Nortel sees a mobile subscription boom ahead
As Vice President of Mobility
at Nortel Networks Asia, Jean-Luc Jezouin ensures
that wireless Internet solutions evolve according
to their requirements. With the firm belief that
traditional revenues in selling airtime for voice
traffic will decline, Jezouin is convinced that
this paves the way for an increase in wireless
subscribers - particularly in China. 3G is the hottest buzzword now. What's Nortel's role in launching third generation networks?
Nortel Networks is already achieving significant
momentum in supplying 3G solutions. We aim to
play a significant role in building next-generation,
high-performance 3G infrastructure for the provision
of profitable anytime, anywhere Wireless Internet
services.
In Europe, Nortel Networks is winning contracts with the biggest and most respected operators in the business - e.g. Deutsche Telekom, BT, Vodafone. The same is happening in the North America, where agreements have been reached with customers including AT&T.
In Asia, offering 3G services remains the goal of telecom companies, carriers and service providers. Leveraging [on] current GSM, GPRS, 1xRTT, TDMA, CDMA 2G/2.5G wireless technologies, Nortel Networks is helping these customers migrate existing networks to 3G.
Nortel Networks' end-to-end 3G solutions address head-on the industry's leading obstacle - operator profit - by leveraging our expertise in IP (internet protocol) and optical networking, and alliances with best-of-breed applications and device providers.
Nortel Networks has already helped hundreds of customers build the high performance Internet. Now we're helping them unleash the potential to profit from the Internet. We're doing this by creating and delivering best in class solutions. For example:
-Based on Nortel Networks e-mobility Internet
Base Stations (iBTS) for wide area coverage,
packet-based networks featuring the Passport
15000, Preside, Shasta and Alteon solutions,
carriers can increase network capacity, provide
flexible services and media gateway functionality,
and deliver unique service offerings
- The e-mobility iBTS delivers ten times the
capacity of today's typical base station and
reduces operation costs by enabling 'mix and
match' of 2G (GSM, TDMA, CDMA) and 3G (UMTS,
EDGE, cdma2000) technologies
The traditional revenue stream for operators - selling airtime for voice traffic - is shrinking and prices will continue to fall as airtime is commoditised. With Goldman Sachs Investment Research Service forecasting wireless subscribers to exceed 500 million by 2003, service providers must move fast to avoid being relegated to the role of pipeline providers for other's revenue-generating services.
The company is enabling a suite of applications that go beyond voice and that provide a foundation for new revenue generation for service providers:
- Services include streaming video, mobile
commerce, location-based information, mobile
office applications, and secure connections to
Wireless VPNs
- Data has not been integrated as a Wireless
application, creating a major opportunity to
drive new revenue streams
- Applications help to deliver the profitable
Wireless Internet by increasing average revenue
per user; leveraging capital investment in core
and infrastructure; and reducing subscriber turnover/attracting
new subscribers
How is Nortel Networks planning to cash
in on this trend?
Nortel Networks has already seen a strong demand
for its Wireless Internet, 3G and Optical Internet
solutions:
- Nortel Networks ranks number one in next-generation
Wireless Internet infrastructure business strategy,
according to The Shosteck Group (2000 and 2001)
and the Yankee Group (1999)
- Nortel Networks rose to the number one position
in the global telecommunications equipment market
in 2000 with year-over-year growth of 41.6 percent,
according to a study by Gartner Group Dataquest
- Nortel Networks has won more market share in
the Wireless Internet arena than any competitor
over the last three years, according to Merrill
Lynch (2001) and has announced new wireless contracts
estimated to be worth in excess of US$2.1 billion
since January 2000
Asia is already building up some momentum. Is there any advantages in this for Nortel?
Nortel Networks aims to continue the positive
momentum in Asia by working closely with customers
to identify solutions that extend their competitive
advantage and enhance their business performance
for their respective markets.
We will utilise our expertise in the various leadership categories - Optical Internet and Wireless Internet - and build the infrastructure necessary for our customers to compete in the fiercely contested market.
What are some of the services or products that Nortel Networks is implementing/introducing in the next 12 months?
We are looking to expand significantly in Asia to all key markets this year. One key market is China. In the coming years, we believe the mainland will see a very great expansion in the number of Internet and mobile phone users.
In addition, the country is undergoing continual deregulation of its telecom infrastructure and may enter the World Trade Organisation soon. Nortel Networks is very bullish on the China market for our Optical and Wireless Internet initiatives, and we plan to continue building on our already positive momentum in that market.
We will take Optical Internet and extend its leadership in the optical backbone to metropolitan areas. At the heart of the metropolitan networks is Optical Ethernet, a new technology that combines the power of Optical and utility of Ethernet. Nortel Networks Optical Ethernet solution eliminates bottlenecks in the metro optical space, opening up a host of new uses for the network, creating new services for service providers and new ways of doing business for enterprises.
How does Asia compare to Europe?
In terms of regions, Europe is leading in the deployment of 3G networks and we can expect to see operational networks in the beginning of 2002. Asia is expected to follow shortly thereafter with deployment expected towards the end of 2002.
More about Top 20 Telecoms' Outlook.