Northstream - Strategy and Sourcing

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LTE and the 1800 Mhz opportunity

This Northstream white paper examines the take-up and status of LTE two years after the first commercial launch and analyses the key aspects that will determine its future success.

It is widely recognised that mobile data usage growth, whether on smartphones, laptops or tablets, will continue. In such a market situation, there are a number of challenges for the main stakeholders to cope with, operators, equipment suppliers and regulators alike. Mobile networks will need to accommodate significantly different volumes and types of traffic than today, adopt continuously evolving technologies and make more flexible use of the scarce resource of radio spectrum.

Previous Northstream white papers have discussed the generic opportunities and challenges LTE technology brings to operators and how to adopt a suitable migration strategy. Two of the major concerns have been how and when voice services could be offered and the availability of ample device portfolios. Voice over LTE will indeed happen soon, and could bring a boost to operators’ dwindling voice business, but that is a topic for another white paper. In this paper we instead put our focus on analysing the critical availability of suitable and plentiful LTE spectrum and how that can enable, or inversely prohibit, a continued strong growth of mobile communication.
23 Mar 2012 | Northstream | 4G
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Upgrading the sourcing function to a strategy facilitator

The fast paced change in telecoms requires sourcing to be at the intersection of strategy and execution.

In telecoms, Sourcing as a process and organizational role is often highly focused on price of equipment and services. Habitually, success is measured by the obtained price per unit or system. In light of this, the sourcing process tends to be designed to primarily be an instrument to achieve such price/cost targets. For certain commodities such approach is adequate and in some cases even to prefer, but for much of the core assets of a telco operator it does not serve very well. At all.
31 Mar 2011 | Northstream
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LTE - The bigger picture

Is LTE delivering on its promises? With data speeds of 80 Mbit/s and above, LTE is much awaited by the industry. As the first commercial services are launched in Stockholm and Oslo there are user and operator experiences to assess. Meanwhile, operators ponder how and when LTE fits into their roadmap. Northstream provides an update about LTE from operator and end user perspectives, highlights priorities for mobile broadband build-out and outlines how we see LTE as part of a strategic context.
14 Jun 2010 | Northstream
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The revenue opportunity for mobile connected devices in saturated markets

At the end of 2009 there were approximately 4.6 billion mobile subscriptions in the world, of which the vast majority were mobile phones and mobile broadband modems. With current growth rates there will be more mobile subscriptions than people on earth well before the end of the decade. The rise of various mobile connected devices (other than phones and broadband modems) can boost the total numbers by a ten-fold if the industry finds a way to harness the potential.
12 Feb 2010 | Northstream
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Smartphones 2010: Time for Operators to Take an End-to- End View

Smartphones have developed into one of the most lucrative segments of the mobile industry. Shipments have increased dramatically, and so has the number of vendors, OS and applications. Operators can benefit from this development, but also need to understand the risks. Northstream recommends operators addressing the potential of smartphones in an end-to-end approach, embracing four key operator assets: Network capabilities, user data management, service & tariff strategy, and device portfolio.
12 Feb 2010 | Northstream
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