Hejdå Stockholm – Bonjour Paris!

If you’ve been keeping up to date with Malmö’s music and cultural scenes, you’ve probably heard about Malmö Live: Malmö’s state-of-the-art conference, concert and hotel center that is due to open in the summer of 2015 and that will offer world-class acoustics and multiple stages for Malmö Symphony Orchestra. But did you know that iBwave was a key player in the project?

The news was revealed through a press release by We Consulting, the fast-growing telecom consulting firm that was selected to deliver optimal indoor mobile capacity and coverage services.

“Our proven expertise, combined with iBwave’s sophisticated software, open up great possibilities to change and develop network wireless designs, allowing us to build high quality indoor mobile networks for shopping malls and other large public spaces in a more efficient way ”- Patrik Olsson, Business Operations Manager at We Consulting

Well, Patrick is right to talk about the value of partnerships – particularly at a time when the market in Western Europe continues to gain considerable traction, and operators are starting to work closer together to meet the demand for indoor DAS and small cells coverage.

The Malmö Live project is the fruit of a successful collaboration between Sweden’s largest telecom operators, Skanska, the city of Malmö, Nordic Choice Hotels Clarion and Malmö Symphonic Orchestra

Coincidentally, the subject of collaboration was also high on the agenda during our seminar which took place in Stockholm last week. Although a significant portion of time was devoted to Small Cell technologies, LTE networks (and more specifically, LTE optimization for stadiums) and real-world deployments, our guest speaker, Lars Jessen from Eltel Networks, clearly underlined the challenges and increased complexity of solutions (multi-operators using multiple frequencies and technologies, high-density solutions etc.) and the need for adequate tools and industry partners.

3d Modeling for Stadiums and Arenas

The team also presented a series of interactive demos and workshops to further illustrate the benefits of “TRUE 360 DEGREE COLLABORATION”!

Overall, the event fostered positive feedback and dynamic exchanges, and it was a real pleasure to learn from your experiences in the field. We hope that you enjoyed it too!

Thanks to Erik Nilsson (Sales Manager for Europe), Bob Froger (Director of Sales, EMEA) and the rest of the team for putting this successful seminar together and to all those who took the time out of their busy schedules to attend. Congratulations also to our two winners Vincent Fasquelle and Ilya Kryuchkov who both go home with a free iBwave Certification seat! See you all again soon and let’s meet again in Munich if you are planning on attending our European User Group, our networking cocktail or the DAS and Small Cells Europe.

As iBwave friends, you are entitled to a 15% discount on the DAS and Small Cells Congress Europe registration fee. Operators will also receive one complimentary all-access pass for the event. Please contact Kristy Perkins (k.perkins@americanconference.com) to redeem your discount or for additional information

Prochain arrêt. PARIS, FRANCE!

Après notre courte escale à Stockholm, il est grand temps de reprendre la route (ou en l’occurrence les airs !) et de se rendre à Paris pour notre deuxième séminaire de la rentrée.

À l’hôtel Novotel Paris Vaugirard Montparnasse, tout est prêt pour recevoir nos participants et pour discuter, pardon my French, de réseaux « indoor », de « smartphones », de « small cells » et de« neutral host » (Merci Bob pour le briefing préliminaire !).

Comme lors de notre rencontre de l’année dernière (qui, rappelez-vous, s’était tenue le jour de la Saint-Valentin), les discussions ont suscité beaucoup d’intérêt et donné lieu à de nombreux échanges, notamment sur le neutral host, sur le LTE au service de la sécurité publique ou sur la question épineuse de la sous-traitance du IBS – et ce d’autant plus que nous avions la chance d’avoir, parmi nous, des représentants des trois principaux opérateurs nationaux, ainsi qu’un échantillon assez représentatif de l’écosystème du marché indoor en France.

L’industrie des communications sans fil connaissant une croissance rapide, en France comme un peu partout dans le monde, nous en avons bien entendu profité pour faire le point sur les tendances du marché et pour partager les nouvelles actualités d’iBwave.

En France, les opérateurs investissent massivement dans la capacité de leurs réseaux, au bénéfice des acteurs du web comme Google, Facebook, Apple etc. On observe également une forte demande indoor pour les stades, particulièrement à l’approche d’évènements de grande envergure comme le championnat d’Europe de football 2016.

Avis aux intéressés et petit scoop : la version 6.5 d’iBwave Design est désormais disponible et comporte de nombreuses fonctionnalités, mais saviez-vous que le lancement de la nouvelle version d’iBwave Mobile est elle aussi imminente ? Oh, et comme les bonnes nouvelles n’arrivent jamais seules, nous allons aussi proposer une nouvelle formation sur les Small Cells ! Intéressant, non ? Suivez-nous sur Facebook ou sur LinkedIn pour être les premiers à être informés.

Là encore, la journée a été particulièrement productive, et nous avons beaucoup retiré de cette rencontre. Merci à tous pour votre participation et votre contribution au dialogue! Au revoir Paris!

Thank you and happy Merdeka Day!

Don’t you sometimes wish that you could slow down the hands of time? It is already been over a week since our last seminar at Le Meridien in Kuala Lumpur , Hari Merdeka has now come and gone and Stadia & Arena Asia Pacific 2014 (where our Director of Sales Engineering, Jalal Berrahou, is scheduled to participate as a panelist in the “Revenue Generation: Maximizing Returns for Your Venue or Sporting Event” session) is a mere few weeks away!

