Singtel Uses Viptela for SD-WAN Services

Singtel announced a "..partnership with Viptela Inc. to launch SingTel ConnectPlus Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) service. This cloud-based solution helps enterprises in Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe and the US simplify the management of their networks. .. 

The Singtel ConnectPlus SD-WAN solution enables enterprises to simplify and centralise their network provisioning and policy management, and configure network requirements in real time". 

Mr Lee Han Kheng, VP Global Products, Singtel Group Enterprise said: “Singtel is empowering enterprises with the capability to adapt and programme their network operations based on their needs. Using a self-service portal, they can exercise dynamic control over network issues such as performance, bandwidth utilisation and security.” 

Viptela Solution 

See "Singtel launches software-defined service to simplify enterprise network management" - here.

Singapore Telcos Plans for Data Monetization: Tiered Services, Music and Gaming

How will operators increase their revenues in 2014? Joyce Hooi, The Business Times, interviewed the 3 telcos in Singapore:

• Kevin Lim [pictured], Chief Commercial Officer, StarHub: "We are primed for data monetisation next year as we expect more customers to adopt tiered data plans".
  
  See "PCRF Deployments: Starhub Selected NSN" - here and "StarHub  Selected Neuralitic for Usage Profiling and Monetization" - here.

• Chua Sock Koong [pictured], CEO, Singtel : "In Singapore and Australia, we are actively promoting data usage, including the use of innovative plans that help customers' avoid bill shocks like Optus My Plan .. In the emerging markets that our regional mobile associates operate in, we are rolling out 3G networks to accelerate data usage"
  
  See "Singtel: 10% of Subscribers Consume 64% of Data; Implements Tiered Services" - here and "Optus Uses Cisco and BroadHop" - here.
   
• M1 - "The telco will bank on mobile games, music and video content to drive data usage, said Chua Hian Hou, its assistant general manager for corporate communications".

See "Data monetisation: Telcos' holy grail in 2014" - here.

SON Deployments [279]: SingTel Deploys Ericsson; "20% Faster Internet"

Ericsson announced that "SingTel has chosen Ericsson's SON Optimization Manager to extend benefits of network automation to their WCDMA networks. The solution adapts intelligently to network traffic conditions, delivering optimum coverage, capacity and quality at all times .. With this system, SingTel and Ericsson optimize multiple network elements and domains, allowing the integration of multiple technologies 2G, 3G and 4G into a single optimization model".

SingTel itself announced that "mobile customers can look forward to faster and more consistent data speeds in crowded locations as SingTel implements a range of groundbreaking network capacity enhancements. The enhancements, which include the Self Organising Networks (SON) solution and small cells technology are being progressively rolled-out in busy locations such as shopping malls, event and concert venues, and selected commercial and residential buildings" (see "SingTel boosts mobile data speeds and network capacity in crowded locations" - here).

Related posts:

• Singtel: 10% of Subscribers Consume 64% of Data; Implements Tiered Services - here. 
• SingTel Digital Media CEO: "user experience will become the greatest differentiator for service providers" - here
• Singtel: Theoretical LTE Download - 75Mbps, Actual 3.4-12Mbps - here 

"Ericsson's comprehensive SON solution [see white paper below] includes self-optimization features such as coverage capacity optimization and load balance (CCLB), and automatic neighbor relation (ANR) handling. Self-healing functions are being developed to automatically compensate for cell outages by adjusting the neighboring cells to find the optimal configuration. These features help to maintain a high performing network that can deliver a more consistent experience for SingTel customers with faster download speeds and reduced drop calls".

Mr Tay Yeow Lian, VP Mobile Core Engineering, SingTel said: "With SON and other network enhancements, our customers will enjoy up to 20 per cent faster internet access in crowded places that are prone to network congestion. The chances of encountering a dropped call at these packed locations will also be reduced by as much as 40 per cent. SingTel has invested heavily in its networks to deliver the fastest mobile services in Singapore. We are the only 4G service provider to offer speeds of up to 150Mbps and nationwide dual-band coverage. By investing in new technologies, we seek to provide our customers with an even better experience with their communications and multimedia applications."

See "SingTel deploys self-organizing network solution with Ericsson" - here.

[Analysys Mason]: Business Models for Application-based Pricing

As it seems that the FCC is considering more flexible Net Neutrality rules (see "FCC Chairman re-defines Net Neutrality: 'we're going to see a two-sided world'" - here), it is time to evaluate the business models for the relations between the customers, carriers and OTT content providers.

