Getting a poor signal on your phone?

I just had an email newsletter pop into my inbox from John Strand. If you don’t know him already, he's a long-serving mobilist with many years experience of consulting for various organisations on the subject of mobile telecoms.

I’ve often wondered myself why my phone varies in performance. I get that different networks will have an impact, but I hadn’t really thought what the other issues might be. John explains it in his recent newsletter which I’ve copied below for you (with permission). I’m interested to know what you think. How much do these factors affect performance and are there other things that can affect it? I welcome your thoughts and comments.

“Various reports from around the world over the last three years note that have consumers increasingly experience poor coverage with their smartphones. The challenge for mobile operators is that the perceived coverage rarely reflects the quality of the network that the operators build and run, but rather the quality of the smartphones that people use. As a new ground-breaking study shows, the quality of the smartphone combined with how it is used and configured is more to blame that the mobile network.

Here are the 10 main reasons why you get a bad signal on you phone:

1. The wrong phone. There is a big difference in the quality of antennas in phones. As for the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3, the previous versions of these phones performed better in a major study of phone quality performed by Professor Gert Froelund Pedersen from Aalborg University, one of the world’s leading institutes for the study on antennas in phones.
2. Too many apps. The more apps you install, the less coverage you may experience. Apps create unwanted signal noise.
3. Free apps. Free games such as Angry Birds don’t not cost a penny, but they are filled with advertisements that eat your bandwidth and can contribute to poor coverage on your phone.
4. Open apps. It is a good idea to close them when not in use. Even if you are not using an app, it will still send and receive signals to the network.
5. Too many friends on Facebook or a few really active friends. If you have a lot of friends who ping and update you all the time from Facebook, this can also affect your experience negatively.
6. Your operating system. Even if you make sure you version is up to date, you run the risk that the new version is actually worse than the old. Plus you have to be sure to install all the proper updates. Android is also available in a multitude of versions, but each phone manufacturers adapts them differently.
7. A Samsung Galaxy S3 is not a Samsung Galaxy S3. Mobile phones are produced in a vast global manufacturing network and supply chain. The same phone may be made with different components from alternate suppliers. The model can vary both by country and within country.  There are at least 10 variants of the same Samsung Galaxy S3.  Your variant may not be optimal with your network.
8. Rush hour. During times of peak traffic, the same mobile mast must serve more users, so the quality per user may degrade. It's like getting into a packed train during rush hour.
9. Train travel. The metal tubing around windows in trains and related materials can be killers of mobile signals. When the train moves quickly, it can be difficult for your phone to switch connection between masts.
10. Telecom service provider. There is no such thing as the best network. The network that is best for you depends on which has coverage where you are when you use your phone.
The next time you experience poor coverage, take a look at your phone. Remember there are many things that can impact your experience beyond the network itself.

In the report “How to reduce the cost of mobile masts and improve regulation”, Strand Consult describes the challenges that operators face as they build and run mobile networks. In addition to Strand Consult reports, a number of institutions have recognized the role that smartphones play in the quality of coverage. If you want to know more about the report or about Strand Consult's experience in this field, click here..

Blyk announces Vodafone as its exclusive partner in the Netherlands

I’ve just got this press release in from Blyk. I couldn’t see it on their website so I’m publishing it verbatim (something, I don’t usually do).

Aligned to its global expansion strategy, the mobile engagement media will launch its brand in the Netherlands in partnership with Vodafone

Helsinki, London and Amsterdam, 23 July 2009 – Blyk, the mobile engagement media, today announces Vodafone as its exclusive partner in the Netherlands.

The partnership between Blyk and Vodafone builds upon a relationship between the two companies, which started in 2008, with a view to expanding the Blyk brand. The partnership will bring the Blyk brand and media model to the Netherlands and it is aligned to both companies’ strategies for growth and leadership in mobile advertising.

“We’re extremely pleased to be extending our relationship with Vodafone. For Blyk, the partnership is part of a global strategy to bring scale and speed to our operations, while continuing to provide an innovative and valuable proposition for both consumers and advertisers. Together with Vodafone, we intend to build a game changing engagement media in the Dutch market.” says Blyk co-founder and CEO, Pekka Ala-Pietilä. “Our relationship will include a co-development of the consumer proposition for the Netherlands and audience management. Blyk will have responsibility for the advertising sales and technology.”

Eric Kip, Managing Director Blyk Netherlands, says: “The Netherlands has the third highest advertising spend per capita in Europe and is a hub for many global companies and ad agencies, so it is an obvious territory for Blyk’s expansion. The advertising market, whilst both creative and dynamic, is also cluttered and we believe youth brands will welcome a highly engaging communication channel like Blyk. We are confident that both Dutch advertisers and global advertisers will make use of Blyk’s unique ability to connect them with an important consumer segment.”

