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!

Saludos desde América Latina

Si bien no podemos negar que nuestra industria ha evolucionado rápidamente, hay algo que ha permanecido constante a través de los años – la legendaria hospitalidad y amistad que uno puede esperar del ecosistema inalámbrico de Latinoamérica. Por eso mismo, es difícil creer que ya han pasado dos años desde nuestro primer seminario en la Ciudad de México, el cual, a pesar del terremoto de intensidad 7,4 que azotó al país durante nuestra visita, resultó ser altamente productivo y agradable.

Una vez más, nuestro viaje a la ciudad capital de México y a Lima, Perú, colmó nuestras expectativas, y nuestro equipo quedó encantado con el alto nivel de interés generado por nuestros últimos seminarios in-building que tuvieron lugar a principios de este mes. Eso también quedó reflejado en el alto nivel de participación: ¡150 participantes en total!

Es cierto que el mercado de las telecomunicaciones ha estado particularmente activo en la región. La banda ultra ancha y las redes LTE han sido introducidas en varios países; la competencia se ha intensificado en los últimos años y Latinoamérica, específicamente, que poseía una impresionante penetración móvil de 115% a fines de 2013 se ha posicionado muy por encima del promedio, si comparamos con el promedio de penetración mundial que es de alrededor del 96%.

Por lo tanto, no nos sorprende que nuestro primer seminario haya sido recibido con mucho entusiasmo, lo cual propició debates muy interesantes sobre las últimas tendencias, cuáles son los impulsores claves de los mercados y cuáles son las limitaciones que obstaculizan el crecimiento. Nuestra presentación “In-Building en el mundo, diseño DAS, Small Cells, y Mobile Planner‎” fue especialmente bien recibida y dio lugar a muchas preguntas por parte del público. Asimismo, nuestro invitado de honor Abel Anaya (Director de planificación RAN de Nextel) compartió la estrategia y la experiencia in-building de su empresa y también recibió muchísimos comentarios positivos.

Nuestra siguiente parada fue Lima, Perú. Allí, una vez más, los participantes estaban ansiosos por aprender más acerca de las mejores prácticas y procesos de in-building. Esto es aún más comprensible dado que el mercado peruano de telecomunicaciones, que ha sido descrito por los analistas como “la estrella naciente de las telecomunicaciones”, ha crecido sostenidamente en los últimos años. Por lo tanto, nuestra presentación “In-building en el mundo, Small Cells, y optimización LTE” fue bien recibida por todos los asistentes, como así también lo fueron las observaciones, perspectivas y actualizaciones de proyectos en marcha brindadas por Sara Gómez Olivas (Gerente de In-building de Nextel).

Pasando a un tema menos serio, debemos decir que nos divertimos mucho viendo a muchos de los asistentes jugar con nuestra aplicación in-building Super iBwave Man, mientras viajaban virtualmente por el mundo cumpliendo los desafíos de in-building que se les presentaban.

Nuestras profusas felicitaciones a los nuevos campeones, Eliseo Fuentes García (de Unwired Solutions – México) y Sandro Trigo (de Nextel – Lima) que nos impresionaron con sus increíbles puntajes (5.275 y 5.504 puntos respectivamente). Felicitaciones también a Rajesh Vairon e Cesar Sequeira.

Ya estamos ansiosos por nuestra próxima visita y esperamos verlos a todos muy pronto. Recuerden que dictaremos clases virtuales de certificación iBwave del 7 al 9 de octubre (nivel 1) y del 2 al 4 de diciembre (nivel 2). Además, nos encantaría tener la oportunidad de encontrarlos en el próximo Futurecom 2014 (del 13 al 16 de octubre en San Pablo, Brasil). Si llegan a participar del evento, no dejen de visitarnos en a nuestro stand (Nº A50). ¡Vengan a saludarnos!