The journey from Cairo International Airport to the Smart Village Business Park outside is usually regarded as a nightmare. The 30 kilometre commute along the ring road around the city, takes more than three hours to complete in rush hour, while the drive through inner-Cairo presents some scary challenges.

Drivers have a relaxed attitude to personal safety as they hurtle past donkeys, carts and roadside scenes echoing recent unrest, and my current taxi driver tells me the best way to stay safe on these roads is to play the Koran through the tapedeck.

We’re both praying in different directions, but we get the result we’re hoping for, safe arrival at the Smart Village Business Park, outside Gisa in the shadow of the pyramids.

A counter-point to the ancient surroundings, this is a vibrant hub of high-tech innovation, built to accommodate major multinational and indigenous companies working in Telecommunications and Information Technologies others.

Spacious green areas, waterfalls, artificial lakes and business community leisure areas form a unique backdrop to iconic office buildings. It’s like a modern oasis that looks like it would be more at home in California’s Silicon Valley than an Egyptian desert. Worth remembering that Egyptians have a reputation for innovation with modern engineers still unsure how the great Pyramids were built!
The steady growing number of national and multinational enterprises moving or seeking to move to Smart Village Cairo underlines the business park’s reputation for providing an environment that supports competitiveness, productivity and profitability.

But, it’s the high calibre and ambition of the mostly youthful people that is most awe-inspiring. The Vodafone headquarters, for example, is populated with young 20-30 year olds that are driving its next wave of cutting-edge solutions.

Education is highly valued in Egypt and large companies are capitalising on the highly qualified talent pool and university partnerships to train people in the areas where the world needs skills. These aren’t back office support roles that young Egyptians are fulfilling. It’s high end software development that will make or break future successes.

There is a tangible desire and commitment here from aspiring and ambitious youths to grasp any opportunity for progression. Education offers a clear route from poverty towards a lucrative future.

The thing is, Northern Ireland has the ability and opportunities to far exceed what Egypt is achieving, but we need to do more to transform, inspire and energise new talent. Thankfully organisations like Northern Ireland Science Park (NISP) are taking proactive steps to identify and develop a lasting relationship with our brightest before, during and after they leave.

The Generation Innovation programme, for example, holds two annual events to identify some of NI’s most promising pupils and invite them and their parents into regular high value events. The next one takes place in November and I’m excited to proud that my daughter is among the students who were nominated by their school to meet 40 highly successful innovators in local science and technology companies like SLA Mobile.

Success is earned by going further and learning again and again. We need to shift mindsets towards proactivity. In Israel, for example, students are brought together and told they are special and have a role to play in making the economy successful. Our students must be given similar direction and encouragement if we are to compete at the best of our ability.

In SLA Mobile we work with a lot of nationalities and the capability of Northern Ireland talent rates highly amongst the world’s best. It always strikes me how similar New Zealand people are to those back home, but the big difference is the motivation to work overseas, build experience and get going. Working in London or Dublin is regarded as a daunting experience to some at home, but in New Zealand travelling to Australia; Kuala Lumpur; Indonesia and Europe are common work routes.

If the dusty roads of Egypt can lead to international innovation-led business, then so too can the well travelled highways of Northern Ireland. We just need to give our next generation of economic navigators a better roadmap and the confidence to choose the route to success.

There’s nothing new about mobile phone subscribers being able to pay for goods and services from their mobile phones.  But the mobile payment experience is often far from ideal – representing a barrier to doing business with a merchant. 

But with Direct Operator Billing things are about to change…meaning that operators can rapidly build new merchant relationships and high volume, secure mCommerce channels.

The mobile payment opportunity is great.  Smart Mobile devices are becoming pervasive – across all demographic groups.  Moreover, in many developing economies mobile payment represents a significant opportunity to create new platforms for secure monetary transactions.

At SLA Mobile, we believe the mobile payment potential is still largely untapped – because we believe that the future of mobile payment embraces the most obvious means of exchange with a secure and trusted party – the mobile phone service provider.  And we’re working with operators to allow them to build richer, revenue-generating opportunities with their own customers.

