Mobile World Congress, the huge service provider-focused event in Barcelona, wrapped up today.  Cisco has continued to make headlines with even more news about operator uptake on Cisco Mobile Internet solutions.

To wit:

• Cisco has been selected by Telefónica to support the company’s newest mobile video pilot in Spain. The trial is designed to deliver mobile video services across both Wi-Fi and 3G networks and was demonstrated at Telefónica’s stand at MWC.  The Telefónica España pilot is built upon the Cisco ASR 5000 architecture, part of the Cisco Mobile Videoscape solution.
• At Mobile World Congress, Cisco introduced the industry’s first carrier-grade, end-to-end Wi-Fi infrastructure to deliver Next-Generation Hotspots (NGH).  Cisco also announced it is working with leading global service providers such as AT&T, BT, PCCW mobile, Portugal Telecom, Shaw Communications, Smart and True, to deliver innovative mobile services with a new generation of intelligent “small cell” solutions utilizing licensed and unlicensed radio technology.
• PCCW mobile in Hong Kong has successfully completed a commercial trial of the Next-Gen Hotspot, becoming the first operator in the world to have achieved this milestone. The NGH rides on IEEE 802.11u and 802.1x specifications in conjunction with Cisco’s Service Provider Wi-Fi solution.
• Bell Mobility continues to build out its 4G LTE mobile services with the ASR 5000. Bell Mobility now delivers 4G LTE services to its most populous markets in western Canada, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia. The ASR 5000 is the foundation of the packet core for Bell Mobility’s LTE network.
• Cisco announced that du, a leading integrated telecommunications service provider in the United Arab Emirates, is deploying a nationwide mobile broadband network enabled by a Cisco mobile Internet solution based on the ASR 5000 to deliver highly secure, high-speed 4G long-term evolution (LTE) mobile data services. 

Tags: 4G, ASR_5000, Cisco, Hotspot, LTE, mobile, Mobile_Internet, mobile_operator, NGH, service_provider, SP_WiFi

By Howard Baldwin, Contributing Columnist

The place: San Francisco. The time: a Saturday afternoon.

The scenario: after lunch, two out-of-town couples find themselves in a neighborhood where taxi cabs are scarce. One of the women remembers a new iPhone app called Uber that allows you to wirelessly order a Lincoln Towncar and bill the trip to a credit card.

Elapsed time between signing up with Uber and the car arriving: 10 minutes. Estimated incremental cost above a traditional cab: $7.

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Tags: apps, global networked economy, jobs, mobile, smartphone, software, tablet

Have you seen the video of the one year old child trying to use a magazine like an iPad?  It makes for fascinating viewing and an indication that while today’s students consider the internet to be important in their lives, many of tomorrow’s students will not know a world without internet, particularly mobile internet.

Some schools are already tackling this mobile experience.  Brisbane Girls Grammar School is a secondary school in Queensland, Australia with 1000 students.   It has recognised the extent to which mobile devices, communications and technology play an integral role in business and consumer lifestyles and recently implemented a “bring your own device” strategy for students and teachers. It runs a wireless network across its campus that supports two personal devices per person — whether laptop, mobile phone or tablet — as well as school owned devices.  Up to 3,000 devices are supported on the network for educational purposes at one time.

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Tags: bring your own device, Brisbane Girls Grammar School, byod, Cisco, education, K-12, mobile, network, school, student, video, wireless

In 97 countries around the world, there are now more mobile devices than people. No wonder mobile networks are clogged with massive amounts of new traffic! Mobile operators are struggling with how to provide the mobile broadband experience customers expect, in a cost-effective, scalable, and profitable manner. I believe that Wi-Fi, the “silent sleeper” of wireless access networks, may hold the answer.

The mobile industry is on the brink of a fundamental change. Just think of some recent key developments:

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Tags: broadband, Cisco, IBSG, integrated providers, mobile, mobile operators, service providers, Smartphones, wi-fi, Wi-Fi network providers, wireless access, wireless network

Using your mobile makes it easy to stay connected to important meetings, wherever you are. With WebEx, you can join any web conference from your iPad and iPhone (other apps available too).

The universal application is free and you can always join as an attendee. To host a meeting, you need a WebEx host account.

“WebEx in iOS devices is an amazing experience!” -- Customer Review

Experience WebEx high quality two-way video on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 by viewing the video feeds of the participants in the web conference and streaming your own video back to them.

WebEx mobile sets you free! Get it! [Get other mobile apps here!]

Whether you’re holding a brainstorming Read More »

Tags: iPad, iphone, meeting, mobile, online meetings, smartphone, video conference, WebEX