regions may become increasingly active predators, using their imposing market capitalizations, and in some cases cash piles, to acquire developed world operators.
A growing number of developing world mobile pure-play operators already have a market capitalization over $20 billion91. At the end of 2007, one had already exceeded the $100 billion mark, and one was worth over $350 billion, making it the largest mobile operator in the world92.
Bottom Line
Cellular mobile operations in emerging markets look set for high growth in 200893 and operators in developed countries should therefore move quickly if they wish to compete in these markets.
As time progresses the premium on any given target is likely to continue to rise94, as interest from operators around the world grows95. Additionally, while on paper acquisition targets are plentiful, the number of opportunities may be reduced by the local legal, regulatory, financial and political systems, which could hold back or even block acquisitions96.
Emerging market operators may be best advised to focus most of their attention on other emerging markets, rather than make a play in the developed world. Acquisitions in developed world economies may not create substantial value, at least until emerging market multiples exceed those of western operators. Given that the real growth opportunity lies in the emerging world, operators may achieve better results by focusing closer to home. However, selective acquisition of developed country operators may help emerging market operators to satisfy the debt markets that they are de-risking their portfolio of assets. Additionally, access to western debt markets via an acquisition could help emerging market operators lower their average cost of debt.
Both developed and developing world operators should take the opportunity to learn from one another. Western operators could, for example, learn from African and Asian operators' successful use of mobile phones for making payments and sending remittances97. And emerging market operators could learn how to avoid some of the issues that have plagued western operators as mobile markets have matured. Both, of course, should recognize that mobile's context in a developing country may be quite different compared with a developed market. Simple transplantation of products or services from the developed to the developing world, or vice versa, is not guaranteed to succeed.
Any operator with a presence in emerging markets should benchmark taxation levels for handsets and services against those of other countries. In developing economies, taxes on mobile services can be higher than for fixed. Mobile-specific taxes are levied in many countries: on average, taxes account for almost one-quarter of the cost of a handset, and these and other issues serve to suppress subscription growth98. Yet research suggests a link between increased mobile penetration and GDP growth, which in turn leads to growth in government receipts99. Addressing this situation will not only help operators to grow, but will likely also help to bring mobile communications to many of the people who need them most.
Questioning The Need For Speed
Speed is glamorous. But speed alone does not always coincide with commercial logic or market demand. The fastest car in the world100, the fastest ever commercial airliner101 and the most rapid commercial train service may never, when considered as standalone businesses, break even.
Speed also remains highly enticing for the telecommunications sector. In 2008, it is likely that many a trade fair and conference will have stands and sessions devoted to the wireline and wireless sectors' quests for speed. National and regional governments may also implore their telecommunications sectors to provide faster connectivity; warning that otherwise competing nations may surge ahead102. Equipment manufacturers are likely to launch, and continue research and investment into, products that can yield ever-higher speeds.
In the wireline sector, the current speed to beat is 100 Mbit/s103. In the wireless sector, the latest technology attains over 7 Mbit/s104, itself faster than many of the wireline broadband speeds available.
The maximum available broadband speeds for fixed and mobile networks are likely to be, in 2008, far ahead of what was available 10 years ago. In 1998, dial-up dominated wireline Internet access, and offered 56 Kbit/s at best. As for cellular mobile, 9.8 Kbit/s was the most commonly offered speed.
The rapid adoption of fixed broadband appears to have demonstrated that there exists significant demand among at least 330 million households for applications and services that require more speed105. Extrapolating from this, it could be argued that while it may not be known today which commercially viable services will drive demand for 100 Mbit/s service, in 10 years' time, it may be questioned why the need for such speed was ever in doubt.
However take-up for mobile broadband appears to have been far slower. The bulk of revenues in the mobile sector, even in the most advanced countries, come from voice and data services supported by 2G networks. In 2008, while there are likely to be a range of networks and phones offering 7 Mbit/s, many of these may look little different from the voice-centered GSM phones available at the end of 2007. This would suggest that such phones, while supporting high speeds, may only occasionally be used for fast Internet connections.
But in 2008, with the shadow of the credit crunch possibly affecting investment decisions, there may also be a growing group of individuals who question the consumer need for faster speeds and the tens of billions of investment dollars this may entail.
Bottom Line
The debate over how fast is fast enough in the telecommunications sector is likely to be as vigorous in 2008 as ever. But concerns over the cost of financing may cause telecommunications companies and their shareholders to question far more aggressively the business case for speed.
Telecommunications companies should be careful not to prioritize the quest for attaining the limits of what is technically possible over the need for profitability. Technology allows networks to stream multiple high-definition television channels via a telephone line, but in some countries this may not be necessary, given the existence of mature alternative infrastructures, such as digital satellite transmission.