Direct Operator Billing – for goods and services via the subscriber’s own mobile bill – is still in its infancy.  But many believe (and we agree with them) it’s an idea whose time has come.

Until recently the only services consumed by subscribers that were billed directly to the mobile phone bill were ring tones or wallpapers – with payment via Premium SMS.  Direct Operator Billing, however, allows a myriad of goods and services to be billed directly to the mobile subscriber’s bill.  With the emergence of near-field communications functionality and QR code readers on mobile devices traditional high street goods and services can also be purchased in this way – safely, securely and with vastly better customer, operator and merchant related business processes.

This is part of a briefing paper we have prepared on Direct Operator Billing.  To get a copy of the full paper, click here.  

From the living room to the boardroom, cutting-edge technology is reshaping almost every aspect of modern life. Mobile internet technology is making the world faster and better connected meaning the way we collaborate, shares stories and do business is undergoing a very rapid revolution. This year saw a tipping point in the number of people accessing the internet on the move rather than at their desks.

This is a fundament shift in how we interact with the world around us from keeping in touch, to buying pizza or sharing documents. The four companies driving the overall technology revolution are arguably the world’s biggest brands Google, Facebook, Amazon and of course Apple – which recently became the most valuable company in the US. Note that I’d don’t list Micrsosoft! And in five years time don’t be surprised of two on the list are actually Chinese companies.

It’s no surprise that all four are competing for your wallets but central to their strategies are the devices we keep next to them, our mobile phones. In the last two weeks Google actually bought Motorola’s mobile phone division. Put that in context – Motorola invented the world’s first mobile phone. Across the globe, customers are hungry for the next wave of clever gadgets, apps and services and that demand has given the big firms pole position in the international mobile market.

Mobile Network operators, formerly the powerhouse in the sector, face a genuine threat to their role. In fact, some industry analysts claim they could become extinct or reduced to a utility provider role within five years as companies like Apple and Google steal a march on their customer relationships.

The ongoing tussle is rapidly up scaling technologies and services for customers and giving Northern Ireland firms an opportunity to play their part on the global stage.

At SLA Mobile, for example, our strategy is global in focus but local in implementation. Our offices in Belfast and Kuala Lumpur have helped us clinch contracts with network operators – from the USA to Australia, South Africa and China – as they look to fight back by unlocking the potential of their network assets and identify innovative revenue streams

We aren’t developing applications ourselves, but instead offer a platform, Alacrity, that allows telecoms operators, such as Vodafone, to easily link up with application developers in any country. This means organisations can reach and bill any end user on any network without having to enter into multiple arrangements with network operators in each jurisdiction they work in.

It’s a simple concept, but with big potential. Ultimately it means that services and applications can hit the market faster, development costs are massively reduced and combine handset, mobile and social networking data into clever new ideas.

Working across multiple countries and time zones, new technologies have also been critical to help us reduce costs and keep our projects on track. Cloud computing has been making waves in recent months, but it’s a concept that were quick to adopt over the last two years.

With information stored virtually in ‘military specification’ servers and accessed through mobile and web-based applications, such as Google Docs or Microsoft 365, the approach allows our teams in Belfast and KL to simultaneously access and collaborate on documents improving our business efficiency and saving our clients money.

And for any NI director reading this article sit up now. Ask your IT Manager about Cloud Computing and its ability to save you 50-80% on your IT costs. There is a revolution going on with Cloud.

Just a few years ago it would have seemed inconceivable that projects would be stored remotely rather than on a local server. Today it’s the other way around. Cloud computing makes it easier to establish connections between sites and speed up project delivery.

The world is definitely becoming a smaller place and we’re all seeing farther as a result.

At the recent “Managing Devices, Applications and Services” conference organised by the Device Management Forum in Maidenhead, U.K., a number of discussions and presentations addressed a wide range of aspects within M2M and the Internet of Things – such as standardisation, information provenance, consumer applications, e/m health and drivers behind M2M and IoT.

