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Category: Telecom

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Telecom & Telco news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • 5G Asia 2019: Collaboration is the key for 5G

    5G Asia 2019: Collaboration is the key for 5G

    The 5G Asia event held in Singapore brought together the industry’s best and brightest names to discuss the invaluable influence that the 5G phenomenon is having all over Asia and across multiple enterprises.

    Pamela Clark Dickson, the practice leader for digital communications and social networking at Ovum, kick-started day 1 with an analytical introduction about the global state of play for 5G and what is to be expected from it in the next 24 months. She described the 5G network as “huge, fast and complex” and that “telcos would need to collaborate” in order to get 5G into the market.

    This was followed by number of other keynotes from industry leaders and even a panel discussion on “Defining the killer 5G app in Asia” where some of the most influential figures in telecoms converged to exchange views about the prospect and widespread influence of a 5G driven telecommunications sector.

    During the panel, the Executive Vice President and CEO of TM One Ir. Ts. Azizi Hadi took the opportunity to introduce the company’s 10 transformative smart solutions, which was launched in August, to drive Malaysia’s commitment towards industrial innovation and growth.

    5G Asia was held between the 10th and 12th of September in Marina Bay Sands and it is one of Asia’s largest events focusing on the expansion of 5G technology in the region. Some of the topics that were explored during the event were 5G deployment choices, the journey to cloud-native, edge computing and revenue generation for companies using 5G, just to name a few.

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  • Viettel Global reports profit surge

    Viettel Global reports profit surge

    Telecom giant Viettel Global Investment JSC has made VND1.17 trillion ($50.5 million) in pre-tax profits after reporting a loss last year. Viettel Global, which covers overseas investments by military-run Viettel Group, had made a VND15.77 billion ($681,000) loss in the same period last year, according to the company’s audited consolidated financial statements.

    Revenues in the first six months reached VND7.9 trillion ($341 million), down 1.5 percent year-on-year, but a sharp decrease in the cost of sales improved profits, the company’s management board said.

    In the first half of the year, the company focused more on its core business of telecommunications, raised its average revenue per user (ARPU) and cut down the sale of equipment with low-profit margins. This raised the company’s operating profit margin (excluding financial income) to 35.3 percent from 26.4 percent in the same period last year.

    Revenue in Southeast Asia, especially driven by growth in the Cambodian market, accounted for 53 percent of Viettel Global’s revenue in the first six months, followed by Africa with 33 percent and South America with 14 percent.

    Viettel Global was established in 2006 to spread Viettel Group’s presence in foreign markets. It currently operates in ten markets, namely Cambodia, Laos, Timor Leste, Mozambique, Burundi, Haiti, Peru, Cameroon Tanzania and entered Myanmar last year.

    Viettel Global said it has plans to enter new markets, mainly in ASEAN.

    Viettel Global is one of the largest enterprises on Vietnam’s Unlisted Public Companies Market (UPCoM) in terms of both asset size and market capitalization. As of June 30, the company’s total assets were VND59 trillion ($2.54 billion), of which equity accounted for VND25 trillion ($1.08 billion).

  • First 5G network broadcasts in Vietnam

    First 5G network broadcasts in Vietnam

    Telecom giant Viettel broadcast its first 5G network Saturday from its network of 5G base stations in Ho Chi Minh City.

    “The official broadcast of 5G in Ho Chi Minh City is an important milestone in Viettel’s strategy to make Vietnam one of the first countries in the world to commercialize 5G services,” Viettel deputy director Tao Duc Thang said in a statement.

    The 10 stations will be used by Viettel, the nation’s largest telecom firm, to comprehensively check and assess its 5G service before launching it commercially next year.

    Military-run Viettel installed the first 5G station in Hanoi early this year and made the first 5G phone call in May. It was the first firm in the country to receive permission to trial 5G services in January, followed by MobiFone.

    Last November, Information and Communication Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said at a conference that Vietnam should test 5G in 2019 and ensure nationwide coverage by 2020.

    “Vietnam should be one of the first countries to launch the network, at least in Hanoi and HCMC,” he had said. The country had been one of the last in Southeast Asia to roll out 4G services.

    5G is said to offer speeds 100 times faster than 4G, primarily used for smartphones and other similar devices. 5G is also expected to support new applications like remote medical procedures and autonomous driving.