Technology also allows the deployment of tiny cellular base stations, femto cells, to be installed in every house. The femto cell allows mobile subscribers to have a full 3G-type experience indoors, including access to mobile television and high-speed music downloads. But many households may already be content with music downloads via the fixed Internet and regular television service delivered to a large screen. Therefore the industry may be addressing needs that few consumers have.
The need for speed may always remain greatest in the wireline sector, where the functionality and physical size of the PC make applications, such as video streaming and other bandwidthhungry services, practical. It remains to be seen whether mobile phones will ever need more than a modest amount of bandwidth, given their small screen and portability. And as with high-speed sports cars and other luxuries, should the economy shows signs of faltering, consumers may cut back their spending on both. At speed.
GSM Comes Of Age: Adulthood Brings Challenges And Rewards
On 7 September 2008, GSM comes of age.
On that particular day, the 21st anniversary of the launch of GSM, more than 700 GSM networks in more than 200 countries are expected to carry more than 16 billion minutes of calls and six billion text messages106. GSM's global subscriber base is forecast to have grown by 1.2 million107. More than six million GSM handsets are estimated to have been manufactured. The mobile technology is forecast to have generated $3 billion108, or 1.36 percent of the world's daily GDP, which in turn should have yielded half a billion dollars in tax receipts for governments109.
GSM's multiplier impact has also been substantial. Research has suggested that in the developing world, every 10 percent increase in mobile penetration results in a 1.2 percent increase in GDP110. Also, it is estimated that almost three million jobs are dependent on the mobile industry in Europe alone111. More than 20 of the companies in the Fortune Global 500 are either operators or manufacturers of GSM technology112.
GSM's success has been achieved despite facing a number of significant challenges. It has outcompeted other digital cellular technologies, and by the beginning of 2008, was expected to have 85 percent of the market share113. GSM's size affords it economies of scale that help it fend off challenges from other technologies, from satellite mobile services to Wireless LAN.
It has largely absorbed the disruption of the 3G licensing process, which saw some operators investing tens of billions of dollars. And most significantly, it has coped admirably with its own success, with the GSM platform proving highly scalable for growth.
Now in its 21st year, GSM does appear to have been a resounding success story114. But as it comes of age, its outlook is expected to remain as challenging – and as rewarding – as ever.
While the aggregate GSM subscriber base is growing, churn is a significant factor for many operators. On the single day of 7 September 2008, some operators may lose a third of a percent of their customer base to churn115. Over the course of a year, operators with this level of churn could lose their entire subscriber base. The cost of attracting new customers represents a considerable drain on operators' finances, and in some cases, an unnecessary one, as having a large number of customers may be uneconomical. Research has found that 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of revenues116.
GSM also faces a challenge over its future direction. The first generation of GSM technology has established itself as the workhorse for mobile operators around the world and remains a powerful cash generator. The question of where next for GSM may well remain unanswered in 2008. Some commentators have argued that 3G networks, based on the W-CDMA standard, are still not paying their way117. Customer adoption of mobile data services has been slower than hoped and revenue growth from data services has been minimal118. As a result, some operators have slowed down deployment of these networks119.
Other operators have continued to upgrade their networks, deploying faster GSM-based technologies, such as HSDPA and HSUPA. However there is at present little clear evidence of a correlation between the speed of mobile networks and revenue growth120.
Finally, in 2008 GSM is expected to face a number of regulatory issues. Regulators may continue to apply downward pressure on call termination charges, which could dent operators' revenues and profitability. Additionally, regulators' moves to liberalize the market for electromagnetic spectrum could, theoretically at least, give rise to new entrants in the mobile market. While their success is far from guaranteed, their very existence could have an impact on the stock prices of GSM operators.
One of the greatest threats to GSM's success in 2008 and beyond may come from GSM itself. Ever more aggressive price competition between operators may increase churn, implying higher commissions and subscriber acquisition and retention costs.
GSM's success has been achieved despite facing a number of significant challenges.
It has outcompeted other digital cellular technologies, and by the beginning of 2008, was expected to have 85 percent of the market share.
Bottom Line
In 2008, GSM mobile operators should enjoy their historical triumphs but also prepare for the many challenges ahead. They should review strategies for every aspect of their business.
For voice, operators should hedge margin erosion by focusing less on price competition, and more on brand, quality and supplementary services that increase value, such as voice mail, voice-to-text, text-to-voice, multiple lines and others.