One thing is certain however: our local team (which consists of Michel Trudelle, Director of Sales, Jasmine Goh, Sales Manager, Alan Chng, Sales Engineer and of course, Jalal!) did maximize their time during their recent visit to Malaysia, connecting with many industry experts from CMCC, DiGi, RFS, Maxis, Dali Wireless, Motorola Solutions, Alcatel-Lucent, NERA, U Mobile, Ericsson, PT. Mac, Roots Communications, YTL Communications, Silver Ridge, Propel Network and FiberHome to name a few…to share their insights and experience on today’s dynamic wireless market.

As always, the agenda (as was the room for that matter) was packed with wide-ranging discussions, from key IBS market drivers and 4G deployment considerations and challenges all the way through to the most commonly adopted wireless technologies, business models and best practices.

“Asia Pacific dominates the global mobile industry in terms of both unique subscribers and connections, having seen significant growth over recent years and with it sets to remain the second fastest growing region over the period out to 2020” – Source: The Mobile Economy, Asia Pacific 2014 report

Event highlights of note included the case study that was delivered by our guest of honor, Ulrich Pfeil, Chief Operating Officer at PT. Mac who provided a comprehensive overview of the Indonesian telecommunications market (with an emphasis on the in-building market), followed by a deep dive session on “Neutral Host Solutions: Challenges and Opportunities”.

“Different building types require different design approaches and offer different additional business opportunities.”

Our highly interactive iBwave Mobile workshop (during which participants were broken up into small groups and asked to compete in a friendly contest) also proved to be extremely successful. Here, the end goal was to demonstrate just how easy it really is to perform basic indoor designs for small cells and WiFi directly from a smartphone or tablet. A prize was then awarded to the team who achieved the “highest average throughput and nicest documentation package.”

Since iBwave is recognized as the in-building standard in the region, the team naturally took some time to go over our solution offerings – including our latest iBwave Design features such as Survey Data Import and Management Improvements, Redundant DAS Design, LTE Advanced and PIM – and how they address IBC challenges.

Sharing our key takeaways in front of a captive audience: “In-building wireless services are becoming a COMMODITY & EVOLUTION of planning, design & deployment techniques will provide high business value and increased ROI.”

As is customary for our in-building seminars, we finished off the day with a lucky draw for a free iBwave Certification seat. (Flash news: we will be conducting a Level 1 certification program in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 11, 12 and 13 so register today to make sure that you don’t miss out on this opportunity!)

Congratulations to our iBwave certification winners: Leong WM from Propel Network and Edeline Samsir Hadi from Maxis and thank you all for the great attendance. We certainly enjoyed learning more about your ongoing and future projects, and look forward to seeing you again soon…

Greetings from Latin America

If there is no denying that our industry is evolving very rapidly, one thing has nonetheless remained constant over the years – the legendary hospitality and friendliness that one can expect from the Latin America wireless ecosystem. So it is hard to believe that two years had already gone by since our first seminar in Mexico City which, despite the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck off the country at the time of our visit, turned out to be extremely productive and enjoyable.

Once again, our trip to the capital city – and to Lima, Peru – did not disappoint, and our team was delighted with the high level of interest (which was reflected in the equally high participation rate: over 150 participants in total!) that our latest in-building seminars generated earlier this month!

It is true that the telecommunications market has been particularly active in the region. Ultra-broadband and LTE networks have gradually been rolled out in several countries; competition has intensified in the past few years, and Latin America, with boasts an impressive 115% mobile penetration at end-2013, has positioned itself well ahead of the world average! (against a global rate of around 96%).

Not surprisingly then, our first seminar was met with a great deal of enthusiasm, which led to very engaging discussions on the latest trends, key market drivers and restraints for growth. Our “In-Building in the World, DAS Design, Small Cells, and Mobile Planner‎” presentation was particularly well received, prompting numerous questions from the audience. Likewise, our guest of honor Abel Anaya (Nextel’s RAN Planning Director), which shared his company’s in-building strategy and experience, also received many positive comments.

Our next stop was Lima, Peru. There again, participants were eager to learn more about in-building best practices and processes. This is all the more understandable, given that the Peruvian telecommunications market, which market analysts have described as a new “rising telecom star“, has been growing steadily over the past few years. Our presentation on “In-building in The World, Small Cells, and LTE Optimization” therefore resonated very well with everyone, as were Sara Gómez Olivas (Nextel’s In-building Manager) insights, perspectives and updates on ongoing projects.

On a slightly less serious note, it has to be said that we also got a real kick out of seeing so many of our attendees play with our Super iBwave Man in-building app, virtually traveling the world to complete the in-building challenges set before them!

Our congratulations go out to our new champions, Eliseo Fuentes Garcia (from Unwired Solutions – Mexico) and Sandro Trigo (from Nextel – Lima) who impressed us all with their impressive scores (5275 points and 5,504 points respectively) as well as Rajesh Vairon and Cesar Sequeira.

We are already looking forward to our next visit, and hoping to see you all again very soon! Remember, we will be holding virtual iBwave certification classes on Oct 7 -9 (level 1) and Dec 2 – 4 (level 2). Also, we’d love the opportunity to catch up with you as part of the upcoming Futurecom 2014 (Oct 13- 16, Sao Paulo, Brazil). If you are there, do stop by our booth (#A50) and come and say hi!