A new report by Ronan de Renesse, Principal Analyst, Glen Ragoonanan, Senior Analyst, Eva Weidinger [pictured], Research Analyst, and Anil Rao, Analyst, Analysys Mason on Application Based Pricing, finds that "The fact that consumers generally do not pay for content and apps is a fundamental consideration when deploying ABP solutions and exploring the underlying business models".

  

"Operators need to consider innovative tariffs to maintain ARPU and remain competitive as mobile data prices and per-user spending on digital content decline. Application-based pricing (ABP) is the inclusion of third-party content and services (applications) as part of tariff structures. ABP helps operators and over-the-top (OTT) players to further monetise consumer demand for popular apps on mobile devices. Apps drive smartphone adoption, and generate mobile data traffic, which in turn generates mobile data revenue for operators"

".. three typical business models, which are based on examples of exclusivity agreements:

• Fixed rate: the operator pays the OTT player a fixed rate, as per the Deutsche Telekom and Spotify agreement [see "DT to Offer Zero-Rate Video Calls, Messaging, File sharing and Music Services" - here]
   
• Revenue-sharing: the OTT pays the operator a share of revenue, as per Telefónica Digital and Aurasma‟s partnership.
   
• No-one pays, as per agreements between Facebook and dtac Thailand (part of Telenor), [see "Facebook Offers Free Messaging Through 18 MNOs" - here] as well as SingTel and WhatsApp".

See "Application-based pricing: opportunities, business models and case studies" - here.

VAS/Security Deployments [275]: Singtel Uses Fortinet to Protect Enterprise Customers

Fortinet announced that it has ".. partnered with SingTel to immediately roll out secured broadband services to enterprises across Singapore. Running on Fortinet's high performance FortiGate® network security platforms and FortiManager® and FortiAnalyzer® centralised management and reporting appliances, the SingTel Business Fibre Broadband Security Suite intercepts security threats and eliminates them in the cloud before they reach a company's IT network. Businesses subscribed to this Suite will have online content filtering bundled with their broadband access. Antivirus and anti-spam protection can be added as options. Besides improving security, the content filtering and anti-spam functions help businesses optimise bandwidth usage and increase staff productivity".

Mr Goh Boon Huat [pictured], VP Business Products, Global Products, SingTel Group Enterprise said: “The SingTel Business Fibre Broadband Security Suite is tailor-made for SMEs, which have little or no IT support. Having a reliable, convenient and automated cloud security enables them to protect their vulnerable IT networks from internal and external threats. Our SME customers can enjoy a secured Internet network allowing them to focus on their business, enhance customer experience and drive new revenue growth,"

See "SingTel and Fortinet Partner to Provide Secured Broadband Services to Businesses" - here.

{Core Analysis}: Video Optimization Market Reaffirms its Maturity; Citrix ByteMobile Leads

A new report of the video optimization market, by Patrick Lopez [pictured], Founder and CEO at {Core Analysis} finds that "The market trend for the segment reaffirms its maturity. Like last year, the summer has been quiet in term of activity while spring and the fall remain the high RFx quarters. We have recently seen two large groups select their vendor in the space (Telenor and Orange), more or less wrapping up the tier one group selection process for this cycle in mature markets. Growth in this segment now comes from Latin America and South East Asia, where many groups (Singtel, America Movil, ...) have yet to formulate / finalize a strategy in the space".

• Citrix ByteMobile remains market leader, both in deployments and revenue. The deployment relative market share is decreasing slightly to 29%, while revenue market share is increasing.
  See also "Is the Optimization Market Declining?" with Citrix Bytemobile revenues, here.
   
• Mobixell Networks remains number 2 in deployments with 23%, once again growing its market share over the period
   
• Flash Networks remains a strong third with 17%, growing as well faster than the market

See "Video optimization mid-term update" - here.

SwiftServe - New Transparent Cache Player/CDN

 
A new caching-CDN-filtering vendor, SwiftServe, was officially launched - "..Founded as a joint-venture by a team of serial technology entrepreneurs from Singapore and the UK, SwiftServe is focusing initially on transparent caching and content delivery network (CDN) technology, enabling content publishers and network service providers to offer a faster, safer and better multimedia experience to consumers and enterprises. SwiftServe has already established a significant foothold in South-East Asia, with customers such as Singtel, Starhub, True Corporation and Singapore Airlines (see unnamed case studies - here, here), and is working with partners in other regions".

SwiftServe offers solutions for transparent caching, content filtering, licensed CDN, web acceleration, video streaming and file-download optimization.  

The above mentioned carriers  are already using a number of traffic optimization technologies (not necessarily for the same network): "StarHub [Singapore] Selected Mobixell" - here, "Does True Internet [Thailand] Use Oversi Just to Improve Internet Video QoE?" - here and "True Internet [Thailand] Uses Bluecoat to Reduce Costs and Improve QoE for Web and Video" - here.