  • Google Fi announces its first Unlimited Plan

    Google Fi announces its first Unlimited Plan

    Google Fi is getting its first Unlimited Plan, which should offer subscribers everything in unlimited quantities. Well, that’s not how it really works in the United States, at least when it comes to data.

    Since the carrier’s launch in 2015, only one plan was available for customers, the Fi Flexible plan. Starting today, Fi is adding a second plan, a Google Fi Unlimited Plan. It will be available for $70 for a single line, but the more people you’re sharing it with, the less it will cost. So, for two lines, the Unlimited Plan is priced at $60, while three lines cost just $50 per line. Finally, if you add between four and six lines, you’ll be paying $45 per individual user (taxes excluded)

    Google Fi’s Unlimited Plan offers 22GB of unthrottled data per line, after which your data speed will be limited. Also, Google mentions that it “may optimize video streaming quality to 480p to extend customers access to high-speed data before they hit 22GB.”

    Besides data, you’ll get unlimited calls and texts, including international calls. Google says that the plan covers free international calls from the US to 50 countries and territories, as well as unlimited data and texting abroad in 200 destinations at no extra charge.

    To make things even more appealing, the Unlimited Plan comes with a Google One membership with 100GB of cloud storage and extra benefits such as expert support across Google, discounts on Google products, and much more.

  • How 5G will revolutionize our retail industry as a great enabler

    How 5G will revolutionize our retail industry as a great enabler

    Mobile communication is about to experience its greatest revolution in the 12 years since Apple invented the smartphone. This time, however, it is not handsets that will drive the change, rather the network technology we have come to know as 5G. 5G technology offers data speeds 20-times faster than existing 4G long-term evolution (LTE) networks, promotes mass adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) by enhancing information exchange across different appliances, and better supports artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) thanks to the low latency. In some cases, 5G will offer speeds 100-times faster.

    South Korea became the first country in the world to launch fully-fledged 5G commercial services in April. By June of this year, 5G subscribers in the country had surpassed the 1 million mark, encouraged by aggressive network promotional campaigns, along with Samsung’s new 5G-enabled Galaxy S10 smartphone. Next year, networks will be established in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, initially in dense city environs before moving into smaller population centers. The worldwide rollout is inevitable. An Apple executive has confirmed that some of its next-generation iPhones scheduled for release next year will be 5G enabled.

    “The next chapter of IoT is just beginning,” wrote Carrie MacGillivray, vice-president for IoT and mobility at research house IDC, in a recent report. “We see a shift from digitally enabling the physical to automating and augmenting the human experience with a connected world.” Not surprisingly, that massive increase in speed and response time is delighting gamers, news services, and entertainment broadcasters: graphics or video imagery will be able to be streamed seamlessly in high definition.

    But are retailers ready? How many even understand the potential of the new-generation technology which is set to change our daily lives, let alone are making plans to ride the wave. To imagine the impact 5G will have on retail business, think of every single function of a retail store that becomes digital: the in-store AR experience, the product(s) presented to customers through Omni-channels, the seamless payment gateways, and the logistics required to fulfill customers’ order. Now think of them functioning at 20 times the current speed. That’s 20 times the data transfer rate. Now think of it happening at 100 times the current speed. That is 5G.

    Massive benefits for retailers

    Retailers will discover massive benefits using 5G. To customers, at the start of the process when consumers are researching and purchasing products during the delivery process, the incorporation of 5G and other technologies will, without doubt, uplift their experience. Despite the frustration faced by the early adopters of VR and AR technologies, both consumers and marketers, because of the latency, dropouts and limitations on the imagery definition; the arrival of 5G will eventually enable a seamless, free-moving experience outside a fixed, usually indoor environment.

    The high network speeds will allow a vastly more complex level of engagement between retailers and shoppers. It will allow high-quality imagery, seamless streaming 3D video and personalized product matching, including previews of how a product will look alongside a previous purchase; or for homewares or furniture, for example, inside a living space or office.

    5G also brings transparency. Put simply, faster data means it will soon be easier for your customers to compare your offer with those of your competitors. There won’t be secrets anymore on pricing, product specification, determining suitability for purpose, and more importantly, a store’s credibility – making the reviews from customers after checking out the shopping basket all the more important.

