News: Sound Partners in the news 

The Economist

Wireless Internet - WhyMAX?
It will be difficult for WiMAX to compete with mobile-phone networks, given that operators have already signed up millions of customers, have strong brands and can upgrade their existing networks to provide roughly the same service, notes Alastair Brydon. And in poor countries, the high initial cost of WiMAX devices compared with mobile phones will make it a hard sell, he says.

Mobile 3G telecoms - Vision meet reality
In America, for example, where large bundles are commonplace, subscribers talk on their phones much longer than in Europe, where call charges are much higher, notes Mark Heath. Since 3G networks offer voice capacity at a quarter of the cost of 2G networks, it ought to be possible for operators to offer larger bundles at a lower price per minute and still make money.”

Financial Times

High Speed May Not Be Enough to Topple ADSL
"'While some operators may be considering HSDPA to offer broadband in the home, the performance and costs just don't add up for such a radical step,' says Alastair Brydon."
Pros and cons of 3G and WiFi
"Alastair Brydon warns that 'all you can eat' 3G strategies may damage the economic prospects for 3G at an early stage of its development. 'Head-to-head competition with WiFi could kill profitability,' he says."

Telephones should be used for talking
"Mark Heath, Director of Research at Sound Partners, estimates that some US subscribers speak for 1000 minutes a month on mobile phones, compared with 150 minutes clocked up by European subscribers."

BT aims to call up the power of the wi-fi genie
“'We see a big battle between the fixed and mobile operators on this', says Mark Heath, head of research at Sound Partners, a wireless research company. 'But it depends how easy it is to use the service and whether people will really be bothered.'

Total Telecom

Mobile operators need enterprise wake-up call
"Mobile operators have generally been more focused on the consumer side and generally adopt a mass market approach", said Dr Mark Heath, Director of Research at Sound Partners Ltd. "Enterprises have much more complex requirements than consumers, and mobile operators have left room in the market for wireless LAN providers like Cisco to move in", he told Total Telecom.

3G femtocells could help operators save USD45 per user per year
"But the challenge for mobile operators, according to Heath, who is Director of Research at Sound Partners, is to establish how they will integrate femtocells into their networks. "You could have several million of these things", commented Heath.

Mobile disruption (by WiMAX)
"I would question whether manufacturers will put WiMAX in every PC", says Alastair Brydon, an associate of Analysys in the UK and author of a recent report on WiMAX. "It would make more sense to add LTE or HSDPA.

IPWireless adds TDD option to the mobile TV pot
"Even with HSDPA, said Brydon, average usage of seven minutes a day at 50% service coverage would bring networks close to full capacity utilisation."

FMC Gets a Boost as Home Zone Services Thrive
"'We see a gradual migration of traffic from fixed line to mobile,' Dr Heath told Total Telecom, although there are still a number of obstacles to full fixed-line substitution, he added. 'We will see home zone services in markets where there is a significant price difference between mobile and fixed tariffs', said Heath, adding that in markets such as the US mobile operators are unlikely to offer the service because mobile voice minutes are generally extremely affordable. Dr Alastair Brydon said that mobile operators are leading the assault on fixed operators. 'For them, the business justification for driving fixed - mobile substitution, including the complete removal of fixed PSTN services, appears compelling,' he said."