As complaints from frustrated customers indicate, wireless carriers are struggling to keep up with their users’ seemingly insatiable appetite for data. Networks are stressed due to the huge and ever growing popularity of smartphones such as the iPhone and computing devices such as netbooks, USB ‘dongles’ for mobile broadband access, and video-intensive applications.

There are many ways that carriers are attempting to tackle this problem, including acquiring more bandwidth in the form of spectrum and building out 4G network infrastructure. In the short term, some operators are also using technology to “optimize” web and video content for access via mobile devices.

To find out whether optimization has a measurable impact on the customer experience, Informa Telecoms and Media, a leading industry market research company, conducted an extensive study comparing the performance of mobile broadband across leading U.K. wireless providers including O2, T-Mobile, Virgin Mobile, BT, Vodafone, and H3G. From June to August 2009, a series of tests were performed in and around London, measuring the download performance of several popular internet destinations including Amazon, Facebook, Lycos, and Starbucks.

Informa’s measurements illustrate that T-Mobile and O2 (which both use Bytemobile’s solution), BT (which uses Vodafone’s network) and Vodafone were consistently the smallest in webpage download size and in 80% of measurements were the fastest to complete the download.

As a result of its findings, Informa concluded that enhancing an existing network - whether via 2G, 2.5G or 3G - with an optimization solution produces results that are not achievable via any other upgrades with a similar level of financial investment.

Interestingly, the results of this study echo the findings of YouGov’s recent survey, in which U.K. mobile users ranked their satisfaction with providers’ data download speeds.

Download the Informa report for free at http://www.telecoms.com/category/format/informa-white-papers.

-Graham Carey

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On October 13-14 in Amsterdam, Bytemobile held its inaugural Mobile Minute Executive Forum for tier-one operator customers and prospects in Europe.

The invitational event focused on mobile internet challenges and opportunities for the next three years and began with cocktails and dinner aboard a yacht cruising the Amsterdam canals. Attendees included management responsible for network operations and content at Life, Orange, T-Mobile, Telefónica, TeliaSonera, and VimpelCom, who shared their views on industry trends, the Bytemobile solutions deployed in their networks, and the company’s product strategy and roadmap.

Guest speakers included Denis McCauley of The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), who presented the results of a Bytemobile-sponsored survey of mobile ecosystem executives in late 2008; Ivan Breton and Johan Hörberg of TeliaSonera, who discussed the group’s Telia SurfOpen strategy for open mobile web browsing; and Ken Hart of Yahoo! Europe, who delivered the internet brand’s perspective on mobile user behavior and its implications for operators.

The Bytemobile management speakers – Joel Brand, Saurav Chopra, Adrian Hall, and Nick Henry – addressed topics ranging from the company’s product portfolio and its value proposition for operators to the market opportunity for mobile analytics solutions and the evolution of data services that personalize the user experience. Chief Marketing Officer Adrian Hall led a panel session on operator feedback regarding Bytemobile products, services and relationships, as well as the event itself.

Attendee comments on the first Executive Forum included the following:

• The discussions with other operators was especially useful
• This has been a very informative and useful event
• Good initiative – I liked best the opportunity to meet with other operators

The interaction among operators was exemplified by a spontaneous white-boarding session in which Orange, T-Mobile and VimpelCom shared their respective ideas on data service implementation. Such ad hoc meetings occurred throughout the day and underscored the true value of the event in bringing Bytemobile customers together on common ground.

The Executive Forum is part of Bytemobile’s Mobile Minute thought leadership program for customers, prospects and partners in the global mobile ecosystem. Currently, the company plans to make the Executive Forum an annual event and expand it to other geographic regions. For more information, please contact me at gcarey@bytemobile.com.

-Graham Carey

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In 2008, Bytemobile began tracking customer satisfaction by emailing its customers a brief transactional survey on closure of a service request. The survey asks respondents to grade Bytemobile Customer Support in six areas:

• Response Time
• Resolution Time
• Solution Effectiveness
• Staff Technical Knowledge
• Customer Service
• Overall Satisfaction

On a 5-point scale in which a rating of 5 is “Excellent”, Bytemobile Customer Support’s cumulative average across all areas is 4.26 and has not fallen below 4.2 since inception of the surveys. A review of the individual scores shows 97.6% overall satisfaction in all areas of support.

Warren Simpson, vice president of Worldwide Customer Support, attributes Bytemobile’s success to listening to its customers’ needs:

We have invested a lot of time and energy in building an infrastructure of service excellence that is driven by input from our customers. One very important piece of this infrastructure is our customer support survey process, which acts as a key feedback loop for how our customers rate our performance on every support interaction. However, the most critical piece is how we use and react to the feedback by building specific, individual customer corrective action plans to address our customers’ needs and concerns.

-Tony Gambacorta

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On the evening of October 13, employees of Metro PCS and Bytemobile gathered over cocktails and gourmet hors d’oeuvres to celebrate their ongoing partnership – specifically, the successful launch of Bytemobile’s web optimization solution in the MetroPCS network. The Customer Connection event – held at TPC Craig Ranch, a country club in McKinney, Texas – was part of Bytemobile’s Mobile Minute program for customers and partners in the global mobile ecosystem.

MetroPCS guests included Ed Chao, senior vice president, Engineering and Network Operations, and Doug Glen, senior vice president, Corporate Development. Bytemobile hosts included Hugh Barton, vice president and general manager, North America, and Dr. Constantine Polychronopoulos, founder and chief technology officer. Also on hand were members of MetroPCS’s engineering and product teams and the Bytemobile sales, marketing, professional services, and customer support resources that support the account.

-Jaishree Subramania

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