    Price, once a bedrock of customer decision, is being overtaken by value as a leading consideration. Consumers who connect through 5G devices will be able to access as much information as they want online faster than ever before: that includes price comparison sites, product review blog posts, unboxing videos by KOLs. Such content has been available in the past, and more are coming along with the rise of micro-influencers, which has accelerated since 2017. “The advent of 5G is going to be a make-or-break moment for retailers,” says Corey Pierson, co-founder, and CEO of US advanced customer analytics consultancy Custora. “And those that can effectively leverage the data at their disposal only stand to gain.”

    Research by Mintel found consumers lack trust in the online shopping process, a major barrier to online shopping; not just trust in data protection issues, but also the high chance of buying counterfeit products – more than 70 percent of them are sold online, and whether an unbranded product is true to the online description is sometimes also questionable.

    Improved consumer confidence and trust will remove a pain point for shoppers, potentially reducing return rates as well. But to make the most of this opportunity, retailers will have to embrace technologies like AR, VR, chatbots, and video streaming to replicate the in-store shopping experience for customers in a digital environment.

    A synonym of agility

    5G will be a synonym of agility, allowing changes of actions and vast amounts of information to be transmittable in an instant. An order could be canceled while the product is en route to the recipient: warehousing management tools could simultaneously update the inventory records and if there is another order waiting, redirect the product to another customer, sending all relevant details to the delivery driver in a heartbeat.

    With connectivity everywhere, technology like autonomous vehicles that are currently in limited testing in several countries such as Singapore and the US, will soon be commonplace in the major cities worldwide.

    On the other hand, imagine customers being able to see their shipments in real-time via AR through their smartphones, a service more than just the tracking of location thanks to the improved IoT; and logistics companies being able to increase the automation of sorting and delivery of packages, resulting in higher accuracy and speed to reaching the customers. 5G is a key to realizing the future of e-commerce fulfillment.

    5G is an enabler

    As new 5G networks are rolled out in more and more cities, it is imperative that companies embrace technologies based on 5G connectivity to remain competitive and responsive to consumer needs. As more and more consumers purchase and experience 5G devices, their expectations will rise: they will demand the brands and suppliers they deal with are keeping up with them, whether selling products, providing services such as delivery or providing content.

    5G is as much a cornerstone of customer engagement and connectivity in the next decade as smartphones and social media were in the last.

    But it is critical to remember that 5G is an enabler, not a solution in itself.

  • 2021’s Snapdragon 875 will reportedly be produced by TSMC using its 5nm process

    2021’s Snapdragon 875 will reportedly be produced by TSMC using its 5nm process

    he Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is expected to be the chip designer’s next top-of-the-line mobile chipset designed for 2020’s high-end handsets. For those unaware, Qualcomm designs its chips but doesn’t own the facilities to manufacture them. For the last two years, it has turned to the world’s largest independent foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), to manufacture the Snapdragon 845 and 855 chipsets. Before that, Samsung made the Snapdragon 820 and 835 SoCs.
    Qualcomm is returning to Samsung to produce the Snapdragon 865. The South Korean tech giant will produce the chip using its 7nm EUV process. The 7nm figure relates to the number of transistors that are shoehorned into a chip. The lower that number, the higher the number of transistors that can fit inside a chip; the more transistors in a chip, the more powerful and energy-efficient it is. Moore’s Law, an observation made by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore back in 1965, calls for the number of transistors in integrated circuits (like chips) to double every other year. To show you how far we’ve come, the Texas Instruments OMAP 3430 chip that powered the Motorola DROID back in 2009 was built using the 65nm process!
    The EUV part of 7nm EUV stands for extreme-ultraviolet lithography. This is a technology that uses ultraviolet beams to more precisely mark up the silicon wafers used to create chips with patterns. These patterns determine where the transistors will be placed inside a chip, and when short wave-length beams (like the ones used with EUV) are used to etch these patterns on a wafer, more transistors can be stuffed inside it. Using EUV is expected to provide a performance bump of 20% to 30% and a 30% to 50% improvement in energy consumption for the Snapdragon 865. Those are not numbers to take lightly. The Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform will probably debut on the Samsung Galaxy S11, which most likely will be unveiled around February 24th when the 2020 MWC show in Barcelona kicks off. The chip was recently spotted on the Geekbench benchmarking site where it produced a multi-core score of 12,496. That compares to the score of 10,946 produced by the Snapdragon 855+ Mobile Platform. The latter is an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 855.
    While 2020’s Snapdragon 865 will be made by Samsung, the report reveals that there will be two different versions of the chipset codenamed Kona and Huracan. Both will support LPDDX5 memory chips (RAM) and the UFS 3.0 flash memory. However, one of them will be integrated with a 5G modem chip and the other one won’t. Last week, Huwaei released a teaser for its upcoming Kirin 990 SoC that will be unveiled on September 6th. The component, expected to power the manufacturer’s next high-end Mate 30 phone line and the foldable Mate X, will also have an integrated 5G modem chip. This removes the need for a separate component and should also lead to improved battery life on devices that employ these chipsets.
    Sina.com says that for 2021’s Snapdragon 875 Mobile Platform, Qualcomm will once again call on TSMC to produce the component. The report adds that the Snapdragon 875 chipset will be manufactured using TSMC’s 5nm process. If that is indeed the case, the chip will sport 171.3 million transistors per square millimeter. Thus, the component should be more powerful and energy-efficient than its predecessor.
    So will Moore’s Law continue to be valid? Last year Samsung revealed a roadmap leading to 3nm production by 2022 and TSMC is also looking for ways to stuff more transistors inside chips. The latter is examining ways to change the packaging of chips and is also looking at stacking transistors vertically instead of side-by-side.
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  • Google shuts down service that helped carriers provide better coverage