Adding a fresh and innovative message to the field, Philip Stanfield, Director of Vodafone Business at SLA Mobile, captured the attention of the international audience present with the “Smart Enablers: Quicker route to market” presentation. This presentation outlined three simple messages:

- there is an opportunity for all when operators unlock their network assets
- there is an opportunity to monetise Direct Operator Billing now
- this can be done at 2.0 speeds and not old world telco pace

These opportunities were here and now, and with three simple yet effective illustrations and a detailed case study from Vodafone Ireland, SLA Mobile’s Alacrity solution demonstrated the benefits and innovation that could be achieved when looking to enrich M2M and enterprise applications.

Attended by partners of the wider M2M ecosystem, including such international companies as Ericsson IPX, Samsung, Numerex, Vodafone and KPN, the growth and development of M2M is certainly set to continue its impact on consumer and enterprise agendas in the coming years.

SLA Mobile has been named as one of Ireland’s ‘Best Managed’ companies in the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme. In total, twenty companies which demonstrated superior business performance were recognised at a gala awards dinner in the Burlington Hotel in Dublin on 4th March 2011.

The Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, in association with Irish Life Corporate Business, recognises indigenous Irish companies across the island of Ireland which are operating at the highest levels of business performance.

The independent judging panel, chaired by Denis Brosnan, reviewed a broad range of criteria including strategy, capability, commitment, financials and growth potential across all key functions of the business. This year, the judging panel also focussed on how companies were planning growth in their organisations in a sustainable way.

Commenting on the winners of the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme, Pat Cullen, Managing Partner, Deloitte and judging panel member said: “Despite the negative sentiment that currently prevails, the Best Managed Companies Awards Programme shows that Irish indigenous companies are a cornerstone of growth in the Irish economy and can and will play an important role in Ireland’s overall recovery. For proof of this, you need look no further than this year’s winners.”

Damian Fadden, Director, Irish Life Corporate Business, and fellow judging panel member said: “Irish Life Corporate Business is delighted to support the Deloitte Best Managed Companies initiative. Ireland’s economic recovery can benefit hugely from the contribution made by its indigenous business sector, and this initiative helps companies in that sector to showcase their success and to benefit from expert mentoring to help them move to the next level. Our staff have met many of the participating companies and have been very impressed with their innovation and determination – on behalf of Irish Life Corporate Business I would like to wish all the companies every success in 2011 and beyond.”

The Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme is open to companies from all 32 counties on the island of Ireland. It is the only awards programme that considers a business’ performance from every perspective. Details of entry for the 2012 Awards will be issued in the coming weeks on www.deloittebestmanaged.ie.

The ’Best Managed’ designation is an important marketing tool for the winning companies – but, perhaps most importantly, the awards provide a reason to celebrate the efforts of the entire company.

About Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards

The Deloitte Best Managed Companies programme, in association with Irish Life Corporate Business, promotes and recognises excellence in Irish owned and managed companies. It is the only awards scheme on the island of Ireland that considers a business’ performance from every perspective. Entrants to the programme will compete for this designation in a rigorous and independent process that evaluates the calibre of their management abilities and practices.

Programme sponsors are Irish Life Corporate Business, the Irish Management Institute and the Sunday Business Post.

For further information, visit www.deloittebestmanaged.ie

by Nic Stirk

In the wireless industry talk about embedded/connected devices, and the associated M2M communications they require, is a hot topic of conversation. Estimates of the number of connected devices the world will see in the coming years is truly mind boggling, and are actually so large as to lose relevance. Kind of like the amount of money required to bailout a bank, how am I supposed to internalize a number with more than nine zeros behind it?

Compounding the problem is the fact that, unlike bank bailouts, a tidal wave of embedded devices has yet to materialize. In the US the three largest wireless carriers announced their respective embedded device connections for the first time for 2Q10 (http://bit.ly/aMY026). In 3Q10 AT&T came in first place with 8.5 million connections. Verizon was in second place with 7.9 million connections. Sprint did not report this figure for 3Q10, but took the third spot with around 1.9 million connections in 2Q10.(Interestingly,Sprint has pointed out that ARPU for connected devices is significantly lower than for traditional subscriptions, but the cost is also significantly lower, resulting in higher margins.)