Linktastic on a Wednesday

I have too many browser tabs open so it's time to clear down a few by writing them up here. So forgive some of the randomness but I'm a bit short on time what with preparing for Barcelona Mobile World Congress and the like and I thought it better to get them down on the interwebz than forget about them.

First the bad news... it seems that in just two weeks, Informa has changes its mind over the state of the mobile nation and fears that the credit crunch is now hitting the mobile industry. The figures don't surprise me much as there's only so long you can keep up that kind of growth rate. What interests me more is how the credit crunch affects mobile marketing and media more specifically... time will tell I guess.

In other news...

Blyk discovers that young people want mobile data (no sh1t Sherlock?!). It always amazed me that Blyk didn't pioneer their service with mobile data from the outset. I understood the reason to be around the fact they couldn't get a decent wholesale data rate and it looks like that problem has been solved. Recent research I've been doing into the mobile audience shows the youth sector to be the fastest growing segment of mobile data users - I'm guessing primarily led by usage of sites like facebook, flirtomatic, peperonity et al on their mobiles.

The FT relaunches its mobile offering with a brand spanking new version with greater touchscreen elements. I don't have a touchscreen, so if you do, and you're trying ft.com on your mobile, let me know how it's doing. I've always been a fan of FT.com's mobile services so I have every hope that this latest iteration will be just as good.

Are you into location-based mobile services and location-based social networking for business or pleasure? Or just curious to know what's out there? Then this blogpost and useful list is well worth a look. I voted for Rummble and Dopplr, but then I am slightly biased since I'm a non-exec advisor to Rummble these days (amongst many hats I wear - good job I like hats ;))

In mobile marketing news, it appears that mobile marketing is burning hot in Japan and Rogier Bikker explains why. Meanwhile over at SMS is the New Black, Patrick shares with us a comprehensive case study of mobile marketing in use at Kraft Foods. Both posts are worth a gander.

I met with Ken Banks recently and a very nice chat we had too. His thing is about how to capitalise on mobile technology in Africa such as his Frontline SMS product (which is great by the way, how come more people don't know about it?). He also writes an interesting blog if you're keen to gen up on what's happening across the continent of Africa. I particularly liked this post on the social mobile long tail.

And last but not least, I recently discovered the Ladygeek blog and met with the lovely Belinda who's one of the ladies behind it. I'm a new fan! It really chimed with me as I've long been frustrated that women's technology needs are not well catered for, even in 2009.

Technorati Tags: mobile,links,linkage,industry,mobile marketing,women,location-based services,lbs,mobile social networking,economics,informa

Tuesday tidbits

Such a lovely afternoon here in London town and yet, I'm sat behind a keyboard instead of supping something chilled and sparkling in the sunshine by the river. Hey ho!

Since I am sat at a keyboard, I thought I'd share some links with you of interesting stuff I've been looking at recently.

What young people think of the Iphone

They're smart these youngsters. They can appreciate good design, but also understand features and benefits. And they're clearly not all Apple fanboys and fangirls. SMSTextNews has a youthful roving reporter who's been asking his mates what they think of the Iphone. Isaah, 15, first did this back in November last year. And he has revisited his pals and got them to actually play with an Iphone and tell us what they think. His friends have mixed feelings about it - some don't like that it doesn't have buttons, for others the camera is important and not good enough on the Iphone. For others, they think it's 'wicked man'. We all know you can't please all of the people all of the time. Worth a look for the genuine comments. Next time Issah, can you record it so we can hear the comments please?

I love Blykwatch on SMSTextNews. Ricky, SMSTextNews' resident Blyk Watcher, has given us an update today with the lowdown on the marketing messages received, some comments about customer service and thoughts on data usage and mobile internet. All really good stuff and well worth a read. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, Blyk is the free mobile network aimed at 16 to 24 year olds and it's ad-funded. If you're interested in some of the detail of their campaigns, then look no further than their media site. And for some further customer insight, it might be worth checking out the Blyk customer forums.

Dizzler Rocks!

No really, it does. Dizzler is a free downloadable application allows users to search online and play free music, videos, games, and radio stations on their desktop or mobile device. I've just been playing with it online, and aside from the fact that I haven't been able to update my profile, the music playing bit of it has been working extremely well and there's a very comprehensive back catalogue available.

And while we're at it, twitter rocks too because that's how I heard about it from my network of twitter pals. MobileMaggie was twittering thanks to Freecloud for alerting her to Dizzler. So I took up the beacon and checked it out too and in turn shared the Dizzler love with J_Mac who wrote about it here.