    Google shuts down service that helped carriers provide better coverage

    Google has shut down a service that was aimed at helping carriers around the world improve their coverage, by providing them with aggregated data from Android devices. The closure comes at a time of heightened concerns about data privacy across the industry.

    Google’s Mobile Network Insights service was launched in 2017 as a free tool for wireless providers around the world that allowed them to see weak spots in their network coverage. The service was “essentially a map showing carriers signal strengths and connection speeds they were delivering in each area.”

    Thee data shared by Google were aggregated and anonymized, meaning that carriers didn’t get information about individual users, but it was still a valuable tool for providers, as they could see stats about the performance of their network in different regions. The platform also displayed stats relating to competitor services, which were not identified by name.

    The data for Google’s Mobile Network Insights was sourced from devices running Android, which totals to about 75% of the world’s smartphones, but was limited only to users who had “Location History Sharing” and usage and diagnostics enabled on their Google accounts. Despite this, Google opted to discontinue the service in April, without citing any formal reasoning behind the decision. Carriers around the world were simply notified of the closure.

    A Google spokeswoman has confirmed for Reuters that the service is now, indeed, discontinued and that changing “product priorities” was the main driving factor behind the decision. However, people with knowledge of the decision claim that Google’s move was motivated by “concerns about data privacy,” and possibly to avoid further scrutiny from lawmakers.

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  • Vodafone named ‘national retailer of the year’

    Vodafone named ‘national retailer of the year’

    Vodafone was crowned ‘national retailer of the year’ at the Australian Retailers’ Association’s annual awards in Melbourne on Thursday.

    The telecommunications company said it had made significant improvements to its business and customer experience since a low point a few years ago by making common sense decisions and backing its people.

    This was a fitting result, given this year’s theme, ‘Retail Morphosis’, which is all about how retailers adapt to change in order to succeed.

    “Although the retail landscape will continue to be disrupted by emerging technology and international competitors, it is truly gratifying to see the industry filled with hardworking retailers who continue to power retail through innovation and adaption,” Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the ARA, said.

    Retailers including Petstock, Bakers Delight, Birdsnest, Coles Group and Biome were recognised for their achievements in innovation, marketing, customer experience and more. The winners in all 12 categories are listed below.

    The awards took place at Myer Mural Hall on Thursday morning, and featured fashion parade capturing the history of Australian retail from the 1920s to the 1990s, with outfits curated by Myer and hair and make-up created by Chiseled Hair.

    Consumer futurist Amanda Stevens delivered a keynote speech on what the latest consumer research insights reveal about the opportunities for growth in the sector, and host Steve Plarre, CEO of Ferguson Plarre Bakehouses, entertained the audience with a rendition of ‘Uptown Funk’.

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  • Telenor Pakistan gets ready to bring 5G to Pakistan

    Telenor Pakistan gets ready to bring 5G to Pakistan

    Taking another stride towards network transformation and digitalization, Telenor Pakistan and its network partners have geared up to make the network 5G ready to pass on the benefits of this transformative technology to the people of Pakistan in the coming years.

