Page 10 - Mobile World Daily - Day 3
P. 10
NEWS
Small Cell GSMA charter to make
Forum mobile humanitarian
sees services more efficient
$163B By Joanne Taaffe “Mobile networks and Smartphones
operator the connectivity that essential to US
benefit The GSMA launched an they provide can be a consumers - Verto
from rural industry-wide Humanitarian lifeline for those affected
Connectivity Charter. The aim by natural disasters and By Joanne Taaffe Apple meanwhile continues to
By Anne Morris of the charter, which Axiata, Etisalat other humanitarian count on its loyal users to maintain
and Ooredoo have already adopted, is emergencies” US consumers increasingly its lead. Mac users are more likely
The Small Cell Forum said to help mobile network operators see smartphones as a must- to have a smartphone or tablet of
rural and remote coverage is work more efficiently with The Charter is supported by the have, regardless of income, any kind than Windows users – and
a big opportunity for mobile humanitarian agencies. United Nations Office for the according to a new report on US they tend to choose Apple. Out of
operators, opening up a market Coordination of Humanitarian digital device usage by data all Mac users, 79 per cent have a
worth a potential $163 billion and Humanitarian agencies already Affairs (UN OCHA), the UN analytics company Verto. smartphone, and 58 per cent have a
providing affordable mobile use mobile connectivity to locate Emergency Telecommunications tablet and they are four times more
broadband services to an extra 650 people and exchange essential Cluster (ETC) and the International At the end of the fourth quarter likely to own an iPad than an
million users, according to a study information, while mobile operators Federation of the Red Cross and 2014, 42 per cent of people in the Android tablet. Windows users,
carried out by Real Wireless. provide services such as early Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). US earning $15,000 or less owned a however, show no clear preference.
warning systems and SMS smartphone, compared to 80 per At the end of 2014 Apple’s users
“It’s not niche,” said Alan Law, information services. The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki- cent of those earning over accounted for 42 per cent of the
chair of the Small Cell Forum, who moon, said: "I congratulate the $150,000. total installed base of smartphones
was speaking during the The charter, however, lays out a GSMA and its membership for and 43 per cent of the installed
presentation of Release Five of the coordinated and predictable developing this partnership with the Unsurprisingly, younger people base of tablets.
forum’s programme. response to disasters so that humanitarian community, which will are the most likely to favour
operators can better support not only enable people affected by crises to smartphones: 75 to 78 per cent of Nevertheless, Samsung managed
Release Five: Rural and Remote is their customers, but also the agencies gain access to vital communications.” 18-to-39-year olds in the US own to increase its share of sales in the
the Small Cell Forum’s fifth body of that are working on the ground. one, with 30-to-34-year-olds being US tablet market from 12 per cent in
work that sets out how small cells MNOs that sign the charter will the most likely to do so. 2013 to 15 per cent in 2015 and its
can and are being used in a diverse “Mobile networks and the commit to a common set of share of smartphones purchases
range of remote and rural connectivity that they provide can be principles and work towards the And although US consumers tend from 27 per cent in 2013 to 29 per
environments. Indeed, Julius a lifeline for those affected by natural adoption of initiatives. to have several devices – 4.6 each cent. The other area of growth is in
Robson, who sits on the forum’s disasters and other humanitarian on average – they are casting aside the use of smart TVs and streaming
steering committee, said 17,000 emergencies,” said Anne Bouverot, PCs, portable media players and media devices, which increased 26
small cells are already deployed in director general, GSMA. electronic book readers in favour of per cent and 22 per cent to reach 45
rural and remote environments. tablets and smartphones: Amazon’s million and 35 million users,
MasterCard and Egyptian share of the tablets in use decreased respectively.
The forum has already explored government team from 22 per cent in 2013 to 18 per
small cell opportunities in the on mobile payments cent last year, according to Verto.
home, the enterprise and urban
areas in previous releases, and said By Joanne Taaffe Banks Co., the Phone Cash mobile
it has now “completed the set” with wallet interoperable platform
the addition of rural and remote, MasterCard and the already provides a range of
although emphasising that its work Egyptian government interoperable financial services,
is far from done. yesterday unveiled a including online and retail payment,
money transfers and phone bill
In future, the forum will address partnership to use mobile payment to banked and unbanked
new and emerging topics such as Egyptians. And it does so
virtualisation, SON, Wi-Fi technology to extend financial independently of mobile operators.
integration and 5G. In addition, the
relevance of small cells to what is services to 54 million Egyptians. With a mobile penetration rate of
variously called LTE-Unlicensed or over 100 per cent, the Egyptian
LTE-LAA (licensed assisted access) MasterCard will work with the government now wants to take the
is attracting urgent interest from service a step further and create a
the mobile communications government to create and introduce secure mobile platform that brings
industry in general, the forum financial services to millions more
noted. a digital ID program that links Egyptians. By providing a single
cashless electronic platform
With this technology due to be Egyptian citizens’ national ID to an underpinned by national ID cards, the
standardised in 3GPP’s Release 13, Egyptian government hopes to include
the Small Cell Forum said it has an existing interoperable national more citizens in the formal economy.
opportunity to take an active role in
driving forward this emerging mobile money platform. “This collaboration with
standard. MasterCard will provide millions of
MasterCard has already carved Egyptians with access to an GSMA HONOURS THE GOVERNMENTS OF BRAZIL AND PAKISTAN
Mark Grayson, a Cisco engineer innovative, safe and simple way to IN ITS 2015 GOVERNMENT MOBILE EXCELLENCE AWARDS
who sits on the forum’s board, out a sizeable role in the Egyptian conduct financial transactions using
observed that an operator requires their national ID card,” said H.E. Atef l. to r. His Excellency Mr. Ricardo Berzoini, the Minister of
licensed coverage to access mobile payments market. In mid- Helmy, minister of communications Communications of Brazil; Her Excellency Ms. Anusha Rahman
license-exempt spectrum, and said and information technology. Khan, the Minister of State for Information Technology of Pakistan;
LAA is a subset of carrier 2013 the company launched a Mr. David Thodey, CEO & Executive Director, Telstra (who
aggregation. MasterCard and the Egyptian presented the awards).
Mobile Payment Gateway, followed government will jointly build an
“It makes sense to co-locate the innovation center in Cairo, which will
licensed and license-exempt later in the same year by the Phone draw on MasterCard’s technologies
bands,” Grayson said. to develop the services.
Cash mobile wallet. Rolled out in
conjunction with the National Bank
of Egypt, Fawry and Egyptian
PAGE 10 Wednesday 4th March MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DAILY 2015 | www.mobileworldcongress.com
