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Slovakia: LTE and Fiber Help Operators Expand Service Portfolios and Drive Market Growth,' a new Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, offers a precise, incisive profile of Slovakia's mobile and fixed telecommunications and pay-TV markets based on comprehensive proprietary data and insights from our research in the Slovakia market. Published annually, this presentation-quality, executive-level report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony and broadband, mobile and pay-TV sectors, in addition to a review of key regulatory trends.

Euromonitor International's Industrial reports provide a 360 degree view of an industry. The Industrial market report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the Mobile Phones, Radio Transmitters and Television Cameras market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be they new product developments, packaging innovations, economic/lifestyle influences, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change.

While many aspects of the Finnish telecoms market appear to have reached saturation, BMI still identifies a number of opportunities for operators in the market. Wireline, in particular, has seen growth slow right down, with 2013 growth of around 3% in broadband subscriptions. Fixed line telephones continue to rapidly decline, with little hope for a rebound or even a slow down expected in the near term. Growth in the mobile market dipped below 2% in 2013 compared to 2012, reaching penetration of 181.9%, one of the highest in the region. We therefore see content, data and the provision of these services through next-generation technologies as key to the market's development. Fibre optics in the wireline sector are growing slowly but steadily and can be used for the provision of IPTV and other over-the-top content, which we see becoming an important driver. For mobile operators, the auction of 800MHz spectrum will undoubtedly help in delivering 4G services across a wider coverage and continued generation of income from mobile data. Backed by high spending ability of Finnish consumers, we continue to remain bullish on these opportunities in the Finnish telecoms market.

We have added two new markets to the Caribbean Telecoms report in Q2 2014, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. The inclusion of these two allows us to look at the region from a different angle, as both are among the most developed, supported by high GDP per capita, high proportion of postpaid subscribers and strong demand for 3G services. We expect both the Cayman Islands and Bermuda to become the outperformers in the region in terms of mobile data penetration, as centres for financial offshoring should help drive demand among visitors and locals. At the other end of the spectrum, initiatives from Cuba will see the introduction of basic mobile internet services in the country during 2014. We don't expect this will have a huge impact due to the lower spending power of Cubans and lack of available handsets but it is a positive move in the right direction. Operators throughout the region are reporting encouraging growth in 3G and 4G uptake, with double digit growth in revenues emphasising that it will become a key source of sales over the long-term.

Egypt: Universal Licensing to Spur Competition and Double Data Revenue by 2018,' a Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, offers a precise, incisive profile of Egypt's converged telecommunications, media and technology sectors based on proprietary data from our research in the Egyptian market. It provides detailed competitive analysis of both the fixed and mobile sectors, tracks the market shares of technologies and services, and monitors the introduction and spread of new technologies. Published annually, this executive study provides a comprehensive view of the Egyptian communications market by analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing upcoming risks factors.

Riverside Telecom, LLC, a trusted telecommunications contractor and VOIP phone specialist in Trenton, MI, has formed a marketing partnership with BizIQ, a firm specializing in small business web optimization.

According to a new report by Allied Market Research titled "Femtocell Market (Types, Technology, Applications and Geography) - Global Analysis, Trends & Forecast through 2020," global femtocell market grew to a market size of $304.8 million in 2013, and expected to attain a market size of $3,712 million by 2020. Technological advancements and reduction in cost of femtocell devices are the two major factors driving the femtocell market.

Over 56 million Americans qualify for a “Lifeline” mobile phone and Full Cycle Distributors is doing their best to get them into qualify individuals' hands. Part of this drive involves recruiting more Lifeline Agents to help recruit and sign up qualified people in the Total Call Mobile Lifeline Program. This position offers the possibility of not only making a good income, but also in helping the disadvantaged in the process.

For many small businesses, like motels and boutique hotels, transitioning to a modern communications system can be difficult due to money constraints. Aware of that, TelcoDepot.com is now offering these small business owners an opportunity to acquire cheap VoIP services without the need to purchase new expensive equipment.

Microspace Communications recently attended the 2014 NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) Show at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. The NAB Show consists of the world’s largest digital media event which covers satellite broadcasting and content delivery across all mediums.