    5G is the fifth-generation cellular network technology that offers faster data transfer speeds and enables advanced solutions such as smart homes, smart cities, autonomous driving, automated emergency services, remote medical diagnosis, smart manufacturing, cloud gaming, and enhanced content & media experiences to name a few.

    The development cements and once again demonstrates Telenor Pakistan’s position as the frontrunner of innovation and digital transformation in the country. Today, the company has the country’s first and only 4.5G network and takes the lead with such industry-first initiatives as IoT, Cloud Services, and overall digital ecosystem development comprising innovative solutions for gaming, entertainment, and 3G/4G devices portfolio, etc.

    Telenor Pakistan took the first step towards 5G enablement last year by beginning the evolution of its network core from legacy architecture to state-of-the-art virtualized hybrid core, taking the lead towards 5G readiness. The latest development takes Telenor Pakistan one step closer to the successful launch of end-to-end 5G trials to demonstrate the potential of futuristic technologies and solutions for socioeconomic advancement.

    “As Pakistan gears up for future technologies that will be integrated into governance, businesses and people’s lives, the role of 5G becomes imperative,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, Chief Executive Officer Telenor Pakistan and Head of Telenor Emerging Asia Cluster, while sharing his thoughts on the development. “With this latest step towards digitalization and network transformation, Telenor Pakistan is opening up new possibilities for millions of Pakistanis who will be the actual winners in the development. We look forward to continued government support as a digitalization partner for adequate spectrum allocation for adoption and penetration of 5G over the next few years.”

    “Staying devoted to our vision of empowering the people, we have made use of innovative technologies to bring them newer and better opportunities,” said Bilal Kazmi, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan while speaking to the media at Telenor Pakistan Headquarters. “We are happy to further our goals of communications innovation and digitalization across sectors, which is exactly what this development aims for. We will continue to play our part to leverage technology as the greatest equalizer and enhance the ecosystem that we set out to build years ago through network transformation and expansion, data solutions, content services and introduction of affordable devices.”

    Telenor Pakistan, driven by its vision of empowering societies, continues to take groundbreaking initiatives to lead Pakistan towards a digital economy. Connectivity and data being the enablers that empower people, the company believes that connecting people to what matters most to them is truly realized only if it continues to innovate and impact millions of lives.

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  • AT&T launches 5G service in New York City

    AT&T launches 5G service in New York City

    After Sprint and Verizon, it’s AT&T’s turn to bring 5G to another US city. The carrier has just announced that starting today, customers in New York City will be able to use its 5G service if they own a compatible device.

    However, AT&T’s 5G network won’t cover the entire city and it will be available in limited areas initially. Sadly, unlike other US carriers, AT&T wouldn’t list areas in New York City where customers will be able to access its so-called 5G+ network.

    While our initial availability in NYC is a limited introduction at launch, we’re committed to working closely with the City to extend coverage to more neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs.
    For the time being, select customers in NYC can access AT&T’s 5G+ network using the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G on the carrier’s AT&T Business Unlimited Preferred plan. As such, the AT&T 5G service is only for business customers, at list initially.

    NYC is the 21st city in the US with AT&T 5G, but the carrier announced plans to offer nationwide 5G in the first half of 2020, so there’s more to come.

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  • Huawei Battling for Chinese consumers

    Huawei Battling for Chinese consumers

    When 23-year-old Chinese student Aaron Huang started his hunt for an Android replacement for his Apple iPhone in April this year, it was clear which brand was trying hardest to win him over.

    Promotional campaigns by Huawei Technologies and from local retailers supporting the brand were everywhere, said Huang, adding he was influenced by domestic media coverage that portrayed the US as unfairly targeting the Chinese tech giant in its trade war.

    “I felt like I should choose Huawei,” he said.

    The advertising blitz and grassroots patriotism have proven to be a potent mix, amplifying the brand’s existing broad appeal in its home market – a market it is increasingly dependent on as Washington’s ban on sales of US components and software to Huawei hammers overseas demand.

    Second-quarter China smartphone shipments for Huawei surged by a nearly a third from the same period a year earlier, with its market share rocketing 10.6 percentage points to a record 38 percent, according to research firm Canalys. Shipments for domestic rivals and Apple plummeted.

    Huawei has lifted its China sales target for its consumer business group, said a company source, who was not authorised to speak on the matter and declined to be identified.