A recent blog post by David Pringle goes a long way toward explaining the disconnect between forecasts and reality (http://bit.ly/dBIyVV). As he deftly points out, the basic infrastructure currently in place is adequate to facilitate the anticipated explosion in connected devices. But there are two obstacles that stand in the way. The first is cross-border compatibility, “The way the telecoms market is structured and regulated, on a nation-by-nation basis, means some of these embedded solutions could be difficult to implement in some markets and the industry could struggle to scale.”

The second issue is trust. The data generated by billions of devices has the potential to create both positive and negative effects on society. Without the proper safeguards in place, adoption by both businesses and consumers will be limited.

These barriers highlight the need for connected device platforms that enable easy on-boarding and device management and, importantly, have the flexibility to allow seamless cross-boarded connectivity. At the same time carriers need to educate consumers and regulators on how this information will be used, and how it will be protected.

By Keith Mitchell

Vodafone made headlines earlier this summer when they announced quarter-over-quarter revenue growth for the first time since 2008 (http://bit.ly/cUoAef). Seeing as many analysts had predicted a revenue decline, this is broadly viewed an impressive achievement and a positive indicator for the overall economy. Indeed revenue growth is always better than a decline, and we may well be climbing our way out of the economic hole we’ve inhabited for the past two years. But does this really signal a turnaround for the largest wireless company in the world outside of China?

A closer look at the results reveals that revenue in Western Europe declined 1.7%, with only Germany and the UK showing modest growth. Declines in the rest of the countries dragged the financial results into the red. Operationally, voice was predictably in negative territory posting an 8.6% decline. Surprisingly, messaging was only modestly positive, posting 1.5% growth.

So where is the growth coming from? Geographically, look to the East and South. Operationally, look to data.

Revenue in Africa/Central Europe grew by 3.7%, and revenue in AsiaPac/Middle East grew by a whopping 10.5%. It is important to note that these two regions now make up over a third of total revenue. Operationally, data led the way with 23.3% growth in Europe.

While Vodafone’s quarterly performance metrics may or may not be indicative of macro-economic improvements, we can certainly draw one conclusion from these results: the company’s future growth will come from providing data services to emerging economies. Mobile Internet services that leverage the assets of Vodafone’s network will mark the future of the company. This will be aided by their ability to effectively market themselves in Central Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia/Pac. Keep an eye out for Vodafone’s next earnings announcement in early November for further proof points.

By: MEDIA RELEASE FROM Wireless Intelligence
India and China drive global mobile subscriber growth

Asia-Pacific region accounted for 45% of global connections by year-end 2009
LONDON,UK,23April 2010: The global mobile market grew by almost 200 million subscriber connections in the fourth quarter of 2010 to reach 4.7 billion by year-end, according to the latest Wireless Intelligence report, Quarterly World Review: Q4 2009. Asia-Pacific remained the world’s largest region, accounting for over 45% (2.1 billion) of global mobile connections, mainly due to strong growth in India and China. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 62% of the net new connections added in the quarter.
In total 192.8 million mobile connections were added in Q4 2009, an annual rise of 16% and up 4% on a sequential basis. GSM connections accounted for 80% of total connections, while WCDMA and CDMA accounted for 10% each. Prepaid connections accounted for 73%, while postpaid (contract) connections accounted for the remaining 27%. Wireless Intelligence calculates that total global mobile penetration reached 69% by year-end.
The quarter also saw the launch of 30 new mobile networks, including the first two networks based on the next generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile standard.
“2009 was a positive year for the mobile telecoms industry and one that saw it outperform global economic trends,” commented Joss Gillet, senior analyst at Wireless Intelligence.”Nonetheless, the fact that developing countries account for half of the world’s connections today demonstrates how mature markets are reaching capacity. From Europe to the Americas, the prospects for the year ahead depend on how quickly mobile operators can boost revenues generated by data services. By contrast, in regions such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific, many price-sensitive markets require investment to expand 2G and 3G networks, which have been delayed by the global recession. In such a challenging competitive environment, time-to-market is more critical than ever to sustain growth and differentiate from competition.”
The new Wireless Intelligence report Quarterly World Review: Q4 2009 is available to registered members and select members of the media. For more information contact info@wirelessintelligence.com
Regional Highlights

