The integration of hardware, software, and middleware post 3G is a big challenge

What are the latest highlights in telecom operations in the Indian market?

The Indian telecom market is growing at rocket speed. The market sees some
of the lowest prices for services provided. However, with more and more devices
coming in the market and an increasing number of users looking at rich user
experience, we see operators focusing on building differentiated offerings by
adding innovative value added services. Things will get even more interesting
once we roll out 3G, leading to a surge in demand for a whole new level of
services-from video streaming and video calls to super-fast and rich web
experience. We see a huge opportunity for Indian service providers across areas
including OSS/BSS, multimedia, managed services, VAS, R&D, etc.

What are the latest softwares launched for lowering power consumption?

Aricent's Media EXP suite is pre-optimized for most consumer electronics
development platforms, resulting in a significant decrease in power consumption
and considerable battery life extension (power savings up to 44% on certain
platforms) for video recording and playback. The pre-optimized platform also
delivers unparalleled encoding/decoding performance improvements of more than
50% relative to open source solutions. Already over 400 mn devices are powered
by our solutions.

What are the revenue opportunities for OEMs and service providers?

From an OEM perspective, opportunities lie in the end-to-end management of
networks in addition to product development. The opportunities further expand
when you consider that there are a multiple of technologies at play-from basic
GSM to 2.5G, 3G and LTE and WiMax. Managing such complex networks and offering
differentiated services while ensuring interoperability is a significant
challenge. For handset manufacturers, opportunities lie in providing devices
with a compelling user experience from the mass market to smartphones. What this
entails is the complete harmonization of chipsets, CODECs, displays, power
management, UI and more to deliver a good user experience. With the
commoditization of voice, telecom players are increasingly looking at VAS.

How do you plan to manage the complex integration in the post 3G scenario?

The biggest challenge that exists in the 3G and post 3G era is being able to
manage the complex integration of hardware, software, and middleware, while
ensuring the delivery of the best experience to consumers. Going forward, the
biggest myth is that user experience (UE) equals the user interface (UI). UI and
device design is one part of the UE, but it is just the tip of the proverbial
iceberg. Beyond UI, UE is heavily dependent on factors such as connectivity, as
the available bandwidth directly effects the experience as well as the services
that can be provided on the device. Performance optimization is also important
and with more mobile devices today than ever before (display, power, processor,
radio chips, etc), components are becoming more important than ever before.

Archana Singh

archanasi@cybermedia.co.in