Predictions

Predictions

Prediction summary for 2012

In 2012, we expect infrastructure vendors to bounce back as the market matures, sub-scale vendors become too financially constrained to continue the price war, and operators start to charge properly for data while also taking a more holistic view onsourcing of systems and services. LTE will help further, but we’ll only see a major breakthrough […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 5, 2011.

Predictions

#1 – LTE uptake

  Lack of carrier grade voice support will prevent the major breakthrough of LTE In spite of the fact that data is the ‘hot topic’ in mobile today, and it’s clearly a driver for LTE deployments, voice is still essential to the mass take-up of a network technology. LTE networks cannot yet support carrier grade […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.

Predictions

#2 – Network infrastructure

Price pressure on mobile network infrastructure will decrease for the first time in seven years For the first time in seven years – since the entrance of the large Chinese equipment vendors – we are seeing the beginnings of an end to excessive price pressures. A number of factors have led to this development, and […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.

Predictions

#3 – Mobile data pricing

Innovative mobile data price plans will reverse the trend of revenue decline In recent years, topline revenue decline has been the trend, largely due to competition for market share in saturated markets. Contributing to this, new VoIP and messaging services from so-called ‘OTT’ service providers are eating into operator revenues. These pressures, combined with the […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.

Predictions

#4 – SIM evolution

SIMs will keep shrinking through 2012, and will eventually disappear into the cloud We are gradually moving away from traditional SIM-based cellular connectivity, towards a soft SIM future. Throughout 2012, we will see continued developments in SIM technology to further reduce size – going from recent micro SIMs to nano SIMs – and to increase […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.

Predictions

#5 – HTML5 and apps

Apps will become OS agnostic, decoupling the OS from the ecosystem Apple and Google’s dominance of the apps market will be threatened by the decoupling of apps from the OS. The change will democratize the apps space. It will erode the current duopoly, reduce barriers to entry and enable far more players to generate revenue […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.

Predictions

Bonus – Customer experience

Northstream believes that operators will need to invest in customer experience in 2012, and those who do will find competitive advantage and reduce churn A recent survey in Sweden indicates there’s a major gap between the mobile users’ expectation levels on general service and their experience of the service delivered. At the same time, most […]
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prediction Predictions

Published December 4, 2011.