Asia-Pacific (2.1 billion connections, 45% of global total): The world’s two largest mobile markets China and India were responsible for the majority of growth in the Asia-Pacific region. India surpassed half a billion connections during Q4 2009, adding 53.4 million net additions and closing the quarter on 525.2 million connections. Indian growth is linked to the fact that many existing operators launched their networks in new circles (service areas) in the quarter, whilenew market entrants also appeared. Meanwhile, China added an average of 9 million net additions per month during 2009, ending the year with a total 726 million connections 16% of the worldwide total. Chinese 3G connections reached 10 million by year-end. Third-placed operator China Telecom is doing better than expected on the back of bundled deals and is doing especially well in 3G, helping it catch up with its two larger competitors.
Western Europe(519 million, 11%): Connections growth in Western Europe improved in the second half of 2009 following a slow start to the year. However, the number of operators reporting negative quarterly net additions increased in Q4 2009, with TIM Italy having a particularly bad quarter. On the plus side, revenue from 3G data services is growing is most markets, which is beginning to have a significant effect ondata ARPU. Notable network launches in the quarter included three HSPA+ launches in Finland (DNA), Spain (Telefnica) and Switzerland (Swisscom) as well as the first two LTE network deployments in the world launched by TeliaSonera in Oslo (Norway) and Stockholm (Sweden) in December 2009.
Americas (504 million, 11%): The Americas region grew by 11% in the quarter to exceed 500 million mobile connections by year-end, reaching 86% market penetration. Brazil still accounts for one third of connections in the region and grew its installed base by 16% in 2009 to 176 million connections, adding 8 million net additions in Q4. Mexico and Argentina are the second- and third-largest markets adding 1.7 million and 1.5 million connections, respectively, in the quarter. However, many markets in the region are approaching high levels of maturity, which has seen operators look to data services in order to gain revenue share. Regulatory initiatives (including taxes and mobile number portability) also affected operators in many regional markets.
Eastern Europe(480 million, 10%): Eastern European operators continue to show signs of market slowdown. The region is showing signs of a high level of maturity, reaching 120% market penetration in the quarter, and mobile connections growth is mainly driven by replacement and multiple SIMs. The region passed the 480 million connections mark by year-end, representing a 7% annual growth rate way below the world average of 15%. There are promising signs in Eastern Europe of strong 3G connections growth, though future progress in this area will depend on extra network investment by the large operator groups in the region, many of whomscaled back such investments in 2009.
Africa (464 million, 10%): Nigeria remains Africas largest mobile market with total connections reaching 73 million by the end of 2009. The addition of 4.1 million connections in Q4 2009 made it Nigerias strongest quarter for a year. Over half of these net additions were gained by market-leader MTN, which reached 30.8 million connections. In South Africa, SIM card registration (introduced from August 2009) has had a significant impact, with Q4 witnessing a second consecutive quarter of connection losses in excess of 1 million.
USA/Canada (309 million, 7%): The US market witnessed its strongest quarterly connections growth in three years by amassing 5.9 million net additions in Q4 2009. Market-leader Verizon ended Q4 2009 with 91.2 million total connections following net additions of 2.2 million, the operator’s highest pro forma net additions since Q3 2008. Second-placed AT&T reported 2.7 million net additions the operators second-highest quarterly total ever. AT&Ts figures were boosted by the completion of its acquisition of Centennial Wireless in November, which added 863,000 connections. In Canada, Bell Mobility (BCE) and Telus Mobility launched their shared HSPA/HSPA+ network in November, which they claim is four times larger than market-leader Roger Wireless HSPA+ footprint.

Middle East (261 million, 6%): Turkey ended 2009 with 62.9 million connections, maintaining its position as the largest market in the Middle East region despite a decline of 918,000 connections in the last quarter and 3.1 million year-on-year. The quarterly decline was led by market-leader Turkcell, which reported its fourth consecutive quarter of negative net additions with a loss of 600,000 connections. In Iran, the second-largest market in the region, MTN Irancell reported strong connections growth in Q4 with net additions of 2.6 million, enabling it to increase its market share to 40%.