Operators should consider GSM technologies within their broader social context. In other words, they should examine the situations, processes and interactions in which GSM technology can be profitably applied, rather than focusing on the number and diversity of services that can be crammed into the mobile device. This approach is likely to be relevant in both the developed and the developing worlds. In the developing world, for example, GSM networks have been adapted to handle electronic commerce in a way that fixed networks simply cannot replicate121 – and to great success. Similarly, GSM technology could find substantial opportunities in the machine-to-machine market, where small packets of data are unlikely to need the higher bandwidth of 3G networks to get to their destination.
The most complex and confounding issues will focus on data, with the biggest challenge for operators being how to encourage customers to use more data. Partnerships may well be key. Mobile operators could, for example, turn to providers of commercially successful content services.
Additionally, operators should reduce the complexity of 3G mobile phones to encourage customer adoption. One in every seven new mobile handsets is returned to the store by a customer, who is convinced it is faulty, even though it is not122. This 'no fault found' phenomenon is indicative of the complexity of newer mobile applications, and the wide-ranging issues that GSM operators will have to address if contemporary technologies are to succeed.
GSM may have been a gifted child, but in adulthood it is likely to need to mature quickly, develop new relationships and skills, and work like never before to stay on top.
Glossary Of Technical Terms
2G Second Generation Mobile Network
3G Third Generation Mobile Network
ARPU Average Revenue Per User
EBITDA Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and
Amortization
FMC Fixed Mobile Convergence
GPS Global Positioning System
GSM General System for Mobile
HSDPA High-Speed Downlink Packet Access
HSUPA High-Speed Uplink Packet Access
IM Instant Messaging
IPTV Internet Protocol Television
IT Information Technology
LAN Local Area Network
PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
TMT Technology, Media & Telecommunications
VoIP Voice-over-Internet Protocol
W-CDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
WiFi Wireless Fidelity
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
Recent Thought Leadership
Convergence Conversations
Digital Dilemmas
The elements of value network appliances – Part 1:
Strategies for building alliance partnerships
Global Trends in Venture Capital 2007 Survey
Growing their own talent – 2007 Global Survey of CEOs
in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500
Treading water – 2007 TMT Global Security
Survey
Value, protect, exploit:
Footnotes
57 Mobile advertising will not dramatically improve industry growth, Total Telecom, 22 October 2007.
58 Vodafone warns of lower margins, CBR Online, 2 April 2007.
59 Mobile services come home to roost, IT Week, 28 June 2007.
60 In-building wireless solutions: stimulating greater mobile usage through better indoor coverage, PRLog.org, 18 May 2007.
61 A femto cell is a mobile cell, designed specifically for in-building deployment. The cell does not, however, form part of the macro mobile network. Instead, it connects to a fixed broadband network for signaling and interconnection.
62 Femto cells – are they materializing? Techworld, 11 July 2007.
63 Ibid.
64 Corporate fixed-mobile networks stuck at first base, Network IT Week, 31 January 2006.
65 Is FMC good for you? Telecommunications Online, 1 November 2007.
66 T-Mobile looks at network sharing plan with 3, Financial Times, 14 September 2007; Telefónica to detail new German investment, Reuters, 3 October 2007; Vodafone rebrands new Indian unit with media blitz, PMC, 19 September 2007.
67 3G mobile network-sharing agreement not opposed, 3G.co.uk, 14 December 2004.
68 Vodafone and Orange to share mobile phone networks, 8 February 2007.
69 Telecom Italia, Vodafone share mobile network access sites, Telecom Paper, 13 November 2007.
70 Will more mobile operators dare to share? Unstrung, 30 May 2007.
71 Ibid.
72 Your television is ringing, The Economist, 12 October 2006.
73 Dotcom's latest broadband consultation: The seven-year switch? HG.org, 6 November 2006.
74 Fixed-mobile substitution in western Europe: causes and effects, Analysis, 31 January 2007.
75 Worldwide, there are over 500 million people over the age of 65 and this is expected to increase to one billion by 2030. Source: http://www.state.gov/g/oes/rls/or/81537.htm
76 In the United Kingdom, for example, it has been estimated that the over-45s hold 80 percent of the nation's wealth. See: http://www.ipsos-mori.com/publications/rmw/grey-power.pdf . In the United States, the over-40s control over half of the nation's income and over twothirds of its financial wealth. See: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/80/realitycheck.html
77 Elderly get to grips with gadgets, The Guardian, 6 September 2007.
78 For more information on a US-based social network aimed at older demographic groups, see: http://www.eons.com/. For more information on a UK-based social network focused on the over-50s, see: http://www2.saga.co.uk/sagazone/ .
79 For editorial on demand on the service, see: Saga launches social network for over-50s, The Guardian, 31 October 2007. http://www.operationeyesight.ca/content/view/2/4/ .