SwiftServe is a joint venture joint-venture by the founders of Versio4 and Conversant. Versio4's Co-Founder, Adam Twiss (pictured), was also the founder of CacheLogic, later to become Velocix and acquired by Alcatel-Lucent. See "Carrier CDN Deployments [145]: Who is Using ALU's Velocix Solution?" - here and "[Heavy Reading]: Mobile Caching - 'part of larger traffic management solutions'" - here.

See "SwiftServe - New Technology Company Makes Multimedia Content Delivery Faster, Safer and Better" - here.

Singapore: Who is Using Data Throttling? (Answer: Everybody)

Sidney Wong covers in an article for Singapore Hardware Zone the different methods operators are using to handle ".. tremendous surge in data traffic that is exerting a lot of pressure on telcos to maintain a decent user experience on their mobile networks".

For data throttling - "We reached out to the three telcos in Singapore on their takes on data throttling, and you will be very surprised by what we've found out. As you might know, IDA works with the various service providers to provide a reasonable level of service quality to consumers. The authority is aware that service providers may need to manage their networks some way or the other in order to optimize the quality of their services to subscribers in general. You can find out more about IDA's stand on this here".

• StarHub - "To prevent service deterioration and to enhance the end-user experience for all, StarHub implements network management techniques to ensure that no application or user should dominate finite network resources, especially during peak surfing hours (6pm to 2am on weekdays and 11am to 2am on weekends)," said Mr. Mock Pak Lum, StarHub's Chief Technology Officer [pictured]".
  
  See "StarHub Selected Neuralitic for Usage Profiling and Monetization" - here and "PCRF: Starhub [Singapore] Selected NSN" - here.
   
• M1 - "We do conduct traffic management of peer-to-peer protocol during peak hours, to maintain service quality to all users. M1’s network management ensures fair and consistent traffic utilization across our customer base and applications," said Petrina Teoh, Senior Manager for Corporate Communications.

• SingTel - "SingTel optimises the quality of its mobile broadband services with its fair-use policy which aims to ensure a smooth and consistent experience for all customers. When customers have exceeded the $94 data cap, their mobile line will be limited to a speed of 64Kbps until the end of the monthly bill cycle. To reach the $94 cap, customers would have to consume 18GB of data usage on top of their bundled allowance for the month," said Dylan Tan, Senior Corporate Communications Manager.
  
  See "Singtel: 10% of Subscribers Consume 64% of Data; Implements Tiered Services" - here.

See "Telcos' Strategies to Manage Mobile Data Traffic Flow" - here.

[ABI Research]: OTT Messaging Cannibalizes SMS Revenue

While Infonetics Research data shows that "SMS growing every year from 2012 to 2016" (here) a new repost from ABI Research finds that "'Messages Sent' is also experiencing slow-downs but more so in emerging markets than developed markets .. A number of operators, such as Singtel and Vodafone, have started to counter OTT apps such as Whatsapp by increasing the quota of bundled SMS their end-users are allocated. Such initiatives may come across as closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. However, there are indications that OTT messaging platforms eclipse SMS in all aspects".

"Often Whatsapp end-users only use the messaging platform for a select number of contacts in their Whatsapp list. There have been privacy concerns regarding contact lists held on the Whatsapp server; slow delivery times when data coverage is sparse; as well as contributing to maxed out data quotas if the user is on a limited data plan".

See "OTT Mobile Apps Such as Whatsapp, Boost Mobile Data Usage and Cannibalize SMS Revenue" - here.

Singtel: 10% of Subscribers Consume 64% of Data; Implements Tiered Services

Singtel launches LTE services for smartphones and announced a change to its 3G/4G data plans, offering tiered services.

"SingTel’s 4G service will provide mobile Internet access that is up to five times faster than existing 3G-based smartphone services, with one-fifth of the network latency .. Users can enjoy theoretical download speeds of up to 75Mbps and typical download speeds between 3.4Mbps and 12Mbps" (see also "Singtel: Theoretical LTE Download - 75Mbps, Actual 3.4-12Mbps" - here).

" .. SingTel's new Flexi and iFlexi plans for 3G and 4G customers will offer data bundles ranging from 2GB to 12GB .. Charges for data usage beyond bundled allowances have been revised to $5.35 per gigabyte".

Previously Singtel's plans had all 12GB data cap. 

Yuen Kuan Moon, SingTel’s CEO Consumer Singapore, said: “We need to break away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach, which is not sustainable in the long term. Today, 64 per cent of mobile data on our network is consumed by 10 per cent of our subscribers. This prevents the remaining 90 per cent from enjoying the full benefits of the network. With our tiered pricing model, subscribers will pay for what they use, and this ultimately allows us to keep prices for our plans the same over time despite rising network costs".

