wLANs: taking the trophy

Avaya's wLAN linked World Cup stadiums, officials, volunteers, local authorities and the media in a major feat of networking. Meanwhile, BT has announced widespread wLAN roll-out plans in the UK. These stories highlight that wLAN technology is increasingly viable; converged LAN networking is the next major step in telecoms.

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Vodafone: taking control in the US and Japan?

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Vodafone: dominating Down Under

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Vodafone: banking on data

The lower subscriber figures don't matter too much, as Vodafone's focus is now on boosting average revenue per user (ARPU). Unfortunately, 12-month ARPU figures were also down. Data revenues were up, which Vodafone believes will allow it to raise ARPU going ahead. However, the challenge will be in migrating users from SMS to higher-value messaging services.

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Visa and DeviceFidelity partner to bring mobile payments one step closer

Visa and DeviceFidelity have announced plans to launch an NFC-capable microSD memory card for use in mobile phones, effectively turning them into contactless payment devices. Although Visa's involvement makes this new device a much stronger proposition than previous offerings, perennial issues such as competing technologies, revenue models and consumer acceptance must still be tackled.

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Telecoms, media and entertainment developments set to significantly transform the landscape

Consumers are adopting technologies and services that blur the boundaries between entertainment and communication. Furthermore, research shows that, ultimately, the driving force for the adoption of technologies in the media and broadcasting sector is determined by the level of consumer demand and acceptance of new services, not by how good the technology looks.

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Speech self-service slowly leaving indelible impact on voice of customer service

Speech recognition technology is becoming increasingly prominent as a cost-cutting and value-enhancing solution for customer care and service enablement. As firms look to improve customer interaction in a cost effective manner, the technology will serve as an adjunct to offshore customer service operations.

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Outbound sales & marketing changing in response to consumer backlash

Although outsourcers will continue to provide a solid mix of offerings related to horizontal functionality, the manner in which traditional services are delivered is shifting. The handling of outbound sales & marketing in particular is changing, in response to consumer backlash. In addition, outsourcing vendors have their fingers on the pulse, and have new services such as 'warm calling' cued.

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NTT: mobile and Internet up, fixed lines down

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NTT DoCoMo: slight relief

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