Telcom & Data offers one of the best conference call services for all audio and web conferencing solutions. Now it has been experienced that teleconferencing is no longer a luxury, instead it is considered to be a need in order to manage information effectively and remain reasonable. When it comes to travel far for business meetings, one has to be more efficient while concentrating on other areas of work. Since conferencing is reachable, so it is the most competent way through which one can have weekly sales meetings, help desk support, distance learning from the same place.

This research report presents the 2013 review and early 2014 status of the Chinese smartphone industry. The report includes top 22 Chinese smartphone branded vendors' shipment volume in China, breakdowns of each vendor's shipment volume share by chipset maker, application processor model, ASP, panel size, and camera pixel. The report also examines major chipset makers' product mix for Chinese smartphones. The report finds that the Chinese smartphone industry's shipment volume reached around 422.2 million units in 2013, up 66.0% year on year, with a total number of 2,288 models launched over the year. The top six vendors—Samsung, Lenovo, Huawei, Coolpad, ZTE, Xiaomi—collectively took up over 50% of the total shipments. It is noted that smartphones equipped with a 4-to-5-inch panel and over 8M cameral pixels have become mainstream in China. Around 46% of the Chinese smartphones were sold at a mid-range price point (700 RMB to 2000 RMB, US$113 to US$322; US$1=6.2112 RMB) in 2013. While octa-core processor models took up less than 1% in terms of shipment volume in 2013, it is expected that the share will see significant growth in 2014 as major chipset makers have been promoting related solutions.

This quarter, BMI has extended its forecasts for Ireland's fixed-line voice, broadband and mobile communications markets through to 2018. We have also utilised the latest operator and regulator data to fine-tune those forecasts. As such, we expect to see slightly stronger mobile subscription growth and slower contraction of the fixed-line market. We hold to our current outlook for modest growth in the broadband market on the back of eircom's progress with its next-generation access network, the rollout of 4G LTE services and potential consolidation in the mobile market, as well as the entrance of Electricity Services Board (ESB) into the mass market broadband services arena. That said, we expect price competition to intensify across all sectors, including pay-TV, following eircom's launch of eVision-branded IPTV in Q413.

The Croatian market is well developed, with high penetration of traditional and data services, but it has managed to maintain one of the highest ARPU rates in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This has been helped by the proliferation of 3G services and smartphones devices, the latter of which account for about 30% of subscriptions. However, the market is not without its challenges as subscription acquisition opportunities are limited and there is downward pressure on ARPU from SMS IP substitution and price competition in a saturated market. Moves into 4G have been made by the two leading operators. However, the third largest, Tele2, has failed to acquire spectrum to support a launch. The company claims that the move to LTE is premature as 3G services have not yet matured. This paints a slightly bleaker picture of the market as 3G has been available for many years. While Tele2's decision may be correct in the short term, this could raise future problems for the company as it may find it difficult to compete.

The Iraqi mobile sector recorded double-digit growth over the 12 months to December 2013. This supports our outlook for continued subscriptions growth during our five-year forecast period which has been extended to 2018 in this quarter's update. However, we expect increasing market saturation, with the penetration expected to reach 100% by 2015, to increase downward pressures on ARPUs and, consequently, operators' top line and bottom line financial figures. We therefore opine that the country's three mobile operators must expand their portfolio of non-voice services in order to sustain revenue growth, pending the allocation of 3G spectrum by the government. Although growth in the fixed telephony and data sectors remains stifled, we expect the implementation of various network infrastructure investment plans by the government and national fixed-line operator ITPC to boost growth over the medium-to-long term.

Thailand's telecoms market is characterised by a mobile market approaching saturation, a fixed-line market that has been in decline since 2007 and a low broadband penetration rate. The successful launch of 3G services in May 2013 offers some potential in the market, but the heavy degree of state control and ineffectual regulation of the telecoms sector to date, coupled with political uncertainty and the economic fallout from the 2011 floods and weak global economy, do not in our view, present a favourable investment climate.