See "SingTel launches Singapore's first 4G service for smartphones" - here.

Ovum: "Experience is showing that the move to LTE without flat rates can be achieved with positive results"

 

Nicole McCormick (pictured), senior analyst, Telco strategy, Ovum says that ".. There is now solid evidence that leading operators in Asia-Pacific, the US, and Sweden now accept this. These operators are devising new ways to transition to LTE without continuing to offer burdensome unlimited tariffs". 

"Experience is showing that the move to LTE without flat rates can be achieved with positive results .. this has been the approach taken by SK Telecom [here] and LG U+ in South Korea, Singapore Telecom [here] in Singapore, and AT&T Wireless [here, here, here, here, here, here, ],  in the US .. In Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong mobile operator CSL [here] recently adopted a new LTE tariff strategy centered on volume-based pricing, which has proven popular with customers. US mobile operator Verizon Wireless [here, here, here] also phased out unlimited data tariffs for LTE in July 2011, and this has not adversely affected its LTE uptake"

(follow the embedded links to previous relevant posts, such as the PCRF vendor these MNOs are using).

See "Mobile operators begin to abandon unlimited data" - here.

Singtel: Theoretical LTE Download - 75Mbps, Actual 3.4-12Mbps

 

Singtel continues to be transparent, practical and honest with its customers when it advertizes its mobile broadband services (see "SingTel Discloses Real Mobile Speeds and Offers a Premium Mobile Broadband Service" - here).  

The MNO announced the ".. commercial launch of its Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile broadband service. Named Broadband on Mobile Prestige 75, it is the first LTE service in Singapore to be available to both consumer and business customers .. The service offers theoretical download speeds of up to 75Mbps and typical download speeds between 3.4Mbps and 12Mbps .. It provides mobile Internet access that is more than three times faster than existing 3G-based services, with one-fifth of the network latency .. Broadband on Mobile Prestige 75 will initially be available for USB dongle modems only. It will be enhanced to support LTE-enabled smartphones and tablets when they become more readily available in the market."


See "SingTel launches commercial LTE mobile broadband service" - here.

SingTel Digital Media CEO: "user experience will become the greatest differentiator for service providers"

  

Now, that Amdocs acquired Bridgewater (here) they started to push the policy management market. 

Dana Porter (picture), VP and Head of Amdocs Global Marketing, posted about the recent Amdocs Asia Pacific InTouch Business Forum, held in Singapore on June.

" .. Amdocs CEO Eli Gelman publically discussed our recent decision to acquire Bridgewater Systems. This acquisition will combine our proven technology with policy management, so that service providers can prioritize services on the network according to the type of customer. For instance, service providers can offer faster broadband speeds to “high value” customers so they remain satisfied and consume more"

Dana brings as an example Singtel's "priority pass" service (here).

  

"During an innovation panel that I chaired at InTouch, Loo Cheng Chuan (picture), the acting chief executive officer of SingTel Digital Media, pointed out that “in a commoditized market, the user experience will become the greatest differentiator for service providers.”

See "Speed, Singapore and Service" - here.

SingTel Discloses Real Mobile Speeds and Offers a Premium Mobile Broadband Service

  

SingTel decided to tell its customers the sad truth about mobile internet - and motivate them to buy a new premium service, if they wish to see their data moving faster.

The operator announced "..the launch of Asia’s first premium priority mobile broadband service .. Named Priority Pass, SingTel’s premium priority mobile broadband service offers faster and more reliable Internet connectivity on the move.  Customers enjoy priority for their data traffic when the network is heavily loaded, thus ensuring smoother streaming and downloads".

See "SingTel’s Priority Pass mobile broadband service puts customers in the fast lane" - here.

To tell subscriber why they need it, SingTel bravely published " the typical speeds of its mobile broadband services. The table below outlines the typical range of speeds that customers can expect 80% of the time.  SingTel has also renamed its 3.6Mbps, 7.2Mbps and 21Mbps USB modem-based services as Classic 3.6, Priority 7.2 and Premium 21 respectively .. As with all wireless technologies, the range of speeds and experience is dependent on several factors" 

Mobile broadband plan	Theoretical speed	Typical speed range
Classic 3.6	3.6Mbps	0.8Mbps to 2.1Mbps
Priority 7.2 (with Priority Pass)	7.2Mbps	1.4Mbps to 3.7Mbps
Premium 21 (with Priority Pass)	21Mbps	1.7Mbps to 4.8Mbps