Contact Centers Go Public

Welcome to Research Rewind, a weekly recap of published telecom research and blogs from Pyramid Research and Heavy Reading.

This week we look at the contact centers in the public sector, the overheating telecom market in Uganda, and consider why NFC-enabled smartphones are seemingly on life support. It's all in this week's edition of Research Rewind.

• The latest Heavy Reading IP Services Insider, "Contact Centers Find a Home in the Public Sector," evaluates the current demand for contact centers in government agencies, as well as expected trends over the next 24 months.
• Pyramid published a new Country Intelligence Report, "Uganda: Intense Competition, Mobile Rollouts & Lower Prices to Boost 3G Services." For a preview of the report, see author and Pyramid Analyst Kerem Arsal's Pyramid Point blog post, "Ugandan Market Bows Under Heavy Competition."

  As a reminder, you can download free excerpts of this and all 60 of Pyramid Research's Country Intelligence Reports, one for each country we cover. There are five-year telecom forecasts for developed and emerging markets around the world.

• Why are handset manufacturers getting cold feet when it comes to NFC? The answer is clear, and Pyramid Senior Anakyst Stela Bokun provides it in her latest Pyramid Point blog post, "An Order of Smartphones, Hold the NFC."
• Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research also have joined forces to launch new 4G consulting services. This couldn't be more timely, given the positive review of Verizon's 4G-LTE network from Senior Analyst Gabriel Brown at Heavy Reading and Pyramid's recent report on the push for LTE in Asia-Pacific.
• You don't need to play sports to be an MVP. Become a Heavy Reading MVP to get exclusive previews of Heavy Reading's upcoming research, discounts on research purchases -- and even the chance to earn free reports and free passes to Heavy Reading events.

That's Research Rewind for this week. Until next Friday, we'll see you online at Pyramid Research and Heavy Reading. May the telecom be with you!

— Matt Donnelly, Managing Editor, Pyramid Research