We expect Kenya's mobile network operators to maintain a strategy of revenue stream diversification as the downward pressure on voice revenues continues on the back of lower tariffs and decreasing minutes of use. In addition to the expansion of the scope and functionality of m-commerce systems, we expect operators explore new mobile-crossover opportunities in other industries, such as health, agriculture, education and entertainment.

The Chinese telecommunications industry is the biggest in the world in terms of existing size and growth potential, with the 1.2bn mobile subscriptions representing only a penetration rate of 87.3% at the end of September 2013. There are substantial growth opportunities in rural regions, where markets are still untapped, and the arrival of MVNO operators should catalyse competition for these lower value subscribers. Meanwhile at the other end of the market, demand for 3G and 4G services is growing rapidly, particularly in urban areas. Domestic operators are tapping this trend, and with the liberalisation of the VAS segment foreign investors can now also gain exposure. There is however downside to this bullish outlook due to the heavy investment burden in the telecoms industry, a capability that could weaken if the broader economy deteriorates.

Mergers and network investment are offering greater growth potential for wireline services, trends that are boosting growth in fixed-line services and putting innovations such as IPTV on the agenda for 2014. BMI believes that operators will increase their focus on data, network speed and content over 2014, seeing subscribers offered an increasing range of services and building revenue opportunities for operators. In the mobile sector, we remain concerned over increasing interference from the regulator and government intervention to reduce the dominance of market leader Claro. Nevertheless, BMI believes that Colombia will follow the emerging market trend of being a predominantly wireless communications market over the medium to long term if regulatory intervention remains limited.

Iran's large population should make it one of the most attractive telecoms markets in the Middle East. However, political and economic challenges remain and currency fluctuations limit access to the latest devices, limiting the market's growth. Added to which, the Iranian government is keen to restrict access to international internet content, creating a national internet network that will bypass international gateways and cut off large swathes of global content. For this, the government began talks with the Chinese government in early 2014. These factors offer considerable downside to the Iranian market and slow the expected growth of the market's sectors.

The Indian telecommunications market has experienced a considerable number of challenges in the last few years due to constant regulatory disputes and a hostile business environment, which includes an aggressive price war that has eroded operators' profitability. Despite the country's significant growth potential, the industry is struggling to capitalise on the opportunities, which will remain the central theme in the near future as we do not expect the market to reach a swift resolution of these complicated issues.

The opportunities and limits to growth in Uganda's mobile market are both related to its low penetration rate, which BMI estimates reached around 49% in 2013. Although the low penetration rate means there remain considerable opportunities for organic growth in Uganda's mobile market, these are limited by poor network coverage in rural areas, where most Ugandans live.

Poland is one of the largest telecoms markets in CEE, with vibrant competition across all market segments. This has benefited consumers through service innovation and lower prices, but operators' aggressive marketing strategies have increased the downward pressure on ARPUs, which continue to trend downwards and result in narrowing margins. In light of this recent experience operators are targeting growth of high value high-speed fixed broadband subscription growth, as well as mobile broadband growth via dedicated subscriptions and smartphones. These opportunities should allow operators to develop data revenues and help offset declines in traditional services revenues such as voice and SMS.

When spring arrives, many individuals decide to upgrade certain areas of the house, and that includes their communication and entertainment packages. That’s what spring cleaning is all about; out with the old and in with the new. This spring, ProCom is announcing new specials for their valued client base. With their fiber-optic internet network, as well as cable with eye-popping images and phone services—for residential and commercial customers—the technicians will provide free installation for any of their products this spring. The promotion allows homeowners that have been wanting to upgrade from DSL to high-speed internet the chance to do so without any startup cost.

Hong Kong has many positive characteristics including comparatively high purchasing power and a business-friendly environment, and it was the first to launch a commercial long term evolution network in Asia. Mobile subscriber numbers have long passed the 200% penetration mark and, despite the latest data from operators and the regulator showing continued growth, this rate is slowing down, prompting a downgrade in our forecast. 3G and 4G, however, are the key drivers of growth, outperforming our expectations for the year. Fixed lines continue to post declines at a more rapid pace, although IP lines are a bright spot for the industry.