Virtua Team Talk

An area where Virtua has been leading the industry is the deployment of ‘femtocells’.

Essentially a femtocell is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business, that connects to the service provider’s network via broadband (such as DSL or cable). A femtocell allows service providers to extend service coverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable.

For a mobile operator, the attractions of a femtocell are improvements to both coverage and capacity. Consumers benefit from improved coverage, potentially better voice quality, better battery life and, depending on the carrier, they may also be offered more attractive tariffs.

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We have all been there. That awful moment when we need to make an important phone call or send a critical email and then we suddenly find our battery-life has run out and our device needs urgent re-charging. Because of the power-hungry nature of nearly all today’s portable devices whether tablets, laptops or smart phones, we are often left staring in desperation at a rapidly diminishing battery-life indicator in annoyance and frustration.

The good news, though, is that getting caught short with a dwindling power supply may soon be a thing of the past thanks to the efforts of researchers at Illinois’ Northwestern University.

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Another new year is here and the big smartphone players are already jostling for position in the ongoing battle for supremacy while the app developers continue to come up with innovative new ideas for us to play with.

2011 was a very good year for Android, Google’s operating system, and it’s market share has been steadily growing. Good news for Google in a way but it still has a long way to go to catch up with Apple. Apple still leads Android in the apps arena with Apple stores turning out a staggering 18 billion downloads to date. Android still hover around the 10 billion apps mark but they are undoubtedly catching up with 1 billion downloads per month and growing. The war continues!

Is Apple worried? Depends on what angle you choose to look from. In terms of revenues Apple beat Android hands down. Android developers only earn 7% of what Apple developers can demand. Although Google can boast a huge market share in terms of its growing apps portfolio Apple are still leading the field in terms of its earnings. We are talking big money here. Apple’s App store has earned about 5 billion dollars in gross revenue against Android’s 330 million dollars. One of the major reasons for this difference is that Android continues to offer a lot of ‘free’ apps, something Apple is loathe to do. Free apps certainly attract a lot of new business but when it comes to the bottom line Apple like to earn from every single app.

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At the beginning of a new year I always think it is a good time to reflect on the achievements and frustrations of the previous year and more importantly to look ahead at what 2012 might bring.

It’s also interesting to also look at what the so-called ‘experts’ think 2012 holds in store for us in terms of the technology that drives business and the likely direction it will take over the next twelve months.

I don’t necessarily believe in ‘predictions’ but there’s no harm in listening to what some media commentators think. So here’s what the experts think is 2012 will bring…

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One of the most interesting activities we have been working on over the last couple of years is “Network Testing”.  Essentially it means having engineers driving or walking and monitoring existing network coverage levels for the mobile operators.  It is a vital service because the ability to measure what a wireless network subscriber experiences in any specific area, allows the MNO’s to make direct changes to the network, providing better coverage and service to their customers. The MNO’s also have large corporate clients who like to ensure they have good coverage and capacity at their offices/facilities.  This means we then walk around these buildings which can range from small offices to large sports stadiums and busy train stations. We undertake the testing either in heavily customised vehicles or on foot carrying the necessary equipment.  The customisation of the vehicles is quite complex – outside it’s a Ford Focus… inside it’s a network of test phones, computers and highly modified, ultra sensitive equipment.  Above all, it ensures our drivers concentrate on the road whilst the engineers concentrate on the results.

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All employers want dedicated and loyal employees and sometimes employee loyalty to an organisation can reveal much more about the organisation than a host of financial statements ever could.

But employees who ‘stay put’ should not be confused with those who ‘stay loyal’, according to a new comprehensive study of worker attitudes. “Walker Information”, a research company specializing in loyalty and satisfaction measurements recently released a workplace loyalty report and the study distinguishes the “truly loyal” employees from those who stick around only until a better job comes along.

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As more and more people start to use their mobile phones as hand-held computers the amount of data being moved around is growing exponentially. What many do not realise though, or think about, is the real bottom-line cost of accessing and transmitting data as it becomes more common for people to download big files, like videos for example, onto mobiles.

As a result pressure has been steadily mounting for greater clarity and transparency of the true costs of mobile data. The Communications Ombudsman has already raised his concern about this matter and said that mobile phone operators must do more to help people avoid getting unexpectedly large bills after going online. Similarly, the complaints watchdog has confirmed that the so-called ‘data download bill shock’ is a serious and growing problem.

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An EU directive that sets thirty days as the “standard payment term”, and which labels anything more than sixty days as potentially “grossly unfair”, will take effect in 2012, a year earlier than expected.

The new regulations have been drafted to set thirty days as the standard terms for public and private entities to pay invoices. This can however be extended to sixty days when suppliers have specifically agreed to give customers a grace period to review and acknowledge receipt of goods. In addition small companies can also charge 8% interest on overdue invoices and as well as a levying a £35 fee for costs.

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The recent transition from traditional mobile phones into handheld computers has obviously revolutionised the mobile phone industry but sometimes the ramifications of rapid change are not always anticipated.

Take the issue of patents for example… The patent system was obviously created to encourage innovation and to protect intellectual property but today it seems to be sparking some serious disputes between some of the world’s leading mobile phone companies.

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It seems like that almost every week another innovative use is found for mobile phones but it is always gratifying to find uses that are of social benefit rather than for just entertainment or ‘social media’ purposes.

For example a new mobile messaging scheme has just been trialled which could revolutionise the way the NHS interacts with patients. The technology – known as ‘Florence’ (after Florence Nightingale) – is being prepared for national roll out and has already been commissioned for use in nineteen NHS Care Trusts.

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