Mobile World Congress 2010

Current Analysis again provided coverage of the GSMA Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. The world's biggest mobile-focused trade show pulls in thousands of visitors and exhibitors marketing their offerings and, more importantly, their vision of the market.

To sort through these potentially conflicting messages - and determine their impact on the near-term competitive landscape - Current Analysis had a full complement of analysts on-site covering the entire wireless value-chain: mobile infrastructure, mobile services, mobile devices, enterprise mobility.

Links to highlights from Show Update reports, and complimentary Advisory Reports, appear below. Clients with subscriptions to the respective modules can read the full report by clicking the Client Access links.

Analyst Show Flashes
►	Vodafone Joins the Verizon Wireless/Qualcomm nPhase M2M Alliance Enterprise Mobility - Vodafone joins the nPhase JV, providing it with a unique U.S./global connectivity story for M2M; this solves a key problem that has been an obstacle to growth of M2M for many MNCs and gives it a competitive boost.
►	Verizon Wireless Looks to Lock High Use Skypers and Drive Data Revenue Wireless Services - U.S. - Verizon Wireless looks to differentiate with an exclusive Skype Mobile application. As such it draws in high-use Skypers but the carrier also benefits in data revenue uplift from the conditional data plans on select smartphones.
►	Motorola's Service Optimization Service Hits on a Key Theme, but Lacks Core Component for Full Optimization Telecom Infrastructure Services - Motorola has debuted its Service Quality Optimization service at Mobile World Congress in order to help operators better the end-user experience.
►	Telefonica Thinks Outside the Box with 3Gbox Cloud Storage Concept Consumer Services Europe - Operators are thinking hard about positioning themselves as cloud-based data managers for mobile broadband customers. The 3GBox project offers Telefonica’s take on this opportunity.
►	Ericsson Highlights Rising IPTV Competitive Threat with Telekom Austria Replacement Digital Media Infrastructure - Ericsson’s Telekom Austria IPTV win is a challenge to the entire industry, not just Alcatel-Lucent. It demonstrates the importance of linking network and service convergence to win emerging multi-platform/screen opportunities with operators.
►	T-Mobile Talks Up Free LBS, but Premium GPS Navigation Consumer Services Europe - The arrival of ‘free navigation’ from Google and Nokia has challenged mobile operators to underline the value of their own navigation services. T-Mobile sets out a hybrid response, with free ‘Local’ and a subscription GPS alternative.
►	RIM Lures the Elusive SMB with Free BES Express Enterprise Mobility - RIM is offering stripped-down BES to SMBs and individual-liable employees for free, a radical move that may work brilliantly to increase the uptake of BlackBerrys in these key market segments.
►	Microsoft Regains Relevance in Smartphones with Windows Phone 7 Mobile Devices - Microsoft had three challenges: bring the Windows Mobile UI up to par, differentiate using its unique assets, and re-engage developers. With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has accomplished the first two and put itself in position to hit the third.
►	Operators Please Developers with Wholesale Applications Community Consumer Services Europe - Split, back together again – will service providers ever decide on a course of action for mobile applications? The new Wholesale Applications Community sounds like the right step, but needs to be more than brochure-ware.
►	Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Adds Key Enhancements for the Consumer, But Not Much is New for the Enterprise Enterprise Mobility - Microsoft regains relevance with Windows Phone 7 by bringing the WM UI up to par, and leveraging its unique assets. However, the majority of improvements are more important to consumers/prosumers than for the hard-core enterprise customer.
►	Orange HD Voice Represents a Longer-term USP with Short-term Question Marks Consumer Services Europe - HD voice penetration will take time and money for Orange to effect; it requires a critical mass of subscribers before end users will experience the benefit.
►	Texas Instruments Takes Connectivity Integration to Another Level Mobile Device Silicon - TI unveiled its WiLink 7.0 quad-radio, single-chip solution on the eve of Mobile World Congress. The solution gives TI a bona fide product differentiator against rivals and solid claim to producing the first chip of this nature in the industry.
►	Garmin-Asus Launches New GPS Phones to Navigate Tougher Competition Mobile Devices - Garmin-Asus is finally making good on its promise to put its navigation application on popular smartphone platforms. Unfortunately, competitors are now offering turn-by-turn navigation for free, hurting the nüvifone value proposition.
►	CEVA Readies Libraries and Partners for LTE, 4G and WiMAX Pushes Mobile Device Silicon - EVA unveils its new LTE software library aimed at 4G modem applications and a new partner program to address LTE, WiMAX and SDR wireless technology development, but still must prove it can move the market needle in these new areas.
►	Cisco Confirms Commitment to SP Mobility with Starent Rebrand and New Analytics Wireless Infrastructure - Starent’s ST40 is now the Cisco ASR5000. Beyond the new name and new traffic analytics tools, the move makes an important point: Cisco is committed to the service provider mobility space and “ASR” has evolved into a brand extending beyond routers.

Complimentary Advisory Reports
►	2010: The Rebound Year for Mobile Device Semiconductors and Increased Competitive Intensity Mobile Device Silicon - 2010 promises a year of robust rebound in the overall mobile device silicon market, as the global economy improves and demand for mobile devices from smartphones to entry phones continues to burgeon, thus intensifying competition and challenges.
►	Offload: The Sleeper Theme of Mobile World Congress 2010 Wireless Infrastructure - Femtocells, WiFi and EPC may seem to be disparate technology topics. Bringing them together is their role in supporting mobile operator profits thanks to traffic offload – making the broader offload topic an important theme at this year’s MWC.
►	LTE – The Market & Its Requirements Wireless Infrastructure - LTE was big news this year. It will continue to be big news next year. Closing out 2009, it’s important to ask where the market stands, what has been accomplished to date and what operators will want to look for in solutions going forward.
►	The Emergence of Qualitative Mobile Broadband FUPs: A Transparency Problem in the Making Consumer Services Europe - Traffic prioritisation, application bans and a set of new definitions of ‘fair usage’ are creeping into MBB marketing speak. Is the fat pipe attempting to be too smart for end-user tastes?