Nokia has shown “sustainable, meaningful progress” since its first quarter 2004 “stumble,” said CFO Rick Simonson, speaking at the Goldman Sachs 2005 Technology Investment Symposium Wed. Simonson said Nokia, which has the highest worldwide market share for handsets, will unveil 40 new devices in 2005, up from 36 a year ago. He said Nokia would be dedicating new launches exclusively to China Mobile -- specifically the Nokia 6102 model -- the first time a new launch will be designed exclusively for the Chinese market. “We can have meaningful differentiation” between China Mobile and other operators, Simonson said, suggesting more customization is to come. Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft on music was a “surprise” for many but positions them to move hard in the music territory, he added: “We're not competing with the Microsoft desktop… we're working on a seamless experience for our end users.” Simonson said Nokia is considering a stock buyback of up to 10% in the EU to help continue an increase the value of company shares, which have risen as much as 10% in value since Q1 2004. Meanwhile, speaking later at the same conference, Mikael Bckstroem, Ericsson vp-Global Services, N. America, had less to say about his company’s year. Often not wishing to speculate on various questions posed by the media, Bckstroem did lay out a general vision for Ericsson’s business strategy. “The Network is core for our business but it’s not our core business,” he said, comparing the telecom industry to the airlines: “Telecom industry very unindustrialized… very horizontal” he said, and should outsource its non-core business components as the airlines have. Bckstroem said Ericsson will have an High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) rollout in 2005, though he wouldn’t specify a date. U.S. and Japan will be first 2 HSDPA markets, he said.
Exports to China
India is reportedly prepared to sign an agreement to join the EU’s satellite global positioning program, Galileo, being launched by 25 member states in conjunction with the European Space Agency. According to Press Trust of India, govt. officials will discuss their interest in the project with EU leaders soon. The agreement is expected to boost industrial cooperation between India and other participating countries. India would become the 3rd non-EU country to sign onto the project, after Israel and China.
“Modest growth” in telecom revenue will continue in 2005 and beyond, according to a report released Tues. by N.J.-based Insight Research. The firm’s analysts predicted 5.9% annual compounded “sustainable” revenue growth the next 5 years for telecom services revenue, growing from about $1.1 trillion in 2005 to $1.5 trillion in 2010. Though N. America continues generating the most sales, this “most mature market” now relies on new services rather than subscriber growth, Insight said, and the most rapid revenue growth will occur in other regions. “Looking at revenue growth,” said Insight Pres. Robert Rosenberg, “North America right now is saturated… [E]veryone has gone through cutbacks in staff.” Less- developed areas of eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa will see 4.5% annual revenue growth, but the biggest increases will come from the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions, with Asian markets growing 9.3% the next 5 years and China growing especially fast, the report said. Insight studied telecom investment in 800 number services, IP BXs and IP Centrex, and private lines, as well as network and customer support investment. It found that the recent FCC ruling freeing ILECs from needing to lease fiber lines has spurred as much as $45 billion in new deployment plans; that figure still will be overshadowed by the growing needs of business and residential subscribers in the Carribean and Asia, where Insight said even “the economic and political problems of debt default, recessions and currency devaluations” won’t curb 2.5G and 3G rollouts.
EIA CEO Dave McCurdy told us Mon. the association would focus its 2005 agenda on improving business competitiveness and raising the profile of technology issues with law and policy makers. McCurdy said any telecom policy reform should reward investment. He offered few details on where telecom reform should go -- partly because Congress hasn’t delved into the details itself -- but did say member companies, including the companies of TIA, would “drive the debate.” “We have an idea of what post-'96 telecom regulation should look like,” McCurdy said. FCC Chmn. Powell “tried to lay it out,” he said. EIA will also focus heavily on trade with China and push for a worldwide elimination of tariffs on electronics. Cybersecurity, radio frequency ID tags and tax policy are also high on EIA’s policy agenda, McCurdy said.
China is assembling 2 models of its first moon- orbiting satellite in preparation for a 2007 launch, China Daily reported Fri. Testing the model satellites will take about 6 months, officials said.
MB Tech (MB) is sharpening its focus on the U.S. market, the company said Fri: “With finalization of distribution to China and Japan imminent, full attention has now shifted to the antenna models specifically for the U.S. market.” MB’s line of beam-tilt antenna, marine antenna and antenna receivers for DirecTV and EchoStar are in line for approvals, the company said.
Nigeria contracted with China Great Wall Industry Corp., to build and launch a communications satellite next year, a govt. official told Reuters. The country launched its first satellite in Sept. 2003 from Russia, with a maximum life of 10 years. The new spacecraft, which will have a 15-year life, will cost the govt. close to $300 million.
U.S. telecom manufacturers need more basic R&D funding from the federal govt to stay competitive with foreign suppliers, said officials from the Telecom Industry Assn. The group is lobbying the Bush Administration, Congress and key federal agencies on the issue.
A multipurpose small satellite developed by Pakistan, China, Thailand, Bangladesh, Mongolia, S. Korea and Iran will be launched in 2006, Pakistan’s Daily Times reported. Sources said the satellite would be used for scientific experiments and environmental observations for the Asia-Pacific region.
Nortel CEO Bill Owens struck a pessimistic tone on Capitol Hill Thurs. when he wondered if the U.S. was “up for” the task of effectively deploying broadband to rural America. “I don’t know if it is up for it as a nation. For some reason, our nation doesn’t rally around to do it,” Owens said. While other speakers at the Nortel event, including FCC Comr. Abernathy, highlighted regulatory and technology changes that could bring more broadband to rural areas, Owens questioned if American govt. leaders had the same zeal for broadband that Asian leaders have shown. “We don’t have our mind in this, at the highest levels of government,” Owens said. Owens didn’t specifically cite President Bush or any members of Congress, but he said high-level Chinese officials were taking broadband deployment very seriously. And he predicted that China and other Asian nations would continue to outpace U.S. broadband deployment. “They know what it means for society,” said Owens, referring to the Chinese. “They have a plan, a vision. They know that they're going to win.” Owens said China probably would have 3G technology implemented by next year, in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics. China is “dead serious” about broadband deployment, he said, and he wondered if senior U.S. govt. leaders “woke up thinking about bandwidth like the Chinese do.” Speakers at the event said broadband was important to help rural American communities keep jobs and slow population migration to larger cities. “Rural America is worth saving,” Owens said. Abernathy said regulatory changes could help improve rural broadband deployment, but the best possibilities for rural deployment come from new technologies like wireless broadband and broadband over power line (BPL). Abernathy said BPL could produce “phenomenal” results for rural America. She said wireless broadband -- including services riding on secondary-market and unlicensed spectrum -- was another promising technology for rural markets. She said she learned at a recent international conference that other nations are also looking closely at wireless deployment. Abernathy said the triennial review order (TRO), which dropped unbundling requirements for new “next generation technology,” was starting to bear fruit. “But we need more,” she said, emphasizing the need for more deregulatory action. She said the FCC would try to continue to move towards new regulatory frameworks that focus on social requirements, like 911 and disability assistance, rather than price regulations. But while she said she prefers free market principles, she acknowledged they won’t work to bring broadband to rural areas, where investors don’t have hopes for return on investment. “In rural areas, we have to take a different approach,” she said.