80 Case studies, BT, European Design for all e-Accessibility Network. For more information, see: http://www.education.edean.org/pdf/Case019.pdf
81 Rules of the Road: Internet growth is slowing, so we instinctively seek new ways of growing and new rules to make it happen, PBS, 23 February 2006.
82 Implied penetration is the total number of mobile subscriptions divided by the number of heads of population, in any given country.
83 Interview with Clive Ansell, President, Strategy, Marketing and Propositions, BT Global Services, Digital Dilemmas, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, November 2007.
84 Elderly get to grips with gadgets, The Guardian, 6 September 2007.
85 Body talk could control mobiles, BBC News, 4 April 2005.
86 Corporate executives grow sour on M&A in 2008, Financial Week, 1 November 2007.
87 Global Wireless Matrix, Merrill Lynch, 9 January 2007.
88 Over one billion new mobile customers to be added worldwide in the next three years, Wireless Design and Development Asia, 1 November 2007.
89 Ibid.
90 Global Wireless Matrix, Merrill Lynch, 9 January 2007.
91 The Emergence of Global Industry Titans and Implications for Emerging Market Players, Delta Partners, June 2007. For a copy, visit: http://www.deltapartnersgroup.com/pdf/industry-titans.pdf
92 China Mobile $357 billion. See:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CHL
American Movil $108 billion. See:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AMX MTN Group $36 billion. See:
http//www.marketwatch.com/quotes/?sid=1280667 Website figures
correct on 12 December 2007.
93 Research and Market Report Analyzes the Next Billion Mobile Subscriptions, TMC Net, 22 October 2007.
94 Into Africa (and the Middle East), Telecommunications Online, 27 January 2006.
95 Emerging Markets to Take Centre Stage at Telecom Finance 2008 and Annual Awards Ceremony, TMC Net, 14 November 2007.
96 Into Africa (and the Middle East), Telecommunications Online, 27 January 2006.
97 Mobile phone lifeline for world's poor, BBC News, 19 February 2007.
98 Global Mobile Tax Review 2006-2007, GSM Association/Deloitte, April 2007.
99 Ibid.
100 Bugatti Veyron, Sunday Times, 16 October 2005.
101 Concorde's £50 million farewell boom, Sunday Times, 26 October 2003.*
102 For further discussion on this topic, see: Very High Speed Broadband, Enders Analysis, January 2007.
103 Japanese broadband world's fastest, cheapest, Web Optimization, 7 November 2007.
104 Ahead of CTIA Wireless, HSDPA Throughput hits +7 Mbps, TMC Net, 31 March 2006.
105 Broadband connections to surpass 536 million by 2011, says study, Telecommunications Online, 31 July 2007.
106 Deloitte estimate based on data in: http://www.gsmworld.com/news/press_2007/press07_48.shtml
107 GSM Association, 2007, page 11: http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/gsm_brochure.pdf
108 Global output data from World Economic Outlook, International Monetary Fund, Table A1, Summary of World Output, October 2007.
109 Based on GSM Association/Global Mobile Tax Review – on average GSM services are taxed at 17.4 percent. 17.4 percent of $3 billion is $522,000,000. (Full citation given in end note 110.)
110 Global Mobile Tax Review 2006-2007, GSM Association and Deloitte & Touche LLP (United Kingdom) – for a copy, go to http://www.gsmworld.com/TAX/.
111 Better regulation is key to realizing the full potential of mobile as a driver of growth and jobs in Europe, GSM Assocation, 21 March 2005.
112 For a full list, see: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2007/full_list/index.html
113 20 facts for 20 years of mobile communications, GSM Association, see: http://www.gsmtwenty.com/20facts.pdf
114 A short film about the history and successes of GSM is available at: http://www.gsmtwenty.com/.
115 Average monthly churn among Indonesia's four mobile operators is 8.6 percent, equivalent to 103 percent annual churn. Based on data from Global Wireless Matrix, Merrill Lynch, 9 January 2007.
116 Are the mobile networks backing the wrong horse? The Times, 17 October 2007.
117 Time still needed for 3G to become profitable in Europe, 3G.co.uk, 23 May 2007.
118 The 3G search for higher ARPU, Telecommunications, 1 February 2007.
119 Slow 3G uptake causes Ericsson profit woes, Computing, 25 October 2007.
120 Digital Progress Report: Broadband, Ofcom, 2 April 2007 – see Figure 9.
121 From Matutu to the Masai via mobile, BBC News, 8 January 2007.
122 The price of smartphone complexity, Mobile Marketing Magazine, 27 December 2006. *£50 million was equivalent to $102.5 million as at 11 December 2007 (www.xe.com).
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