    Within Huawei, employees refer to current strategies as ‘Battle Mode’ and it has stepped up the opening of new stores including Experience Centers in the style of Apple shops, other company sources said. One Experience Center near its South China headquarters opened last month while a bigger one in Shenzhen’s tech district of Nanshan will open next month.

    Analysts say Huawei has also been transferring unsold smartphone stock from other regions to China and even offering some rare discounting in its home and overseas markets as it seeks to offset sales declines in Europe and the US.

    Huawei declined to comment on its strategies for marketing and managing inventories, or its China sales target. It reiterated an earlier statement that it was not trying to trade on patriotic fervor.

    Lotteries and bullfrogs

    Sales promotions have included interest-free installment payment plans and lotteries for its premium P30 and Mate series. Analysts add that products from its three brands – Huawei, Nova, and Honor – outnumber those from rivals in every market segment.

    Firms like Chinese electronics retailer Gome and small businesses have been eager to lend a hand, linking Huawei phones with patriotic support.

    Fang Xia, a 38-year-old restaurant owner in Shanghai, said she was motivated by recent coverage of Huawei’s dispute with the US to offer her customers a special deal.

    “Tables that have four or more people with Huawei smartphones will get one free plate of Emperor Bullfrog,” proclaims an advertisement for her restaurant’s signature 88 yuan ($12.50) deep-fried frog dish.

    Huawei’s overseas smartphone sales tumbled 28 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, Canalys data showed, but the full impact of the ban is not yet known.

    Warning that Huawei products could be a vehicle for Chinese espionage, the Trump administration now requires that US corporations which conduct business with Huawei gain a special license to do so. US government responses to requests for those licenses could come this week, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said last Tuesday.

    In other measures to counter the ban which could strip its access to Google’s Android, Huawei is accelerating efforts to develop its own operating system called Hongmeng. It is looking to roll out a low-end smartphone equipped with Hongmeng in the fourth quarter, state-media outlet Global Times reported on Sunday.

    Huawei declined to comment. It has previously said Hongmeng is designed for internet-of-things products and it prefers Android for its smartphones.

    Even before the US ban, Huawei had been making big strides in China, moving upmarket into the $500-800 price range and luring customers away from the likes of Apple with improved camera quality.

    “In any segment, it has several options for consumers, that is more than any other brand has to offer,” said Canalys analyst Mo Jia, describing Huawei’s strategy as one of “bombardment”.

    Rivals are hurting. Xiaomi saw its second-quarter China shipments tumble 20 per cent from the same period a year earlier, Vivo’s slid 19 per cent while Oppo’s dropped 18 per cent. Apple’s shipments fell 14 per cent, and analysts and Chinese consumers say the US firm could be hit further amid an intensifying US-China trade war.

    Xiaomi, Apple, Oppo and Vivo declined to comment.

    While Huawei has managed a huge boost in its home market, analysts said China sales may not always stay unscathed as it could struggle to replace US components and software.

    “Without the original supply chain, we may see its speed of development start to slow down,” said James Yan, research director at Counterpoint Research.

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  • Comcast tweaks Xfinity Mobile data plans

    Comcast tweaks Xfinity Mobile data plans

    Comcast announced earlier today a handful of changes to its Xfinity Mobile data plans. The most important is the addition of a $20 fee per month for subscribers who want to stream HD video with an unlimited data plan. The move isn’t a surprise since Comcast revealed plans to introduce such a fee last year when it capped video resolution on unlimited plans to 480p.

    To stream HD video with an unlimited plan, you’ll have to buy an HD Pass, which costs $20 month. The new pass will upgrade to HD video resolution on Unlimited lines (720p on phone and 1080p on tablets) and allow subscribers to access faster speeds when the network is congested.

    Also, the announcement contains information about new Xfinity Mobile customers who will be able to customize the new data options and features. The new “By the Gig Shared Data” plans will allow users to pay per gigabyte and select a minimum amount of cellular data each month shared across all lines on an account.

    Xfinity Mobile offers 1GB for $12, 3GB for $30, and 10GB for $60. With the addition of the “by the gig” plans, the 480p video resolution cap has been completely removed, as video will stream in HD if you choose any of the option mentioned above.

    Last but not least, Xfinity Mobile introduces a $10 per month per line pass, which offers customers unlimited calls to Mexico and Canada.

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  • Huawei promo video explains why mobile gamers can’t wait for 5G

    Huawei promo video explains why mobile gamers can’t wait for 5G

    What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think about 5G? Most likely you think about the faster download speeds that have peaked thus far at over 2Gbps (according to AT&T). With these data speeds, users will be able to download an HD movie in seconds instead of minutes. New businesses and industries will spring up to take advantage of the speed of the new networks similar to how 4G LTE connectivity enabled the creation of the ride-sharing industry; the latter now has two billion-dollar companies in Uber and Lyft.

    Another advantage of 5G, one that you don’t hear about often, is low latency. Latency measures the time it takes you to get a response to information that you send. For example, if you’re playing a game and shoot the opponent, latency measures the lag between the time you fire the blast and the time you know whether you’ve succeeded in hitting your target. So 5G is obviously positive for those playing mobile games in the cloud.

    Today, Huawei released a promo video for its Mate 20 X 5G that not only shows the huge difference in speed between 4G LTE and 5G, it also mentions the reduction in latency. In fact, the clip claims that game players won’t experience any lag at all when this phone runs on a 5G network.

    The Mate 20 X 5G features a 7.2-inch AMOLED display sporting a 1080 x 2244 resolution. Huawei’s Kirin 980 SoC is under the hood and the device employs Huawei’s own Baloong 5000 5G modem chip. A triple camera setup is in the back (40MP primary + 8MP telephoto with a 3x optical zoom + 20MP Ultra-wide) and a 24MP selfie snapper is in the front. A 4200mAh battery keeps the lights on, and the handset supports the Huawei M-Pen.

    No, you’re not going to see this phone sold in the U.S., but the video does point out a reason why mobile game players in the states should be looking forward to getting 5G up and running in their city.

  • JD takes stake in Beijing Digital Telecom

    JD takes stake in Beijing Digital Telecom

    Chinese online retail platform JD is acquiring 9 percent of Beijing Digital Telecom.

    The consumer electronics retailer, which operates from around 3000 physical stores throughout China selling predominantly phones and computers, will expand JD’s offline presence within the market, including lower-tier cities.

    The transaction value has not been disclosed, as it falls below the amount that requires public notification under US Securities and Exchanges Commission regulations.

    At the same time, Beijing Digital Telecom is entering a joint venture with a network-technologies developer and provider Suqian Jiashi, which is wholly owned by JD. The firm is investing RMB191 million (US$28.5 million) for a 49 percent stake, while Suqian Jiashi is putting in RMB 204 million ($29.6 million).

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  • Singtel Makes Foray Into Insurance Market

    Singtel Makes Foray Into Insurance Market

    Singtel announced its first foray into the insurance market on Thursday, introducing Singapore’s first prepaid data plan and Dash mobile remittance service that comes with personal insurance cover.

    Singapore’s dominant telco provider will be offering customers of its prepaid data plan and users of Dash mobile remittance service insurance cover that is provided by NTUC Income (Income), with premiums paid for by Singtel.

    As many of our prepaid and Dash mobile remittance customers are the sole breadwinners in their families, income stability and protection from financial loss are among their topmost concerns. By working with Income to remove price barriers and simplify the sign-up process, we want to make insurance accessible for all, enabling our customers to protect their loved ones, by simply topping up their data or remitting money back home, said Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Consumer Singapore at Singtel in a media statement.

    Prepaid customers who purchase a 30-day 50MB Protect data plan worth S$2 or do a S$20 prepaid top-up will be entitled to an insurance policy that provides coverage for 30 days. The coverage provides a range of benefits, including lump-sum payouts in the event of loss of employment due to hospitalization, as well as permanent disability and accidental death.

    The plan also offers daily cash benefits for each day of hospitalization and a one-off get-well benefit, together with mobile data to ensure that the beneficiary can stay connected with his or her loved ones, according to Singtel’s web page. Dash customers who remit at least S$100 will qualify for Free 30-Day Dash Protect, an insurance policy that offers lump-sum payouts in the event of permanent disability and accidental death – a first in the remittance market.

    Currently, the Singapore telco company provides mobile connectivity to more than 60 percent of foreign workers in Singapore, including S Pass workers (mid-level skilled staff), foreign domestic workers and migrant workers which number about 1.171 million in Singapore. Dash mobile remittance volumes have been growing steadily, doubling in the quarter ended June 2019 from a year ago.

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